He’s quite comfortable in the presence of Gotham’s spirits.
The Merchants House Museum is so filled with paranormal activity that they actually brought on a ghost hunter. Just ahead of Halloween, he shared some spine-chilling details with The Post.
“The house at 29 East Fourth Street, situated between the Bowery and Lafayette, once belonged to Seabury Treadwell, a prosperous merchant who lived there with his wife and their eight children over a century ago,” said paranormal investigator Dan Sturgess. According to him, the family never really left.
Sturgess has conducted over 100 investigations at the house, which dates back to 1832 and was acquired by Treadwell in 1895. He claims to have captured footsteps, piano music, and even conversations from the residents who passed away.
“Strange and unusual voices seem to appear that weren’t audible during the recording,” he mentioned.
He recounted a specific instance when they asked, “Mr. Treadwell, did you know how to play the piano?” and caught a clear response of “Yes,” followed by the sound of keys being pressed.
“Then there was a girl in Mrs. Treadwell’s room who asked to use the mirror. She said, ‘Mrs. Treadwell, do you think I’m pretty?’ and we recorded a woman’s voice saying, ‘Pleasant enough.’”
Museum staff have also noted strange occurrences when they’re alone in the building.
“One employee was on the third floor late one night. Around 10 p.m., she distinctly heard the sound of children running and jumping on the stairs, but no voices. Feeling uneasy, she decided to call it a night,” Emily Hillwright, the museum’s director of operations, explained.
Gertrude, the eighth child of the Treadwell family, was the final family member to live in the NoHo house alone for 24 years, maintaining it as “Daddy would have wanted.”
In 1933, Gertrude passed away in the same bed where she was born, or so the legend goes, according to Sturgess.
After her passing, the mansion was bought by her cousin, later added to the National Register of Historic Places, and converted into a museum in 1936.
During renovations, workers reported seeing a ghost that resurfaced again in 2002.
“People have described the same woman, in a similar brown dress, sipping tea and gazing out the kitchen window—reported by different witnesses, separated by decades,” Sturgess noted.
Measuring about 10,000 square feet, this 19th-century structure showcases Late Federal and Greek Revival design, featuring five accessible floors, plus an off-limits attic and basement.
While there are seven bedrooms, only two and a servant’s quarters are available for guest visits.
Hillwright recalled a time when a curator set up an exhibition featuring Treadwell’s tea sets. But when he briefly stepped away for a phone call, he returned to find everything mysteriously rearranged, even though no one else was around.
Sturgess employs various recorders, electromagnetic detectors, and specialized microphones for his investigations, sending all findings for expert reviews.
In 2007, he organized a seance at the museum, hiring a medium named Richard Scholer, who, interestingly enough, was not informed of the location beforehand.
Scholer impressed the group by providing precise details about the Irish servants who had once lived in the house, information corroborated by historical census records.
He identified the servants’ names, where they came from, and their employment dates, leaving Sturgess astounded.
Interestingly, Scholer mentioned a missing S-shaped red settee, which piqued the curator’s interest. “When I brought that up, the curator remarked that only he and a few people in his office knew that detail,” Sturgess said.
