Haunted hotel guide · Roche Harbor, San Juan Island, Washington
Haunted Hotel de Haro, Roche Harbor: Ada Beane and the McMillin Mausoleum
An 1886 company hotel on San Juan Island, with a bookkeeper’s ghost in the gift shop and a family mausoleum in the woods where the dead are said to gather at a stone table.
Hotel de Haro is the white, double-verandaed heart of Roche Harbor, a former lime company town on the north end of San Juan Island. John S. McMillin built it in 1886 for the customers and visitors of his Roche Harbor lime works, and the resort that now owns it calls it the oldest operating hotel in Washington. It is one of the most atmospheric haunted hotels in Washington, set among old lime kilns, company cottages and formal gardens on the harbor.
Its ghost stories are about the people who ran the company town. Staff have told of glass shelves shattering in the gift shop and a storeroom door that opens by itself, blamed on McMillin’s secretary and bookkeeper, Ada Beane. In the woods nearby, the McMillin family mausoleum, Afterglow Vista, has a stone table and chairs holding the family’s ashes, and people say the family can be seen gathered around it on moonlit nights. Below we cover the stories, the history and how to plan a stay.
Hotel de Haro at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 248 Reuben Memorial Dr, Roche Harbor, WA 98250, on the north end of San Juan Island
- Built 1886 for the Tacoma and Roche Harbor Lime Company, on the site of an older bunkhouse; restored by the Tarte family after 1956
- Most haunted spots The hotel halls, the gift shop and storeroom, and the Afterglow Vista mausoleum in the woods
- Best-known ghosts Ada Beane, McMillin’s bookkeeper; the McMillin family at the mausoleum
- Booking the haunted room No single room is named in the stories. Book a room in the Hotel de Haro itself rather than the newer resort cottages or suites.
- Good to know Traditional 19th-century layout: some rooms have their own bathroom, others share private bathrooms off the hall. Reach Roche Harbor by ferry and car, by seaplane or by boat.
The ghosts of Hotel de Haro and Roche Harbor
Ada Beane in the gift shop
Ada Beane worked for John McMillin as his personal secretary and bookkeeper and had her own cottage in the company town. According to a 2007 Spokesman-Review roundup of San Juan Islands ghost stories, after she was cremated her ashes sat for years in the office of one of McMillin’s sons. Strange activity is said to have started when they were finally placed in the family mausoleum.
The stories from the hotel are specific. An employee in the gift shop watched several glass shelves shatter, and others have seen a storeroom door swing open on its own. The legend says Ada is troubled, perhaps still angry with McMillin, and some tellers hint she was more than his bookkeeper. There is no evidence for that, and it is best taken as island gossip that grew around the ghost story.
The woman in the halls
Our original page described the ghost of a woman who walks the hotel’s halls. The hotel has creaking floors, old-growth beams and long corridors with bathrooms off them, and guests who stay in the oldest rooms describe footsteps and the feeling of someone passing their door. Many people connect that woman with Ada Beane.
The family at the stone table
A short walk into the woods from the harbor is Afterglow Vista, the McMillin family mausoleum. McMillin, an ardent Freemason, had it designed with Masonic symbols: a ring of columns with one deliberately broken, to show that death breaks the column of a life, and steps that represent the stages of life. In the center is a limestone table with stone chairs, and each chair holds the ashes of a family member, with the name carved on its back.
It is the setting for Roche Harbor’s best-known ghost story. People say that at sundown, or on full-moon nights, the McMillin family can be seen sitting around the table, laughing and talking as if waiting for dinner. Some visitors also claim that rain does not fall on them inside the open-roofed circle.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- The historic rooms: Stay in the Hotel de Haro itself for floral wallpaper, old-growth beams and shared bathrooms down the hall.
- The gift shop and storeroom: Where staff say shelves shattered and a door opens on its own.
- Afterglow Vista: The McMillin mausoleum, a short walk through the woods. Go at dusk, and on a full moon if you can.
- The lime kilns: The old kilns along the waterfront are what the company town was built around. Walk past them after dark.
