Haunted hotel guide · Micanopy, Florida
The Haunted Herlong Mansion, Micanopy
A columned Greek Revival mansion in one of Florida’s oldest towns, fought over by six heirs for years and, guests say, still watched over by the daughter who finally won it.
Micanopy is a tiny town of old brick and live oaks just south of Gainesville, and the Herlong Mansion is its grandest house. Behind four tall Corinthian columns is a simple two-story pine farmhouse from 1845, wrapped in brick by Zeddy Herlong in the early 1900s. After his death the house was fought over by his six children for years, and his eldest daughter, Inez, finally won it, only to die there soon after she started restoring it.
It has been a bed and breakfast since the 1980s, and Inez is the reason it appears on lists of Florida’s haunted inns. The stories began with the workers who restored the house, who heard footsteps and a door opening and closing upstairs, and grew with owners who locked a bedroom door at night and found it standing open in the morning. Guests describe a woman in an upstairs doorway at sunrise, a figure in a mirror and a mist on the stairs.
Herlong Mansion at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 402 NE Cholokka Boulevard, Micanopy, FL 32667, on the town’s main street
- Built 1845 as a pine farmhouse; enclosed in brick in Greek Revival style in the early 1900s
- Most haunted spots The upstairs bedrooms, especially the room where Inez died, the staircase and the upper veranda
- Best-known ghosts Inez Herlong
- Booking the haunted room The inn does not market a haunted room. Ask about the upstairs rooms in the main house when you book.
- Good to know Rooms and suites in the main house plus cottages; the cottage and carriage house have been pet friendly. Micanopy is very quiet after dark.
The ghost of the Herlong Mansion
Inez Herlong
Inez was the eldest of the six Herlong children. After a long family fight over the house, which one account says lasted 18 years, she bought out her brothers and sisters, using money left by her late husband, and set about restoring the neglected mansion. She died there soon afterward, in her late sixties.
Accounts of her death differ. Haunt Jaunts says she had a heart attack while working in what had been her sister’s room. Another widely shared version says she was diabetic and may have died of insulin shock in her own old bedroom upstairs. Either way, the room where she died is where most of the activity is reported.
The restoration workers
The best-known story comes from the house’s restoration. Workers repairing the mansion slept in the parlor for three or four nights. Each night they heard footsteps upstairs and a door on the second floor opening and closing, but nobody was there. In the end they asked the owner to put them up in a hotel instead.
The door that would not stay locked
The owners did not believe the workers, so they spent a night upstairs themselves. They locked their bedroom door before going to sleep. In the morning it was unlocked and standing wide open.
The woman at the veranda door
Later guests have added their own reports: Inez’s reflection in the mirror of her old bedroom, appearing to float through the room behind the person looking, gone when they turn around; a woman standing in a second-story veranda doorway watching a guest drink coffee at sunrise, who vanished in seconds; footsteps on the stairs and a fast-moving mist going up or down them; and guest room doors opening and closing by themselves.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- Inez's room upstairs: The bedroom linked to Inez’s death, in the main house. Sources differ on whether this was her own childhood room or her sister’s, so ask the innkeepers which room they mean.
- The parlor: Where the restoration workers slept and heard footsteps overhead. It still has an 1880s piano, tall leaded windows and wood paneling.
- The staircase: The wooden staircase from the front foyer, where guests describe footsteps and a fast-moving mist.
- The upper veranda: Where a woman was seen standing in a doorway at sunrise.
History of Herlong Mansion Bed & Breakfast
The original house was a two-story pine farmhouse in the cracker style, built in 1845 by R. S. Stoughton according to American Roads, and later home to the Simonton family, one of Micanopy’s founding families. It stood beside an old Indian trading route that is now Cholokka Boulevard. John Simonton was the father-in-law of Zeddy Clarence Herlong.
In the early 1900s, around 1910, Zeddy and his wife Natalie moved into the house, which Natalie had inherited. As Zeddy’s fortunes improved he enlarged it, enclosing the old farmhouse in brick in the Classic Greek Revival style with four tall Corinthian columns across the front. Inside, the house took on an Arts and Crafts look, with leaded glass windows, fine wood paneling and floors of oak, maple and mahogany.
Natalie died first, and Zeddy remarried and moved away. The house passed to the six children, and a long court fight followed. Inez, the eldest, eventually took possession and began restoring it, but died there shortly afterward. Her son inherited the property but had no interest in it, and the mansion was left to decay for years.
In 1986 a couple bought the house and turned it into a bed and breakfast, and it has changed hands several times since, with each owner continuing the restoration. Today the inn has rooms and suites in the main house, plus a pump house cottage and a carriage house. Many Herlongs are buried in the Micanopy Historic Cemetery nearby.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Stay midweek. Micanopy is a hamlet of a few hundred people and is very quiet after dark, which is ideal for listening for footsteps.
- Ask about Inez gently. Some past innkeepers have not promoted the house as haunted. Ask about its history and let the stories follow.
- Visit the cemetery. Many of the Herlong family are buried in the Micanopy Historic Cemetery, founded in the early 1800s.
- Explore the town. Micanopy’s antique shops and live oak streets are best on foot, and Gainesville is a short drive north for dinner.
- Bringing a dog? The cottage and carriage house have been pet friendly; confirm when you book.
- See our guide to haunted hotels in Florida for more places to stay.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Casa Monica, St. Augustine: a Gilded Age hotel in America’s oldest city
- Haunted places in St. Augustine: about 90 minutes east
- Haunted places in Orlando: about 90 minutes south
- Haunted hotels in Florida: every haunted hotel in the state, ranked and mapped
- Haunted hotels in Florida
Stayed in one of these hotels? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from guests and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your stay. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Herlong Mansion haunted?
It has a long local reputation for the ghost of Inez Herlong. Restoration workers, owners and guests have reported footsteps, doors opening and unlocking by themselves and a woman seen upstairs. These are personal accounts and local legend.
Who haunts the Herlong Mansion?
Inez Herlong, the eldest of Zeddy Herlong’s six children, who won the house after a long family dispute and died there soon after beginning to restore it.
How did Inez Herlong die?
Accounts differ. One says she had a heart attack while working in her sister’s old room; another says she was diabetic and may have died of insulin shock in her own bedroom.
When was the Herlong Mansion built?
The original pine farmhouse dates to 1845. Zeddy Herlong enclosed it in brick with its Greek Revival columns in the early 1900s.
Is the Herlong Mansion a bed and breakfast?
Yes. It has been a bed and breakfast since the 1980s, with rooms and suites in the main house plus cottages.
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.
- Haunt Jaunts: Searching for the ghost of Inez at the Herlong Mansion
- American Roads: Herlong Mansion
- True Hauntings of America: The haunting of the Herlong Mansion
- Florida Haunted Houses: Herlong Mansion Bed & Breakfast
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About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every hotel in our guides using hotel histories, local archives, news coverage and the accounts of guests and staff, and we review each guide regularly so you are not booking a hotel that has closed or changed its name. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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