New York has always been a city that pulses with life, yet tucked away in a quieter corner of NoHo lies a place where the past refuses to stay buried. Its walls whisper secrets from a time long gone, and the air carries a chill that no heater can chase away. Few visitors step inside expecting the kind of stories that linger long after the doors are closed.
The Merchant’s House Museum is often referred to as Manhattan’s most haunted house. It is a unique 1832 brick and marble row house with a history that feels alive. Sometimes a little too alive. Once the residence of wealthy merchant Seabury Tredwell and his family.
The house became a museum in 1936 after the last family member, Gertrude Tredwell, passed away. Intriguingly, Gertrude spent her last 24 years living alone in the home, preserving it exactly as her father had wanted. Reports say she died in the very bed she was born in, cementing the house’s eerie reputation.
New York’s Merchant House Museum: A Portal to the Past and Paranormal
Over the decades, strange happenings have been recorded throughout the building. Paranormal investigator Dan Sturges has visited more than 100 times, capturing ghostly voices, unexplained footsteps, and even the distant notes of a piano.
In one chilling exchange, when asked if he knew how to play the piano, a spirit reportedly replied, “Yes. I strike the keys in succession.” On another occasion, a female voice answered a question about her appearance with a detached, “Pleasant enough.” Sturges’s use of electromagnetic field detectors, directional microphones, and forensic analysis remains unnervingly personal.
Staff members have shared their own unsettling experiences. One reported hearing children running across empty floors late at night. While another walked away from a display only to return and find the Tredwell family teacups inexplicably rearranged. Visitors who wander through the five floors can still glimpse more than 3,000 original items belonging to the Tredwell family. Everything from furniture and clothing to delicate china, each piece imbued with history and perhaps, a spirit or two.
“I got chills hearing this,” one commenter shares.
“How interesting and spooky!” another adds.
Ongoing Mysteries and Eerie Encounters
The museum attracts thousands of curious guests each year. For the most intimate experience, weekday visits are recommended. Particularly in the late afternoon when shadows stretch across the rooms, enhancing the house’s haunting atmosphere. Tickets are reasonably priced, with adult admission typically around $15, and reduced rates for students and seniors. Guided tours are available, offering visitors a deeper look into both the history and the supernatural lore surrounding the Tredwell family home.
Accounts of the spectral residents persist. In 2007, a psychic medium accurately described Irish servants who had lived in the house centuries earlier. This information was later confirmed through census records. Ghost sightings have been reported decades apart. Each describes the same figure. A woman in a brown dress, quietly sipping tea and staring out the kitchen window.
Visiting the Merchant’s House Museum is more than a walk through history. It’s a step into a world where the past never fully lets go. Between its preserved artifacts, architectural beauty, and spine-tingling hauntings. It’s easy to see why this NoHo treasure continues to captivate and intrigue. And occasionally terrify those who dare to cross its threshold.
Nina Franklin 
Kendra Quinn 
Casey James 
