The Haunted Coombs House Inn, Apalachicola (Now Coombs Inn & Suites)

Apalachicola is an old port town on the Florida Panhandle’s Forgotten Coast, and the Coombs House is one of the finest homes in its historic district. Lumber baron James N. Coombs built it in 1905. Six years later fire swept through the house. While it was being repaired, the couple moved into a hotel, where Mrs. Coombs is said to have died of a broken heart, with Mr. Coombs following about three weeks later. They are buried side by side in Chestnut Street Cemetery, directly across the street from their home.

Restored in the 1990s and now called Coombs Inn & Suites, the house is the town’s best-known haunted stay. Staff describe apparitions, footsteps and doors that open and close on their own, and guests have described nightmares about fire, the smell of smoke and trouble breathing in the night. The local explanation is simple: the Coombses never wanted to leave.

The ghosts of the Coombs House Inn

Mr. and Mrs. Coombs

The Coombses are the heart of the story. They built the house as their family home, lost it to fire and died within weeks of each other before it was repaired. Florida’s Forgotten Coast tourism board says staff have seen apparitions, heard unexplained footsteps and noises, and watched doors open and close by themselves, and that the couple never wanted, nor intended, to leave their beloved home.

Sightings are usually of a figure in the hallways or on the stairs of the main house that is gone when someone looks again. Nobody claims a clear view of a face, and the stories are told as local legend rather than documented events.

Dreams of fire

The most distinctive reports are not sightings at all. Guests have described vivid nightmares about the house burning, waking to the smell of smoke with no fire anywhere, and a feeling of struggling to breathe. The earlier version of this guide recorded these accounts, and they fit the 1911 fire that drove the family out.

Chestnut Street Cemetery

The cemetery across the road has its own stories. Apart from the Coombs graves, local storytellers talk about Marie Hickey, said to have gone insane and killed her husband; Rose, a loyal servant whose employer gave her a grave and headstone; and Louisa and Frank, two teenagers pulled from the river with their arms around each other. Its old, leaning headstones make it a moody walk at dusk.

The most haunted rooms and places to look

• The Coombs Suite: The original master bedroom of James Coombs in the main house. If you want to sleep where the family slept, ask for it.
• The main Victorian house: The 1905 mansion itself, with its period details, staircase and halls, is where staff report footsteps and doors moving.
• The verandas: Several suites have private porches or verandas, and the porch of the main house looks toward the cemetery where the Coombses are buried.

History of Coombs Inn & Suites

James N. Coombs made his fortune in lumber during Apalachicola’s boom years and built this Victorian mansion in 1905. In 1911 fire badly damaged it. While repairs were made, Mr. and Mrs. Coombs stayed in a hotel in town, and local history says Mrs. Coombs died there of a broken heart, with her husband dying of heart failure around three weeks later. They were buried in Chestnut Street Cemetery, which predates the town’s official founding in 1831.

The house was eventually repaired but later fell into serious disrepair and was boarded up and abandoned. In the early 1990s interior designer Lynn Wilson bought it and spent two years restoring it before opening it as the Coombs House Inn. She later added neighboring houses, one of which had also been owned by James Coombs.

Travel and Leisure has named the inn one of the 30 outstanding small inns in the United States. Today it trades as Coombs Inn & Suites, with around two dozen suites across its historic Victorian houses and a couple of standalone buildings, decorated with period details, European antiques and original artwork. It sits a few minutes’ walk from Apalachicola’s riverfront, restaurants and oyster bars.

Tips for a haunted stay

• Ask for the Coombs Suite. It was James Coombs’s own bedroom in the main house.
• Walk the cemetery before dark. Chestnut Street Cemetery is directly across the street; find the Coombs graves and the old Confederate headstones.
• Search both names. Many older articles and booking pages still call it the Coombs House Inn.
• Make a night of it. The Gibson Inn a few blocks away has its own ghost stories, including a sea captain said to play the piano late at night.
• Book direct for suite choice. The inn’s own site lists its suites; call (888) 626-6627 to request a room in the main house.
• See our guide to haunted hotels in Florida for more places to stay.

More haunted hotels nearby

• Haunted hotels in Florida: every haunted hotel in the state, ranked and mapped
• The Don CeSar, St. Pete Beach: the pink palace and its lovesick founder
• The Vinoy, St. Petersburg: a 1925 waterfront grand hotel with its own ghost stories
• Haunted hotels in Florida

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.

• Florida's Forgotten Coast: 7 historical haunts
• Florida's Forgotten Coast: Coombs Inn & Suites
• Coombs Inn & Suites
• DN Journal: A Victorian mansion and a ghostly encounter

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