History of Hotel de Haro, Roche Harbor
Roche Harbor sits on land of the Coast Salish people. British Royal Marines quarried limestone here during the joint British and American occupation of San Juan Island in the 1860s, before the island went to the United States in 1872. In 1886 Tacoma lawyer John S. McMillin and his partners founded the Tacoma and Roche Harbor Lime Company, and the same year he built Hotel de Haro, on top of the old Hudson’s Bay Company bunkhouse according to the resort.
The lime company shipped lime along the West Coast, including to San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. Roche Harbor was a company town with its own general store, cottages for workers and a hotel for the company’s customers. The McMillin family lived at the hotel until 1910, and their home is now McMillin’s Dining Room.
The resort says Hotel de Haro hosted President Theodore Roosevelt more than a century ago. Roche Harbor was on a proposed itinerary for his 1903 western tour, but historians note his train schedule did not allow the visit, so treat that claim with some caution.
McMillin ordered Afterglow Vista years before his death, and it was completed in 1936, the year he died. In 1956 his son Paul sold Roche Harbor, around 4,000 acres and 12 miles of coastline, to the Reuben Tarte family, who turned it into a boating resort and restored the hotel. The Roche Harbor historic district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The resort was sold in 1988 and is owned today by Rich Komen and Saltchuk.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Book a room in the historic hotel rather than the newer suites and cottages. Some rooms share bathrooms off the hallway, so check the room details.
- Walk to Afterglow Vista at dusk. It is a short trail from the resort and is open to visitors; be respectful, as it is a family grave.
- Visit the gift shop in the hotel and ask staff about Ada Beane.
- Ferries run from Anacortes to Friday Harbor, about a 20 minute drive from Roche Harbor. In summer, book ferries early.
- Pair the trip with Rosario on Orcas Island, home of the lady in red.
Want to investigate, not just sleep?
Sleeping in a haunted hotel is one thing. Investigating one after dark is another. On a Haunted Rooms ghost hunt our team takes you through the building with professional ghost hunting equipment, runs EVP sessions and lets you explore on your own during free roam.
- Fairweather Inn Ghost Hunt & Sleepover, Virginia City, Montana: an overnight ghost hunt in a gold-rush hotel
- Old St. James Hospital Ghost Hunt, Butte, Montana: a public ghost hunt in a historic hospital
More haunted hotels nearby
- Rosario Resort, Orcas Island: Alice Rheem, the lady in red of the Moran Mansion
- Manresa Castle, Port Townsend: Rooms 302 and 306 in a Victorian castle hotel
- Palace Hotel, Port Townsend: the Lady in Blue in a former brothel
- Haunted hotels in Washington
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 Hotel de Haro haunted?
Staff stories say so. The ghost of Ada Beane, John McMillin’s bookkeeper, is blamed for glass shelves that shattered in the gift shop and a storeroom door that opens by itself, and guests describe a woman in the halls.
What is the Afterglow Vista mausoleum?
The McMillin family mausoleum near Roche Harbor, completed in 1936. A limestone table is surrounded by stone chairs, each holding a family member’s ashes. People say the family can be seen around the table on full-moon nights.
Is Hotel de Haro the oldest hotel in Washington?
Roche Harbor Resort calls it the oldest operating hotel in the state; it was built in 1886. The Tokeland Hotel’s farmhouse is a year older, but it did not open to guests until 1899.
Did Teddy Roosevelt stay at Hotel de Haro?
The resort says he did. Roche Harbor was on a proposed itinerary for his 1903 tour, but historians note his schedule did not allow the visit.
Do rooms at Hotel de Haro have private bathrooms?
Some do. Others share private bathrooms off the hallway, in keeping with the hotel’s 19th-century layout.
How do you get to Roche Harbor?
Take the Washington State Ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor and drive to the north end of the island, or arrive by seaplane or private boat.
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.
- Roche Harbor Resort: Hotel de Haro
- Spokesman-Review: Hauntingly familiar (2007)
- Wikipedia: Roche Harbor, Washington
- Wikipedia: Afterglow Vista
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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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