Haunted hotel guide · Newport News, Virginia
The Haunted Boxwood Inn, Newport News: Nannie Curtis and the Simon Reid Curtis House
A rambling 1890s mansion in Lee Hall that was a store, a post office and a home to Army officers, where the lady of the house is said to have stayed on to help.
The Boxwood Inn is the Simon Reid Curtis House, a big white frame mansion with deep porches on Elmhurst Street in Lee Hall, in the north of Newport News. It was built in the late 1890s for Simon Reid Curtis and his wife Nannie, and for decades it was the center of village life: the family home, the local store and the post office under one roof. The house left the Curtis family in 1996 and became a bed and breakfast, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
Its ghost story is one of the gentlest in Virginia. Nannie Curtis is said to have stayed on as a helpful presence, knocking on doors early in the morning and producing small things when they are needed. The current owner, however, says the house is not haunted and that no one died there. This guide lays out the stories, the history and how to stay, which today means booking a suite or the whole house through vacation rental sites.
The Boxwood Inn at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 10 Elmhurst Street, Newport News, VA 23603 (Lee Hall, off Yorktown Road)
- Opened Built 1896 or 1897 as the Curtis home, store and post office; a bed and breakfast from the 1980s or 1990s
- Most haunted spots The upstairs bedrooms and the old general store rooms
- Best-known ghosts Nannie Curtis, the helpful lady of the house; an elderly man with a cane; marching footsteps
- Booking the haunted room No room is linked to the stories. The suites and the whole house are booked through vacation rental listings.
- Good to know A 13,000 square foot house with several suites and a ballroom for up to 200 used for weddings. One small dog (up to 20 lbs) is allowed on the current listing.
The ghosts of The Boxwood Inn (Simon Reid Curtis House)
Nannie Curtis, the lady of the house
The spirit at the heart of the Boxwood Inn’s stories is Nannie Cooke Curtis, Simon Curtis’s wife. According to the accounts told by former innkeepers and repeated in ghost guides, she is a happy, helpful presence who seems to approve of the house being cared for again.
The best-known story comes from the restoration. A new owner broke a fingernail and said aloud that she needed an emery board, and a clean nail file appeared in plain view in a house thick with dust. Another time she joked that the ghost could help with $100, then felt something stuck to her shoe: a gold tooth, which she later sold for exactly that.
Knocks at dawn
Guests have said they hear knocking on their doors early in the morning. The story told at the inn is that Nannie, who helped run the family’s general store when it opened at 6 a.m., is still waking people up for work.
A tug from behind, rearranged silverware and marching feet
Former owner Kathy Hulick, who did not believe in ghosts when she bought the house, has said she changed her mind after living there. She described an unexplained tugging at the back of her head, marching noises from empty rooms and silverware found rearranged in the dining room. Some accounts add an elderly gentleman with a cane who appears from time to time.
What the owner says now
Not everyone agrees the house is haunted. In July 2025 the current owner, Gina Palatini Newton, wrote publicly that the house is not haunted and that no one died there. That fits the stories, which describe a friendly presence rather than a tragedy. Treat the Boxwood Inn as a beautiful historic house with a famous local legend, not a place where activity is promised.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- The Grand Suite: A queen bed, a private bath and an extra sleeping area for two more, on the current rental listing.
- The Family Suite: Adjoining rooms with a queen and a full bed and a private bath with a claw-foot tub.
- The Train Suite and smaller rooms: The listing also names the Train Suite, the Grooms Room and the Cinderella Room. Some suites are listed separately, such as the General Pershing Suite.
History of The Boxwood Inn (Simon Reid Curtis House)
Simon Reid Curtis (1862 to 1949) took over his family’s affairs after his father died. The state historical marker outside describes him as a horse trader and early car dealer who built up land and business interests around Lee Hall, and he was a political force in Warwick County from the 1890s until his death, holding county office for decades. When he died, the marker says, all of Warwick stopped at Lebanon Church to pay their respects.
Around 1896 or 1897 he built this house for himself and Nannie to designs by the architect Adolph Wagner. It is a two-and-a-half-story Colonial Revival frame building made of two connected sections in a T shape, with about 21 rooms, and it was more than a home: it held the local store and the post office too. During both world wars the Curtises rented rooms to Army officers connected with the military posts nearby.
The family kept the house until 1996. It was then sold, renovated and opened as the Boxwood Inn, although the state historical marker outside dates the bed and breakfast to the 1980s. The house was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register in June 2009 and to the National Register of Historic Places that August.
The present owners say they saved the building from demolition. They have added a 2,500 square foot ballroom on the site of the old sunroom, and the house is now rented for weddings, reunions and overnight stays, by the suite or as a whole, through vacation rental sites.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Book a suite or the whole house through the vacation rental listings, and read the house rules, including the one-small-dog policy.
- Ask your host about Nannie, but do not expect a ghost tour: the current owner says the house is not haunted.
- Read the state historical marker on Elmhurst Street for the Curtis family’s story.
- Check dates early: the ballroom hosts weddings, which can take the whole house on weekends.
- For a hotel with a bigger haunted reputation, pair a night here with a stay at The Cavalier in Virginia Beach.
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.
- Berkeley Plantation Ghost Hunt, Charles City, VA: Our nearest ghost hunt, up the James River from Newport News.
- Roanoke Island Inn Ghost Hunt and Sleepover, Manteo, NC: An overnight ghost hunt on the Outer Banks.
- Belle Grove Plantation Ghost Hunt, King George, VA: General admission or an overnight VIP night in one of the four suites.
More haunted hotels nearby
- The Cavalier, Virginia Beach: Adolph Coors and Room 606 at Virginia’s most famous haunted hotel
- Edgewood Plantation, Charles City: a haunted plantation inn on Route 5, further up the peninsula
- Haunted places in Williamsburg: Colonial Williamsburg’s ghost stories, a short drive north
- Haunted hotels in Virginia
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 Boxwood Inn in Newport News haunted?
It has a local reputation for a friendly ghost, Nannie Curtis, with stories of knocking at dawn, an unseen tug from behind and small objects appearing when needed. The current owner says the house is not haunted and that no one died there, so treat the stories as legend.
Who was Nannie Curtis?
Nannie Cooke Curtis was the wife of Simon Reid Curtis, who built the house in the 1890s. The family home also held their store and the post office, and she is said to have helped run the store.
Can you still stay at the Boxwood Inn?
Yes, but not through a front desk. The house is rented by the suite or as a whole through vacation rental sites, and it is also used for weddings and events.
Is the Boxwood Inn on the National Register of Historic Places?
Yes. As the Simon Reid Curtis House it was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
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.
- Wikipedia: Simon Reid Curtis House
- HMdb: The Simon Reid Curtis House marker
- HauntedPlaces.org: Boxwood Inn (with owner comment, 2025)
- OnlyInYourState: Haunted hotels in Virginia
- Expedia: 1896 Historic Mansion (formerly the Historic Boxwood Inn)
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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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