HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Furnace Hills Estate Tied to the Legh Master Legend
Westminster, MD
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Pricing varies. Check the venue directly for current overnight rates.
Access
Limited Access
Rural property; historic structure with stairs
Equipment
Photos OK
Furnace Hills Iron District · Colonial Maryland History · Carroll County Folklore
The Avonlea property occupies land in the Furnace Hills section of Westminster, Maryland, an area shaped by the eighteenth-century iron industry. According to a Maryland Historical Trust survey of the surrounding Avondale tract (CARR-48), Legh Master, an Englishman born in 1717, emigrated to Maryland in 1765 after the death of his first wife. He acquired land in what is now the Furnace Hills area near present-day Wakefield Valley and made his fortune in the iron-furnace business that gave the district its name. Master lived on the estate until his death in 1796. The legend that attached itself to him in subsequent generations is among the oldest documented ghost stories in Carroll County. Local historian George Donald Riley, Jr. published a book on Master, The Ghost of Leigh Furnace, held by the Carroll County Historical Society. The 'Avonlea Bed and Breakfast' name appears in older paranormal-tourism listings but does not currently advertise itself through standard booking channels; visitors interested in the legend should treat it strictly as a drive-by point of interest rather than an active lodging.
Sources
The Avonlea site sits at the heart of one of Maryland's oldest documented ghost narratives. Legh Master, the English iron-furnace owner who built a mansion in the Furnace Hills area around 1765, became the subject of folklore that has circulated in Carroll County since the nineteenth century. According to the Pennsylvania Haunts and History blog and Patch's Westminster reporting, Master had a reputation among neighbors and laborers for cruelty, and the regional legend attaches multiple deaths of enslaved people on his property to him personally.
The most enduring component of the lore is the figure known as the Ghost of Furnace Hill. Folklore describes Master as condemned to ride the back roads between New Windsor and Westminster, calling out and searching for his lost soul. The story has been retold in Carroll County tourism coverage and in the Riley book held by the local historical society.
Reports tied specifically to Avonlea include sightings of figures in colonial dress, unexplained voices in the basement, and the smell of furnace smoke. These accounts are anecdotal and circulate primarily through paranormal-tourism aggregators rather than independent investigation. The legend frame is the older Master narrative; the present-day building functions as a small B&B and does not market itself as a paranormal-investigation venue.
Notable Entities
View the Avonlea estate from the public road. The property sits in the Furnace Hills area near Wakefield Valley, the historic site of Legh Master's eighteenth-century iron-furnace mansion. The B&B is a private residence; do not approach without booking.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Annapolis, MD
The James Brice House at 42 East Street in Annapolis was begun in 1767 and completed in 1774 for James Brice, who served as Mayor of Annapolis and as acting Governor of Maryland in 1792. The five-part Georgian mansion was constructed using enslaved labor and is a National Historic Landmark. It has been owned by the State of Maryland since 2014 and is stewarded by Historic Annapolis.
Catonsville, MD
Mount de Sales Academy was founded in 1852 by Visitation Sisters from Georgetown as the first Catholic institution in Baltimore County to educate young women of all denominations. The main building, completed in three construction phases and now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, rises four stories on one of Catonsville's highest parcels. Its central chapel remains the oldest place of worship in continuous use in Baltimore.
Ellicott City, MD
Mount Ida is a Greek Revival mansion built in 1828 for William Ellicott, grandson of Ellicott City co-founder Andrew Ellicott, by mason Charles Timanus, who also built the neighboring Patapsco Female Institute. Judge John S. Tyson moved his family in during the 1850s; his youngest daughter, Ida Tyson, was the last family resident and the house's namesake. The house is now owned by Howard County.