Is This The Spookiest Haunted House In the Berkshires? (Videos & Photos)

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The second stop in our haunted places in the Berkshires has received national television attention in the past.

Houghton Mansion

The Houghton Mansion is one of the most interesting haunted houses in the Berkshires, so many paranormal groups and tv shows have filmed and tested the house  There used to be group tours,  haunted sleepovers, and paranormal-themed weekend conferences.

So why is the Houghton mansion so attractive to paranormal people? A lot of it has to do with history. Even the Travel Channel's “Ghost Adventures,” featured it.

The mansion is the place where four people died there in 1914.
The mansion started getting a paranormal reputation in 1918 when the Gallup Family bought it.

All kinds of stories were coming out then about haunted happenings at the home including, hearing voices, slamming doors, loud knocking noises, cold spots, lights turning off and on, and frequent experiences of being touched or pushed by something invisible. (Kinda sounds like a house I lived in as a teen, but that is for another time.)

Travel Channel/Youtube

One of the psychics who visited the home believes that Mary Houghton and John Widders were lovers and that her father Mayor Houghton forbade the match. The psychic believes their three spirits are locked in an ongoing Victorian battle the psychic believed that was at the root of the angry paranormal happenings in the house.

Paranormal Channel? Youtube

Oh but there are other stories too connected to the home. Some say an accident was behind the haunting. This is one I think most of us here in the Berkshires know best.

In the spring of 1914, Houghton purchased his first car, a seven-passenger touring vehicle. On August 1, Houghton asked his newly trained driver, loyal servant John Widders, to bring the Pierce-Arrow around for a trip to Vermont.

Going for the ride that day were A.C., his daughter Mary and family friends Dr. and Mrs. Robert Hutton of New York with their daughter, Sybil.

So on their ride, they ended up in Pownal, Vermont, climbing a street now called Oak Hill Road. Work repair on the right side of the road they were on was happening while driving.

Widders pulled Houghton's car over to the left in an attempt to drive around the construction crew. The car's tires hit a soft dirt shoulder, where the driver lost control and sent the vehicle tumbling down a steep embankment.

Everyone was thrown from the car except Mary, the Pierce-Arrow rolled on top of Mrs. Hutton and she was killed instantly. Mary had serious injuries and died a few hours later at North Adams Hospital.

Houghton's trusted servant couldn't forgive himself for the deaths. Early on August 2, Widders went down to the basement and shot himself, taking his own life.

A.C. Houghton suffered no serious physical injuries during the accident, but the tragic events broke his heart. He died 10 days after the crash that took his daughter's life.

Years later it became the Masonic Temple, where people said they would hear footsteps on the second floor.

You used to be able to stay and tour the house but that is no more, The Houghton Mansion is now closed to the public.

Have any of you had any experiences in the Houghton House?

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