Haunted hotel guide · Salem, Massachusetts
The Daniels House, Salem: A Haunted 17th-Century Inn Older Than the Witch Trials
A shipbuilder’s house from the 1660s, older than the witch trials, now restored as a small inn near the Salem waterfront. Its ghost stories are quiet ones: a man in Puritan dress, a woman no one can name and a gray tabby cat.
The Daniels House stands on Daniels Street in Salem’s old waterfront neighborhood. It was built by the shipbuilder Stephen Daniels or his son sometime between 1667 and 1693, which makes it one of the oldest houses in Salem and older than the witch trials of 1692. Most of its First Period frame survives, with huge open hearths, exposed beams and wide floorboards.
For more than half a century it was one of Salem’s best-known bed and breakfasts, and it appears in the 2000 book Haunted Inns of New England, which the inn still quotes. Its guests and earlier owners passed down a small set of ghost stories: a man in Puritan clothes believed to be Stephen Daniels, a woman whose identity is a mystery, a gray tabby cat that comes and goes, and belongings that turn up somewhere else. New owners restored the house in 2019 and run it as the Daniels House Inn. They do not tell ghost stories on their own site, so treat them as house lore. For the other places to stay in town, see our guide to haunted hotels in Salem.
Daniels House at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 1 Daniels Street, Salem, MA 01970
- Built Between 1667 and 1693, enlarged around 1756
- Most haunted spots The old rooms with open hearths, the stairs
- Best-known ghosts A man in Puritan dress said to be Stephen Daniels, an unknown woman, a gray tabby cat
- Booking the haunted room There is no single haunted room. Book online through the inn’s website, by phone on 978-594-8757 or by email. The Butler Room can only be booked by phone, as an add-on to another room.
- Good to know Four rooms in the main house (the Great Room, Marion Room, East India Room and Butler Room) and three more next door in Silsbee’s, a former family barn turned into a house in 1843. Self check-in with a door code, free parking, and house tours. A few minutes’ walk from the Salem Maritime National Historical Park.
The ghosts of Daniels House Inn
The man in Puritan dress
The figure described most often is a man in plain 17th-century clothes, seen in the old rooms and on the stairs. Guests and earlier owners have said they believe he is Stephen Daniels, the shipbuilder who built the house, still looking over his property.
It is a natural story for a house this old, and there is no way to prove who he might be. It has been told about the house for years, including on this site.
The unknown woman
A woman has also been reported in the house, and nobody has ever put a name to her. Over three centuries the house was home to the Daniels and Silsbee families, then divided into apartments for widows, laborers and railroad and shoe workers, and later a day nursery and boarding house, so there are plenty of candidates.
The gray tabby cat
The house’s best-loved ghost is a gray tabby cat that appears in a room, curls up or wanders about, and then is not there anymore. Some local write-ups speak of cats in the plural. It is a gentle sort of haunting, and it fits a house that has been lived in for so long.
Moving belongings
Guests have also described small belongings moving from where they were left. As with every story here, these are accounts passed down by guests and previous hosts rather than anything the current owners claim.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- Great Room: One of the four rooms in the original First Period house, with the big open hearth and exposed beams.
- Marion and East India Rooms: The other main-house rooms; the East India Room is named for the trade that made Salem rich in the age of sail.
- Butler Room: A small main-house room that can only be booked by phone, together with another room to make a suite.
- Silsbee's: Silsbee Suite, Canton and Rajah Rooms: Three rooms next door in the Silsbee family’s old barn, converted into a house in 1843.
History of Daniels House Inn
Stephen Daniels and his son were shipbuilders and mariners, and one of them built this house sometime between 1667 and 1693, close to the shipyards along the South River and Salem Harbor. For about 150 years it was home to shipbuilders and carpenters.
Stephen Daniels II’s daughter Mary married into the Silsbee family and lived in the house until 1803. Her son Samuel Silsbee, a carpenter, remodeled and enlarged it around the time of his marriage to Martha Prince in 1756. In 1843 the family’s barn next door was converted into a house, today’s Silsbee’s. In the mid-1800s the Silsbee heirs split the property into 1 and 3 Daniels Street, and the family’s ownership ended in the 1860s.
The house then had a long working life. It was divided into a double house of at least four apartments and served as a day nursery and a boarding house, and after a foreclosure in the Depression it stood empty for almost 20 years. Theodore Perry and Winifred Haller rescued it, filled it with antiques and ran the first floor as a historic tea room.
In 1962 the Hallers sold the house to Thomas and Catherine Gill. Kay Gill ran it as a bed and breakfast and then an inn for 55 years, until her death in 2018. In 2019 Patrick Bentivegna and Adele Lee bought the house, carried out a full restoration and reopened it as the Daniels House Inn, with rooms and tours.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Book early for October weekends; small inns in Salem fill first.
- Ask about the house tour, even if you are not staying.
- Walk down to the Salem Maritime National Historical Park and Derby Wharf, a few minutes away, and on to the House of the Seven Gables.
- Expect a 17th-century house: low doorways, uneven floors and steep stairs come with the territory.
- If the main house is full, ask about the three rooms in Silsbee’s next door.
- Check-in is self-service with a door code, and parking is free, which is rare this close to the waterfront.
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.
- General Stanton Inn Ghost Hunt and Overnight VIP, Charlestown, RI: After-hours access to an inn that has taken guests since 1740, with rooms to sleep in.
- Captain Grant's 1754 Inn Ghost Hunt and Sleepover, Preston, CT: Investigate Connecticut’s most haunted inn, then spend the night.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Hawthorne Hotel: Rooms 612 and 325 on Washington Square
- The Salem Inn: Room 17 and the ghost called Katherine
- The Merchant: the 1784 Joshua Ward House on Sheriff Corwin’s land
- Haunted hotels in Massachusetts
- Haunted hotels in Salem
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 Daniels House in Salem haunted?
It has a long-standing ghost tradition. Guests and earlier owners describe a man in Puritan dress said to be Stephen Daniels, an unidentified woman, a gray tabby cat and belongings that move. The current owners do not promote the stories.
How old is the Daniels House in Salem?
It was built between 1667 and 1693 by the shipbuilder Stephen Daniels or his son, so it is older than the 1692 witch trials. It was enlarged around 1756.
Is the Daniels House the oldest inn in Salem?
It is often described as the oldest bed and breakfast in Salem, and the house itself is one of the oldest in the city.
Can you tour the Daniels House?
Yes. The owners offer house tours as well as overnight stays; check the inn’s website for dates.
Who owns the Daniels House?
Patrick Bentivegna and Adele Lee, who bought it in 2019 and restored it. Before them, Kay Gill ran it as a bed and breakfast for 55 years.
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.
- Daniels House Inn (official site)
- Daniels House Inn: About
- The Bill Beaver Project: What is the Daniels House?
- Green Matters: Haunted hotels in Salem, MA
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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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