An 1866 Victorian cottage in Cape May's historic district is said to host three named resident ghosts — including a former servant who reportedly sews buttons back onto guests' clothing — and is available for full-house rental.
609 Columbia Ave, Cape May, NJ 08204
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Full-house rental rates; check website for current nightly pricing.
Access
Limited Access
Victorian-era multi-story house; stairs required to access upper floors.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1866 · 1866 Victorian cottage in Cape May Historic District · Home of Philadelphia sugar merchant John Fullerton Craig · Part of Cape May's nationally recognized Victorian streetscape
Cape May's Columbia Avenue is one of the most intact Victorian streetscapes in the United States. The John F. Craig House at 609 Columbia Ave was built in 1866 as a summer cottage, consistent with Cape May's mid-nineteenth-century development as a resort destination for Philadelphia and Baltimore families. The cottage's architectural character — Italianate detailing, wraparound porch elements, ornamental woodwork — places it firmly in the High Victorian mode that defines the Cape May Historic District.
John Fullerton Craig was a Philadelphia sugar merchant. He used the Columbia Avenue cottage as a seasonal residence, as was common practice for prosperous Philadelphia families with access to the rail line that made Cape May a half-day journey from the city. Craig died in 1926, having spent several decades summering in the house. His wife Emma and household staff, including a servant named Lucy Johnson, were among the figures associated with the property during his lifetime.
The house subsequently changed hands and was operated for a period as a bed and breakfast, a common trajectory for Cape May's Victorian-era cottages as they transitioned from private family use to hospitality. The property is now available as a full-house rental and has been the subject of paranormal interest, with multiple paranormal research groups staying at the property over the years.
Sources
The paranormal tradition at the John F. Craig House centers on three figures: John Craig, Emma Craig, and Lucy Johnson. The capemay.com documentation of the site's ghost history provides the most detailed account of each entity's reported behavior.
Lucy Johnson is the most distinctive of the three. Multiple accounts describe guests finding loose buttons sewn back onto their clothing after leaving garments unattended in the house. The specificity of this claim — not just a presence or a sound, but a purposeful domestic act — has made it the most frequently cited detail in accounts of the property, and it has appeared in enough independent guest reports to become the defining element of the house's paranormal reputation.
John Craig's presence is reported primarily in the main living areas and on the porch; accounts describe his apparition as benign and associated with the smell of pipe tobacco. Emma Craig's presence is linked to the upstairs bedrooms. Neither apparition report is accompanied by threatening or disturbing behavior — the accounts consistently frame the ghosts as residual presences rather than active entities.
The property has attracted paranormal research groups who have conducted overnight investigations. The frightfind.com documentation of the property corroborates the haunting details without adding substantially new accounts, but confirms that the site's reputation has been stable across sources.
Notable Entities
Book the entire John F. Craig House for an overnight stay. The property is available for full-house rental and has attracted paranormal research groups. Guests report encounters with three named entities: John Craig, his wife Emma, and a former servant named Lucy Johnson.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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