Lakeside Dining with an Active Haunted Reputation
611 Taylor Rd, Newfield, NJ 08344
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Upscale lakeside dining. Check menu and pricing at lakehouseiona.com.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Lakeside property with paved access to main dining areas; deck and patio may have thresholds
Equipment
Photos OK
The building at 611 Taylor Road on the shore of Iona Lake was constructed in the early 20th century as the Iona Lake Inn, a summer vacation retreat that drew visitors to the rural lake setting in southern New Jersey's Gloucester County.
The property changed hands and names over the following decades. It was known for a period as Jake's Italian Restaurant (Jake's on Iona Lake), a version of the business marked as closed on Yelp as of April 2026. The current operating entity, Lake House Restaurant, occupies the same address and maintains a waterfront dining orientation consistent with the building's origins as a lakeside inn.
No detailed documentation of the property's operational history between the Iona Lake Inn era and the current restaurant was found in available sources. The structure appears to have maintained continuous restaurant use through these transitions.
Sources
The haunted lore at the Iona Lake Inn centers on a female apparition known as the Lady in White, reported by guests and staff at the lakeside property. Regional paranormal sources describe her as appearing in and around the building, though the specific circumstances of her appearances, her identity, or any historical event connected to her are not documented in available sources.
The Lady in White archetype is among the most widely distributed in American regional folklore — a female apparition associated with a tragic death, often romantic in nature. Whether the Iona Lake Inn figure reflects a specific documented history or represents a local variant of this broader tradition is not determinable from current sources.
The property has been known locally for its haunted reputation under multiple names — Iona Lake Inn, Jake's Italian Restaurant, and now Lake House Restaurant. Regional paranormal resources consistently list it, suggesting the association has persisted across ownership changes.
Notable Entities
Dine on the shore of Iona Lake in a building with early 20th-century origins as a popular summer vacation inn. The restaurant offers a lakeside dining room, all-season deck, covered patio, and lounge. Reservations available through Resy.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Pittsgrove, NJ
Ye Olde Centerton Inn at 1136 Almond Road in Pittsgrove, New Jersey has served travelers since 1706, making it one of the oldest continuously operating inns in the United States. The three-story Colonial clapboard structure was a coach stop on the Philadelphia-Greenwich route and reportedly stored Continental Army munitions during the Revolution.
Lambertville, NJ
The building at 74 South Union Street in Lambertville was constructed in the early 1860s as the home of William McCreedy, who also operated McCreedy's Paper Mill across the street. It was converted to an inn and tavern in the early 1900s. In 1993, Doreen and Melissa Masset renamed it the Inn of the Hawke. The property endured the catastrophic 1903 Lambertville flood, which destroyed the original covered bridge. The Inn of the Hawke closed in March 2022 after 29 years; The Hawke steakhouse opened at the same location.
Neshanic Station, NJ
The building at 102 Woodfern Road in Neshanic Station, New Jersey, was constructed in the 1880s and operated for years as the Neshanic Inn and later as Murphy's Crocodile Inn. After a closure period, the property reopened as the Riverside Inn in 2021 following a Covid-delayed renovation.