Haunted Beauty: Great Design, Scary Details

It's easy to spot the Jamesport Manor Inn in Jamesport, New York. A beautifully restored Mansard-roof Second Empire style home, it sits grandly amidst farm fields and quaint country homes on Long Island's North Fork, about two hours east of Manhattan. But the Jamesport Manor Inn, home to an upscale restaurant (which has some of the best food I've ever had), has a creepy past.

Restaurateur Matt Kar bought the property in 2004. After nearly completing a magnificent restoration, including a slate roof identical to the original roof, beautiful parquet floors and careful attention to original structural details, they had to start all over again. On the early morning of October 20, 2005 -- right before they were set to open -- it mysteriously burned to the ground. They never found a reason, other than a bag of rags that may have spontaneously combusted.

Matt was determined to rebuild and restore the home, and today, it's an architectural landmark worth visiting. When you walk in, you'll be seduced by the beautiful wood floors, cozy fireplaces and wide, heavy staircase that leads upstairs to a gallery displaying local artists. "Before the fire," says Matt, "there was most definitely a presence here. When I first walked into the building, you could feel it -- something was here, something was going on."

A presence? Yes, that's right. Locals believe this historic spot is haunted.

The Jamesport Manor Inn has a storied past. It has had several owners and was supposedly even a brothel at one time, but this spooky story begins with the Dimon family. A family of merchants and shipbuilders, it's estimated that the family built the Manor in the 1870s, where they raised three children, including a daughter named Margaret. When Margaret was 10, she was climbing the massive Oak trees outside when she fell, broke her neck and died. It is said that she has remained ever since -- She's been seen running in the yard and haunting the staff with her antics.



"The first few weeks that we were open, someone came in and had this candle that they said would bring the Manor's ghost back," Matt told me. "I told them that I didn't believe in ghosts. Later on in the conversation, I repeated that I didn't believe, and as I said it, he took the candle out. Literally the moment the candle hit the table, lightning struck the telephone pole across the street and all the lights in here started to flicker. After that, it was kind of hard not to believe, even for me."

Still, Matt doesn't feel the ghostly presence like some of his coworkers have. The book keeper, who sometimes works alone there, says she feels and hears strange noises. And people who live nearby will occasionally drop by to say that they've seen a woman standing in the window. A few years back, I waitressed there and I was once told that roses still grow from the spot where Margaret fell and died, no matter what you do to get rid of them. My trips to the basement often included darting quickly for what I needed and running back upstairs in fear of running into the rumored ghost.

Is Margaret's mother Rosalie the woman in the window? Apparently, she died there, spending "her last 40 years in sadness and seclusion," according to the restaurant's website. If you're ever in town, drop by for brunch and let us know if you felt the "presence."