Built in 1758, this Georgian gem — the only surviving Southern example of a 'jutt' overhang — draws paranormal investigators and tour guests who report a ghost that presses into a second-floor bedroom mattress.
408 S. Broad St, Edenton, NC 27932
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Ticketed tour through the Edenton Historical Commission; check ehcnc.org for current pricing.
Access
Limited Access
1758 frame house with original staircase; upper floors not accessible by wheelchair
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1758 · National Historic Landmark · National Register of Historic Places · Only surviving Southern colonial example of 'jutt' overhang construction · Colonial Chowan County history
Francis Corbin, the Earl of Granville's land agent, built the Cupola House around 1758 on a lot in Edenton's commercial district, then a prosperous port on Albemarle Sound. The two-and-a-half-story frame building's most distinctive feature is the 'jutt' — a second floor that projects several inches beyond the first on all four sides — a construction technique common in 17th-century New England but vanishingly rare in the colonial South. No other surviving example is known south of the Mason-Dixon line.
The house passed through several owners after Corbin and narrowly escaped demolition in the early 20th century. The Cupola House Association, founded by local preservationists, acquired it in 1918 and transferred stewardship to the Edenton Historical Commission. A restoration campaign in the mid-20th century returned much of the interior to its 18th-century character, including original woodwork and period furnishings.
The house takes its name from the small cupola — essentially a rooftop lookout — that crowns the structure. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark. Tour guides for the Edenton Historical Commission describe it as among the best-preserved colonial domestic structures in the American South.
Sources
For years, staff and visitors to the Cupola House's second-floor bedroom have noticed an indentation in the mattress — a body-shaped depression that reappears after the bed is made, as though an unseen occupant has lain down again. Tour guides have incorporated the phenomenon into their standard narrative; the mattress impression has become the house's signature claim.
The Coastal Atlantic Paranormal Association (CAPA) conducted an investigation of the Cupola House in 2010, and returned for a second session in 2020. Their reports, documented in The Daily Advance, recorded environmental anomalies consistent with the staff accounts, though no definitive explanation was established.
Separately, a Chowan County police officer reported observing a child's apparition in or near the cupola — the rooftop lookout that gives the house its name. The witness account, included in coverage by Random Times in 2020, has not been corroborated by additional on-record witnesses but is cited by local ghost walk operators as one of the more specific sighting reports attached to an Edenton historic property.
Guided interior tour of one of colonial America's finest surviving Georgian houses, including the second-floor bedroom where staff and investigators have documented an unexplained depression in the mattress. Operated by the Edenton Historical Commission.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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