DELAWARE — For those looking to join the altogether ooky Addams family, look no further than Morticia’s Manor at 59 E. William St. in downtown Delaware.
Regan Flinn and her husband Christian purchased the four-bedroom spooky spectacle after scouring Delaware for the right historic property to rent out in September 2025.
“For the last five, six years we tried to actually purchase the old jail when it was for sale back in the day,” Flinn said.
“I have a major love for historical homes, and all things creepy.”
When the couple found the property, Flinn fell in love with it immediately as a gothic front staircase greets all who dare enter.
She said workers had some paranormal experiences while restoring the house, making the Addams family theme an easy choice.
From finding animal bones (and a human vertebrae) to seeing old nuns appear at the ends of beds, the house has quite a lot of…characters.
Let’s dive into what visitors can expect in the dark corners of the house, and how those corners got so dark in the first place — before the manor opened its doors on Friday, Feb. 13.
Restoring the manor to its former glory
While the couple took on the peculiar project in September 2025, the city of Delaware put a stop-work order on them in November 2025.
“We were just fixing everything and painted really quickly, and the city called and sent a stop-work order,” Flinn said. “They said [the house] is in a historical preservation area. We were like, ‘Oh, shoot, we didn’t know that.'”
After breaking for a few months and presenting before the Delaware County Historical Society, the project got back on track.
The couple fixed a lot of termite damage, turned the property back into one unit from two units, updated plumbing from cast iron pipes, redid all the electrical work and tried to preserve as much of the original architecture as possible.
“We wanted to get the inside done first. Exterior comes now that the weather has warmed up,” Flinn said.
“We’ve ordered trees and that kind of thing, and plan to make a black-flowered trellis in the backyard.”
Paranormal activity
Painting everything in the house black certainly makes it easier for visitors to meet the paranormal previous residents.
St. Mary’s Catholic Church is across the street and used to house nuns and orphans in the manor, when the church owned the property back in the day.
Flinn learned that orphans initialed their names on the bricks as they passed through the orphanage, which folks can still see today.
Some of those orphans may even still call the house home.
Flinn said she found a freshly-painted dresser in Morticia’s room covered with child-sized handprints, and her painter could not explain the phenomenon.
Additionally, a former tenant reached out to Flinn and told her she found human remains on the property. The former tenant was a nurse and said she found “clear as day” a human vertebrae.
The proper authorities were notified before Flinn took over the property, but in true spooky fashion, what happened and where the bones are now is unknown.
When the Flinns restored the property to its gothic, glamorous glory, they also uncovered animal remains throughout the manor.
Safe to say all those who stay in the house may not be alone.
Some secrets…
While every room has different things to explore — filled with Addams Family memorabilia, among other creepy artifacts — there are some hidden rooms.
Flinn said she was happy to mention them, but swore Delaware Source to secrecy on their exact locations. Here is a photo of one of the secret rooms:
Think you’re brave enough to survive a night at Morticia’s Manor? Book a stay here and find those secret rooms.
