HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Historic Bethany Beach inn with paranormal reputation
99 Ocean View Parkway, Bethany Beach, DE 19930
Research updated August 2026
Age
21+ (adults only)
Cost
$$
Historic inn rates vary by season
Access
Wheelchair OK
Coastal area
Equipment
Photos OK
Bethany Beach Landmark · Coastal Delaware History
John and Jennie Addy, summer migrants from Pittsburgh, built the Addy Sea in 1901 as a family retreat on a corner lot at what is now Ocean View Parkway and North Atlantic Avenue in Bethany Beach, one of the town's earliest oceanfront homes. John Addy worked as a plumber, and the house was reportedly the first in the area wired for gaslight and fitted with indoor plumbing; some later accounts date the finished, expanded house to 1904. The Victorian-era structure took its present form with cedar-shingle siding and gingerbread trim, and its tin ceilings and fireplaces have since been restored.
Coastal storms forced two relocations: after a 1927 storm, the house was moved a block west of its original footing using manpower, mules, and log rollers, and a smaller structure sold off the property (Addy #3) was later donated and moved again, becoming Bethany Beach's Nature Center in 1998. The building's foundation was compromised but the structure remained standing through a major 1962 coastal storm. During the Great Depression the Addy children began renting rooms to make ends meet, starting the property's transition from private home to lodging house.
Leroy T. Gravatte III purchased the Addy Sea from the Addy family in 1974 and carried out renovations over subsequent decades, retaining the Victorian character while adding modern amenities. Jeff and Sherene Gravatte took over as innkeepers in 2016. Eventide Hospitality acquired the operating business in 2023 while the Gravatte family retained ownership of the property; the inn joined the Select Registry hospitality association on April 1, 2025, and was named a Best of Delaware honoree for Best B&B/Inn by Delaware Today in 2022.
Sources
The Addy Sea carries a long-running reputation in Delaware ghost-tourism and travel media as a haunted inn, but HauntBound's review of that reputation found the specific stories circulating online cannot be traced past secondary ghost-tourism aggregator sites; neither the inn's own materials nor Delaware newspaper coverage of the property references paranormal activity. The commonly repeated version of the legend describes phenomena concentrated in three guest rooms: a copper clawfoot tub that shakes violently on its own, organ music heard in a room with no organ, and a room where bathtub jets and guests' phones reportedly activate without explanation. Some retellings attach these phenomena to named individuals, including a former employee and the inn's founder said to have died in a fall from the roof. HauntBound could not confirm either claim in any primary source (contemporary newspaper account, obituary, or the inn's own history), and the aggregator accounts are inconsistent with each other on basic details, including the spelling of the founder's name. Given that inconsistency and the absence of primary documentation, HauntBound treats the room-specific stories as unverified regional folklore and does not repeat the unconfirmed real-person claims as fact.
Media Appearances
Experience the historic Addy-Sea Inn in Bethany Beach. The property features period accommodations and coastal atmosphere in a historic structure with documented paranormal phenomena.
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