Wellesley Home Magazine 2022-23

Spooky Wellesley
By Jane Lebak
Wellesley has a long history, and as any
history buff knows, with history come
ghosts.
Spooky happenings are a piece of any
New England town: homes with questionable
histories, weird disappearances,
faces in windows, and houses
that aren’t quite the same in daylight
as by moonlight. Gather around the
campfire and listen closely, because
Wellesley is no different.
Take, for example, the Wellesley Inn,
initially built in 1860. Stories grew
about Room 18, a reportedly haunted
bedroom where furniture moved and
flowers mysteriously re-located into
the hallways. The room had a “water
closet” with a toilet operated by a pullchain,
but the water would be heard
flushing even when no one was in the
room.
The Inn’s “Lafayette Lounge” also had
its own spectral residents, with furniture
shifting about and the occasional
whiff of rosewater perfume where no
one was standing.
Unfortunately, even spooky shivers
were not enough to keep the Inn in
business. It closed in 2005 and was
demolished in 2006, taking its ghost
stories with it.
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The Wellesley Inn, built in 1860 has since closed, but rumor had it that Room 18 and the Lafayette Lounge
were sites of paranormal activity. Photo used courtesy of Wellesley Historical Society.
Wellesley College has no shortage of
ghost stories. Alumnae Hall, for example,
has a basement theater called “the
black box.” In that theater, some have
reported seeing guests from another
era, such as a man in a top hat, enjoying
the performances. Still others have
experienced glitches with the lighting
during productions, or even full-on
light shows.
The Beebe ghost is creatively named
because it lives in Beebe Hall, supposedly
on the sixth floor. This poses
something of a problem, since according
to the res life website and exterior
Author Liz Sower began her podcast “Ghosts in the Burbs”
back in 2016, crafting weird tales centered in Wellesley.
Photo used courtesy of Liz Sower.
photographs of the building, Beebe
Hall has only five floors. Nevertheless,
the rooms occupied by this ghostly
black-clad woman are supposedly accessible
through a trap door, so you’ll
have to work hard for your haunting.
Wellesley’s “suicide suites” are a series
of three rooms located in the base of
Tower Court, and accessible only by
tunnels. While these rooms are not
used as dorms now, legend has it that
every year, at least one student living
in these suites would have committed
suicide, or in some tellings, one student
developed mental health issues and attempted
to harm the others. Furniture
would be reputedly moved around,
and the custodial staff also reported
oddities. Whether because of the odd
location, the reputation, or the overall
strangeness of the suites, they are
locked and no longer accessible.
Perhaps capitalizing on the ghost
stories, the College’s Guild of Carillonneurs,
a student organization and
ensemble of the music department,
have hosted a Halloween Haunted
Tower, allowing guests the experience
of climbing the bell tower while listening
to the echoing spooky tunes on
the bells and enjoying the creepy Halloween
décor.