An 1889 Queen Anne mansion in Port Townsend built by contractor George Starrett as a wedding gift for his wife Ann, now under new private ownership after operating for decades as a B&B.
744 Clay St, Port Townsend, WA 98368
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Sold November 2025 to new private owners; status as a B&B is fluid. As of 2026, individual Airbnb suite listings have appeared at the property.
Access
Limited Access
Three-story Queen Anne with a free-standing spiral staircase rising 70 feet to a dome; multiple flights of stairs and no elevator.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1889 · Contributing property to the Port Townsend Historic District (National Historic Landmark, 1977) · Considered one of the finest examples of Queen Anne / Stick Victorian residential architecture in Washington State · Built as a wedding gift in 1889 by builder George Starrett for his wife Ann
The Ann Starrett Mansion at 744 Clay Street was built in 1889 by builder and contractor George Starrett as a wedding gift for his wife, Ann. Starrett was one of Port Townsend's most active builders during the 1889 boom, the year Washington achieved statehood and the year speculative construction in Port Townsend reached its peak in anticipation of a transcontinental rail terminus that never materialized.
The mansion is a hybrid Queen Anne / Stick Victorian with eleven bedrooms and ten baths and is celebrated locally and architecturally for its centerpiece: a free-standing spiral staircase that rises approximately 70 feet from the ground floor to a domed ceiling decorated with frescoes of allegorical female figures, said to represent the four seasons and the four virtues.
The house is a contributing property within the Port Townsend Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.
For much of the late 20th and early 21st century, the property operated as a bed and breakfast inn. After spending years on the market, the building was sold in November 2025 to local residents Christian and Cima Andrews per reporting by the Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader. As of spring 2026, Yelp lists the previous Ann Starrett Mansion B&B as 'closed,' though individual Airbnb suite listings under the name 'Starrett House' have appeared, indicating the operating model under the new owners remains fluid.
Sources
Local lore reported in the Peninsula Daily News and aggregated on Haunted Places and GhostQuest describes several recurring presences associated with the Ann Starrett Mansion. Owners and guests during the property's B&B years described apparitions identified as George and Ann Starrett, the original builder and his wife, as well as a gray-haired female figure that local accounts characterize as a former nanny of the household.
Additional accounts describe a red-haired woman in a white gown reported drifting through hallways and on the dramatic spiral staircase rising to the frescoed dome. One former owner, cited in the Peninsula Daily News, reported a shortwave radio that repeatedly turned itself on at 2 a.m. during their tenure.
These accounts predate the November 2025 ownership change, and current activity reports under the new owners are not yet established. With the property transitioning from public-facing B&B to private residence, paranormal lore at Ann Starrett is now primarily of historical and journalistic interest rather than something a visitor can investigate directly.
This venue is privately owned (as of November 2025) and not open to the public — appreciate the Queen Anne exterior from the public sidewalks on Clay and Adams Streets only.
Notable Entities
View the Queen Anne mansion from public sidewalks on Clay and Adams Streets. The exterior is a prominent example of 1889 Victorian residential architecture in the Port Townsend Historic District.
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