HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
The last home the Fitzgeralds shared — now a museum where staff report Zelda still throws things
919 Felder Ave, Montgomery, AL 36106
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Small admission fee; check website for current pricing
Access
Limited Access
Historic house with stairs; limited accessibility on upper floors
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1910 · Last home F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald shared as a family (Oct 1931–Feb 1932) · Zelda Fitzgerald's final residence before long-term psychiatric institutionalization · Site of Scott Fitzgerald's work on Tender Is the Night
The house at 919 Felder Avenue was built in the 1910s in a Craftsman bungalow style common to Montgomery's Cloverdale neighborhood. The Fitzgeralds moved in during the fall of 1931, when Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald — a Montgomery native — returned to her hometown while Scott worked on the novel that would become Tender Is the Night. Their daughter Scottie was also in residence during part of the stay.
This was the last time Scott, Zelda, and Scottie lived together under one roof. Scott departed in February 1932. Zelda's mental health, already fragile since her first breakdown in 1930, continued to decline, and she was admitted to Highland Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, where she would spend much of the remainder of her life. On March 10, 1948, a fire at Highland Hospital killed Zelda along with eight other patients locked in an upper ward.
The museum opened in 1989 and operates as a nonprofit dedicated to the Fitzgeralds' legacy. It holds first editions, correspondence, and personal effects. Wikipedia's entry on the museum confirms the 1931–1932 occupancy dates and the property's house-museum status. The museum also operates the house as an Airbnb rental, allowing overnight guests to stay in the historic space.
Sources
The paranormal lore at the Fitzgerald Museum centers almost entirely on Zelda. The most specific reported incident, documented by Southern Spirit Guide, involves a painting that staff say flew off a wall without any apparent cause; the attribution to Zelda's spirit followed naturally given the domestic setting and her documented volatility in life.
Overnight guests using the house's Airbnb listing have reported phantom footsteps on the stairs and what several describe as faint jazz music on the upper floors — a detail that carries obvious resonance given Zelda's dance background and the era the Fitzgeralds inhabited. The reports are informal and spread primarily through travel reviews and paranormal tourism writeups, but the Southern Spirit Guide and US Ghost Adventures tour listings both cite the phenomenon, suggesting they have circulated widely enough to become standard in Montgomery ghost-tour narratives.
Zelda's death in the 1948 Highland Hospital fire in Asheville is the biographical anchor the lore returns to: a woman whose creative life was repeatedly interrupted, who died in a fire while locked in a hospital ward, is seen as a particularly apt candidate for restless presence.
Notable Entities
Docent-led tour of the house where the Fitzgeralds lived from October 1931 to February 1932 — the last time they resided together. First editions, personal effects, and period furnishings trace their overlapping rise and decline.
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