Haunted hotel guide · Cape May, New Jersey

The Haunted Southern Mansion, Cape May, NJ: Ester Mercur and Room 14

An 1863 Italianate villa in an acre and a half of gardens, where the last of the family that owned it for 83 years is said to have never quite moved out.

By The Haunted Rooms Team · Updated November 2026 · How we rate hotels

4.2/5Haunted Rooms Score
1863Year built
Room 14Most talked-about room

Check availabilityMeet the ghosts

The Southern Mansion stands on Washington Street in the middle of Cape May’s historic district, a grand Italianate villa with a rooftop cupola, deep bracketed eaves and a wide veranda, set back in about an acre and a half of gardens. It is a bed and breakfast with rooms and suites in the original house and a newer South Wing, a speakeasy-style ballroom, a winery and a busy wedding calendar.

It is also one of the few places in town that talks openly about its ghost. The inn’s own blog describes Ester, the last of the Allen family, as a happy spirit who enjoys what has been done to her house. Guests add a perfume that comes and goes, voices in Room 14 and a soldier who has been seen near the kitchen. Here are the stories, the history and how to stay.

Southern Mansion at a glance

4.2/5
Haunted Rooms Score
Haunted reputation4
History5
Ghost hunter access4
$$$ · Over $300Haunted room bookableHotel embraces its ghosts
  • Address 720 Washington Street, Cape May, NJ 08204
  • Built 1863 for George Allen, designed by Samuel Sloan; an inn since 1996
  • Most haunted spots Room 14, Rooms 9, 10 and 12, the ballroom and the kitchen
  • Best-known ghosts Ester Mercur, the last of the Allen family; a man in military uniform; an unseen couple talking
  • Booking the haunted room Rooms are booked by type; call to request Room 14 (or 9, 10 or 12). Not guaranteed
  • Good to know Full gourmet breakfast, private baths, onsite parking, beach chairs in summer; a popular wedding venue

Check availability

The ghosts of the Southern Mansion

Ester Mercur

Ester Mercur was the last of George Allen’s family to own the mansion, and when she died in 1946 the house left the family after 83 years. She is the presence most guests and staff talk about. The inn’s blog calls her Ester Allen, George Allen’s niece, and describes her as a happy ghost who lingers in the house and enjoys its restoration.

The sign people mention most is perfume, a strong floral scent that drifts through a room or corridor and is gone a moment later. Others describe laughter, cold spots and small lights in photos. Given how far the house fell after she died, from family home to dilapidated boarding house, it is not hard to see why a story grew up about her being glad to see it restored.

The conversation in Room 14

Guests staying in Room 14 have reported hearing a man and a woman talking quietly when there is no one else in the room and the neighboring rooms are empty. The words are never clear, just the rise and fall of a conversation. Other writers place the most activity in Rooms 9, 10 and 12, so it is fair to say the stories are spread through the original house.

The soldier in the ballroom

A chef working late has described seeing a man in military uniform in the ballroom and kitchen area, who was gone when he looked back. Nobody has identified him, and the Allen family history does not obviously explain him, which makes him the most mysterious of the house’s figures.

The most haunted rooms and places to look

  • Room 14: Voices of a man and a woman talking with no one there.
  • Rooms 9, 10 and 12: Named by other writers for perfume, laughter and cold spots.
  • The ballroom and kitchen: Where a chef saw a man in military uniform.

History of The Southern Mansion

George Allen, a Philadelphia industrialist, built the house in 1863 as his family’s summer estate, at a time when a direct rail line from Philadelphia was turning Cape May into the original seaside resort. He hired Samuel Sloan, one of the best-known architects of the day, who designed it in the Italianate style; Henri Phillipi was the builder. When the Great Fire of 1879 swept through much of town, the mansion survived.

The Allens and their descendants used the house for 83 years. After Ester Mercur died in 1946, her husband Ulysses sold the estate with its furnishings for $8,000. It became a boarding house: painted white, chopped into small rooms and slowly weakened by the alterations. By the 1980s its boarding house license had been revoked for lack of upkeep.

In 1994 a Philadelphia family, the Bray/Wildes, bought the property and spent about eighteen months on a meticulous restoration, replacing structural beams, wiring, plumbing, heating, sprinklers, roofs and chimneys and repainting the exterior. The house reopened as the Southern Mansion in the spring of 1996.

A second phase added the South Wing, with ten guest suites, a second ballroom and a commercial kitchen, designed to echo the original house; it was complete by the summer of 1997. Today the inn is known for weddings, its gardens and its full breakfast, and it sits a short walk from the Washington Street Mall and the beach.

Tips for a haunted stay

  • Book a room in the original house rather than the South Wing if you want to be where the stories are.
  • Call to request Room 14 after you book, or ask staff which rooms guests mention most; the inn is happy to talk about Ester.
  • Walk the gardens after dark; the house lit from below is one of the best sights in Cape May.
  • Check the events calendar first; summer weekends are often busy with weddings.
  • Combine your stay with a night at the Hotel Macomber or Angel of the Sea.

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.

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Frequently asked questions

Is the Southern Mansion in Cape May haunted?

It is said to be. The inn itself describes Ester, the last of the Allen family, as a happy ghost, and guests report perfume, laughter, cold spots, voices in Room 14 and a man in uniform in the ballroom.

Who haunts the Southern Mansion?

Most stories are about Ester Mercur, the last of George Allen’s family to own the house, who died in 1946. The inn’s blog calls her Ester Allen, George Allen’s niece.

Which room is haunted at the Southern Mansion?

Room 14 is the best known, for the sound of a man and woman talking. Rooms 9, 10 and 12 are also mentioned.

When was the Southern Mansion built?

In 1863, for Philadelphia industrialist George Allen, to a design by architect Samuel Sloan. It reopened as an inn in 1996 after a full restoration.

Can you get married at the Southern Mansion?

Yes. It is one of Cape May’s best-known wedding venues, with two ballrooms and gardens.

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.

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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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