Mount Washington Hotel - Bretton Woods, New Hampshire

At the base of scenic Mount Washington sits a glorious testament to wealth and love. The Mount Washington Hotel was built in 1902 (after 2 years of construction), a show of the wealth owner Joseph Stickney had amassed through his investments in coal mining and the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Stickney spared no expense on the massive structure, using what was then state-of-the-art construction methods and heating, plumbing and private phones. A staff of 350 people waited on the guests—sometimes outnumbering them. It was truly a wealthy man’s paradise. And Joseph Stickney’s wife, Carolyn, loved the hotel nearly as much as she loved her husband.

The hotel served many well-to-do guests, including the Vanderbilt family. And regardless of who attended dinner each night in the hotel’s grand dining room, Carolyn Stickney was always the finest dressed attendee. It is rumored that Mrs. Stickney would hide on the balcony and look at the hotel’s guests as they filed in—carefully contemplating what dress and jewels to wear in order to outshine them all. After playing the nightly “belle of the ball,” Carolyn and Joseph would dine privately by candlelight, snatching at romantic moments.

Then, tragically in December 1903, Joseph’s heart suddenly gave out and he died, leaving his grieving widow to roam a gigantic monument to their love. Carolyn stayed on at the hotel, wandering the well-manicured grounds where she and Joseph shared so much happiness. Carolyn eventually remarried Prince Lucinge of France and moved to France until the prince also passed away. When he died, she again returned to Mount Washington to spend many happy times there. She died many years later, owning the hotel until her death, but rumor is that she still wanders through the elegant hotel and its rambling grounds.

Visitors have reported hearing a ghostly romantic melody playing through the hotel, and some say they’ve glimpsed a woman fitting Carolyn’s description peeking down from the balcony. Perhaps she still watches the visitors to the hotel, wondering about what it might take to stun them now…

Orbs show up in photos and television channels change themselves in the “Tower Suites” that Carolyn supposedly frequents. Perfume drifts into rooms and tubs start filling themselves, according to some guests. Mysterious lights are sometimes seen and although the hotel staff has been taught not to tell ghostly tales, some hint at odd occurrences.

In room 314 there supposedly still exists a hand turned and handcrafted four-poster bed that Carolyn shared with her first husband. Some have reported seeing a woman on the bed’s edge, slowly brushing her hair. Could it be that Carolyn Stickney still longs for some form of rest, even in spirit form?