Haunted Widow McCrea House, Frenchtown: The Ghost Cat, the Grand Lady and the Tuccamirgan Room

The Widow McCrea House stands on Kingwood Avenue (State Route 12) in Frenchtown, a small riverside village in Hunterdon County with galleries, cafes and a bridge across the Delaware to Pennsylvania. It is an Italianate Victorian built around 1878 and credited to a widow, Frances McCrea. Its hosts restored it more than a century later with period antiques, fireplaces, featherbeds and jacuzzis, and it now offers three guest rooms, several suites and a private cottage.

It is one of the gentlest haunted stays in the state. The inn itself says its guests are watched over by the spirit of the grand lady, a nod to the widow. But the story guests actually tell is about a cat that is not there: soft meows in the night and the weight of something settling onto the bed. A local student newspaper added a stranger tale in 2021, about a room named for a ghost. A word of caution before you plan: the house was listed for sale in 2022, so call to confirm it is still taking guests. For bigger names, see our guide to haunted hotels in New Jersey.

The ghosts of Widow McCrea House

The cat on the bed

The Widow McCrea House’s best-known ghost is not a person. Guests describe hearing a faint meow in the night, then feeling a cat jump onto the bed, walk across the covers or settle at their feet. When they turn on the lamp, there is no cat.

Others say they have heard a cat moving along the upstairs hallway. 92.7 WOBM, writing about the inn in 2024, made the point that it is neither a little girl nor a shadowy man, and that is the charm of it. Nobody has said whose cat it was.

The grand lady

The inn’s own website says guests are watched over by the spirit of the grand lady, meaning Frances McCrea, the widow who built the house in the 1870s. There is no detailed sighting of her on record; she is part of the house’s personality rather than its ghost reports.

It is still worth knowing that the owners lean into the idea. You are staying in her house, and they say so.

The man in the Tuccamirgan room

In October 2021 The Delphi, the Delaware Valley Regional High School newspaper, ran a ghost hunter’s guide to Hunterdon County that quoted co-owner Lynn Marad. The story she shared was of a Native American man, seen only from the waist up, repeating in a distressed and unclear voice that “they need to know the truth.” The owners named one of the rooms the Tuccamirgan room after him, a reference to Tuccamirgan, the Lenape leader remembered in Hunterdon County history.

Nobody has recorded who the man was or what truth he meant. It is a single account told by the owners, so treat it as house lore. OnlyInYourState adds that the owner has said some rooms are haunted and some are not, so you can ask which is which.

Small house, close quarters

With only a handful of rooms, every guest is close to the action. That also means sounds carry, so be fair to the old house: radiators, floorboards and the village outside all make noise at night. The stories that stick are the ones about weight on the bed, which are hard to explain away as plumbing.

The most haunted rooms and places to look

• Guest rooms: Three rooms in the main house, each with a private bath, queen featherbed and period antiques.
• Suites: Several larger suites with fireplaces and oversized jacuzzis, the romantic end of the house.
• The Kase Family Cottage: A private cottage on the property, the best choice if you are bringing children or a dog.
• Gardens, patio and porch: The Victorian porch faces Kingwood Avenue; the garden and patio are at the back.

History of Widow McCrea House

Frenchtown sits on the Delaware River in Hunterdon County, facing Pennsylvania across the water. The Widow McCrea House was built around 1878 in the Italianate style that was fashionable then: a square, solid house with tall windows, deep eaves and a front porch. The inn credits it to Frances McCrea, a widow, and that is where its name comes from.

Little else about the widow is published, and we have not found records that add to the inn’s own account. The inn says the house has welcomed visitors for more than a century, and it was restored and expanded by later owners as a bed and breakfast.

The current incarnation was created by hosts who renovated and restored the house, filled it with period antiques and added fireplaces, private baths, featherbeds and jacuzzis. They kept the Victorian character the house is known for and added a separate private cottage. The inn serves a gourmet candlelit breakfast and rents a bicycle built for two for the nearby canal paths.

The canal paths along the river are close by, and the river bridge leads to Pennsylvania’s Bucks County. It makes Frenchtown an easy base for exploring New Hope and Lambertville, which have haunted inns of their own.

In 2022 the property was listed for sale at $799,000 as a 3,311 square foot bed and breakfast with six suites, each with a private bath, plus a separate cottage with a kitchenette; the listing later showed as no longer available. The marketing suggested it could stay an inn or become a private home with a rental cottage. We could not confirm who runs it today or whether it still takes overnight guests, which is why we suggest calling before you plan a trip around it.

Tips for a haunted stay

• Call (908) 996-4999 before you plan anything. The house was listed for sale in 2022, and we could not confirm it is still taking overnight guests.
• If you are bringing a dog or children, say so when you call. Both are welcome with restrictions.
• Ask which rooms carry the stories, including the Tuccamirgan room; the owner has said some rooms are haunted and others are not.
• Rent the inn’s bicycle built for two and ride the canal paths along the Delaware.
• Cross the river for dinner in Bucks County, or drive down the river to New Hope’s Logan Inn, one of Pennsylvania’s best-known haunted inns.
• Leave the bedroom door closed at night. If something settles on the bed, it did not come in through the door.

More haunted hotels nearby

• The Logan Inn, New Hope, PA: Emily, the man in the mirror and 300 years of stories, down the Delaware
• Hotel Bethlehem, PA: May Yohe and Room 932 in a grand 1922 hotel
• The Grenville Hotel, Bay Head: New Jersey’s haunted shore hotel with ghost children in the lobby
• Haunted hotels in New Jersey

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.

• Widow McCrea House: official site
• 92.7 WOBM: Haunted NJ bed and breakfast built in 1878 (2024)
• The Delphi: A ghost hunter's guide to Hunterdon County (2021)
• OnlyInYourState: Stay overnight in the Widow McCrea House
• CIMLS: Bed and breakfast for sale, 53 Kingwood Ave, Frenchtown
• WellcomeMat: The Widow McCrea House listing
• Purple Roofs: Widow McCrea House

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