HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
1865 White Mountains grand hotel where guests still report a 1920s-dressed apparition
101 Mountain View Road, Whitefield, NH 03598
Research updated August 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Rooms typically run $200-$600+ per night depending on season and room type; suites and package rates run higher.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved resort grounds on a 1,700-acre property with hiking trails, a golf course, and mountain views
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1866 · National Register of Historic Places · White Mountains Grand Hotel Era · Dodge Family 113-Year Ownership
In the spring of 1865, a stagecoach accident near Whitefield forced two travelers to seek shelter at the farmhouse of William and Mary Jane Dodge. The Dodges' hospitality and the property's views impressed the guests enough that they returned the following summer, prompting the Dodges to open the Mountain View House in 1866 with a new two-story addition and a full veranda. Early amenities were modest -- oil lamps for light, tin tubs brought into rooms for baths -- but the hotel grew steadily, with each addition financed by a mortgage the family ceremonially burned once paid off.
By 1900 the property had a nine-hole golf course, and in 1911-1912 it gained the belvedere tower that still defines its facade -- the detail cited in its 2004 National Register listing. The hotel drew a run of well-known guests over its early decades, among them presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, along with Robert Frost, Babe Ruth, and later Stephen King, according to the resort's own history page.
Expansion continued through the mid-20th century: a round dining hall in 1922, the Sport House in 1939, a heated pool in 1946, and Century Hall in 1965, built to mark 100 years of continuous Dodge family ownership. The family sold the property to Mountain View Associates in 1979, and the hotel closed in 1986 after 122 operating seasons.
Contractor Kevin Craffey bought the shuttered property in December 1998 for $1.3 million and spent roughly $20 million restoring it; the hotel reopened in May 2002 as Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa. Craffey later pleaded guilty in 2004 to federal environmental violations tied to improper asbestos removal during that renovation. American Financial Group acquired the resort in 2005 and added a spa, theater, and tennis courts over the following two years.
Sources
The most detailed account of the hotel's reported haunting comes from a paranormal-practitioner's 2015 blog post describing a visit to the property. She wrote of seeing a woman walk into a bathroom and realizing, on a second look, that the figure was a spirit -- a woman she placed in the 1920s by the cream-colored, beaded dress that fell just below her knees. No historical name or record has been attached to the figure. The same account describes a noticeably dense concentration of spirits gathered in the upstairs hallway outside the Crystal Ballroom, a crowding she said produced a light-headed, 'wobbly' sensation in sensitive visitors. During readings she conducted in the lobby, she wrote that other guests approached her separately to describe seeing or feeling spirits in their own rooms.
The blogger speculated, without citing any documented death or incident, that the activity might trace to the women and children who spent summers at the resort during its Gilded Age heyday, when the Crystal Ballroom hosted evening dances -- a theory offered as personal impression rather than established history. Separate from her account, guests posting reviews of their own stays -- from different trips, months apart -- have independently titled their reviews around the hotel being haunted, though without going into specifics. No investigation team or television program's visit to the property could be confirmed against an episode database as of this writing.
Overnight in the 1865 grand hotel's guest rooms and suites on a 1,700-acre property with its own golf course, spa, and White Mountains views. Reports of a 1920s-dressed apparition and unexplained spirit activity center on the upstairs hallway outside the Crystal Ballroom.
Some links on this page may earn HauntBound a small commission when you book, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial picks are independent. Full disclosure
See current room rates and availability at Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa.
Check rates and bookRates come from booking partners, so a small property may not be listed. Book direct with Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Free Guide
Verified stops across all fifty states, rated for families. Free.
One email to confirm, then the guide link. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bretton Woods, NH
The Omni Mount Washington Resort opened on July 28, 1902, as a Spanish Renaissance grand hotel built by coal and railroad magnate Joseph Stickney for $1.7 million. Two hundred fifty Italian artisans constructed the property, and in July 1944 it hosted the Bretton Woods Conference, which established the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Austin, TX
Colonel Jesse Lincoln Driskill, a Tennessee-born cattle baron who supplied beef to the Confederate Army and later the Texas Rangers, opened The Driskill Hotel on December 20, 1886. Its first event, two weeks after opening, was the inaugural ball for Texas Governor Sul Ross. Driskill sold the hotel in 1888 after severe drought devastated his cattle herds and died in 1890. The hotel has hosted every Texas governor's inaugural ball since 1887.
Jackson, NH
Cyrus and Marcia Gale opened their Eagle Mountain Farm as a guest house in 1849, expanding it by the 1890s into Eagle Hall and Eagle Mountain House, lodging for 125 guests. Fire destroyed both buildings in May 1915. The Gales' son, Arthur Pinkham Gale, opened the current Colonial Revival hotel on July 4, 1916, later adding an elevator, a 1928-29 expansion, and a nine-hole golf course on the former pasture in 1931.