A 200-Year-Old New England Inn With a Mysterious Side

Hidden on 6.5 peaceful acres near Mystic, Stonecroft Inn combines an authentic 1807 Georgian Colonial farmhouse with fireplaces, wide-plank floors, centuries-old stone walls and quiet Connecticut countryside.

The historic house was constructed in 1807 by sea captain and livestock farmer Shubel Smith. Today, guests can choose between four rooms inside the original 1807 House and six suites in the restored Yellow Barn.

Stonecroft occasionally appears on lists of supposedly haunted Connecticut accommodations, with online stories describing apparitions, voices and unexplained activity.

But here’s the important distinction:

BestHauntedHotels.com Verdict

The history is well documented. The haunting is not.

Stonecroft offers tremendous paranormal atmosphere, but its ghost stories don’t currently have the level of credible, recurring documentation found at Captain Grant’s or Blackberry River Inn.

For adventurous travelers, however, spending a night inside the actual 1807 house still makes this an intriguing historic stay.

Captain Shubel Smith’s 1807 House

The property’s real history is fascinating enough without embellishment.

Sea captain and Yankee trader Shubel Smith, born in 1775, built the house in 1807 on land his father had given him. Smith raised livestock for trade in the West Indies, and the old stone walls surrounding the property are believed to have once helped contain his animals.

The Georgian Colonial house retains historic features including:

• Wide-plank floors
• Original architectural details
• Multiple fireplaces
• Historic woodwork
• An old loom believed to date near the house’s construction

The property remained in the Smith family for more than a century.

Stonecroft is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, reinforcing that this is a genuine historic property rather than a modern hotel designed to look old.

Is Stonecroft Inn Haunted?

Stonecroft has appeared in online paranormal discussions with stories involving unexplained noises, apparitions and feelings of another presence.

However, I could not substantiate many of the more dramatic stories through the inn itself, Connecticut tourism, National Register material or another strong historical source.

Historical Accuracy Note

Some websites claim that Stonecroft:

• Sheltered Revolutionary War soldiers
• Served as an Underground Railroad safe house
• Has apparitions of deceased soldiers
• Has captured paranormal EVPs
• Contains a particular room notorious for activity

Those claims should not be presented as established fact without stronger documentation.

There’s also an obvious chronological problem with some versions of the story: the present house dates to 1807, decades after the Revolutionary War ended.

For BestHauntedHotels.com, I would describe Stonecroft as an 1807 historic inn with paranormal lore, rather than inventing named ghosts or tragedies.

Stay in the Original 1807 House

This is the most important recommendation for your readers.

Stonecroft has two primary lodging buildings:

1807 House — 4 rooms
Yellow Barn — 6 suites

If someone is visiting because of Stonecroft’s age and paranormal reputation, choose the 1807 House.

It preserves wide-plank floors and original architectural details, and three of its four guestrooms have wood-burning fireplaces.

👻 #1 — Stonecroft Room

This would be my top BestHauntedHotels.com recommendation.

Located on the second floor of the 1807 House, the Stonecroft Room has:

• Private dedicated staircase
• Original wide-plank floors
• King pencil-post canopy bed
• Wood-burning fireplace
• Hand-painted mural
• Historic-style furnishings

And there’s a fun supernatural detail hidden in plain sight.

The room’s mural contains numerous unexpected figures—including what the inn itself describes as a “mysterious ghostly figure.”

That’s not evidence of a haunting, of course.

But for your readers, it’s a fantastic detail.

Other Historic Rooms to Request

🔥 #2 — Orchard

Second-floor room in the 1807 House with a king bed and wood-burning fireplace.

👻 #3 — Westcroft

Another historic second-floor room with a queen bed and wood-burning fireplace.

#4 — Buttery

Located on the first floor of the 1807 House. It doesn’t have a fireplace but provides easier access with minimal stairs.

BestHauntedHotels.com Booking Tip

Ask specifically:

“I’d like a room inside the original 1807 House rather than the Yellow Barn.”

The Yellow Barn

The second lodging building has its own history.

The property’s original barn was destroyed during the devastating 1938 New England Hurricane and rebuilt on the same foundation. The restored structure is now called the Yellow Barn.

Today it’s an approximately 8,000-square-foot post-and-beam building containing six upscale suites.

These rooms offer more luxury—gas fireplaces, whirlpool tubs and other modern amenities—but for a BestHauntedHotels.com reader, I’d still choose the 1807 House.

What the Stay Is Actually Like

Stonecroft is particularly strong as a romantic New England getaway.

The inn currently has 10 guestrooms, nine with fireplaces. Six suites in the Yellow Barn also feature whirlpool tubs. Guests receive a complimentary three-course breakfast, and the property includes gardens, terraces, koi ponds, a waterfall and outdoor fire pits.

New innkeepers Jim and Alison Prenetta took over in August 2025 and have since renovated all 10 rooms and restored portions of the historic property.

So guests get something unusual:

A genuine 1807 setting without sacrificing modern comfort.

Perfect Base for Mystic & Haunted Connecticut

Stonecroft is only minutes from many of southeastern Connecticut’s biggest attractions.

Nearby destinations include:

• Mystic Seaport Museum
• Downtown Mystic
• Mystic Aquarium
• Foxwoods Resort Casino
• Mohegan Sun
• Connecticut shoreline
• Historic southeastern Connecticut

Connecticut tourism lists the inn as operating year-round.

This makes Stonecroft especially useful as part of a multi-night Connecticut haunted-hotel road trip.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Stonecroft Inn haunted?

Stonecroft appears in paranormal lore, but there is considerably less reliable documentation of recurring activity than at Connecticut’s strongest haunted inns. I would classify it as historic lodging with reported paranormal lore.

When was Stonecroft built?

The original Georgian Colonial house was built in 1807 for Shubel Smith.

What is the most haunted room?

There isn’t enough reliable evidence to designate a definitive haunted room.

For ghost enthusiasts, I recommend the Stonecroft Room because it’s on the second floor of the original 1807 House and offers exceptional historic atmosphere.

Is Stonecroft on the National Register?

Yes. The historic property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Is Stonecroft currently open?

Yes. Stonecroft is currently operating year-round, with active room inventory and lodging information.

👻 BestHauntedHotels.com Ghost Rating

8 / 10 — Historic Inn With Paranormal Lore

Why We Awarded Stonecroft 8/10

Stonecroft earns points for:

✓ Authentic 1807 house
✓ National Register historic property
✓ Original architectural features
✓ Guests can sleep inside the historic house
✓ Excellent secluded New England atmosphere
✓ Online paranormal lore
✓ More than 200 years of history

But keeping it at 8/10 is important for your Ghost Rating system.

I found much weaker documentation for actual paranormal activity here than at Captain Grant’s, Blackberry River Inn or several of Connecticut’s more famous haunted properties.

Giving Stonecroft a 9/10 simply because it’s old would dilute the meaning of your higher ratings.

Why Ghost Enthusiasts Should Stay Here

Stonecroft is for paranormal travelers who appreciate mystery more than guarantees.

Book the Stonecroft Room.

Climb your private staircase to the second floor.

Light the wood-burning fireplace.

Walk across floorboards inside a house that has stood since 1807.

Then see if you can find the mysterious ghostly figure hidden in the room’s mural.

And once the lights go out, listen.

You may hear nothing more than an old New England house settling for the night.

Or you may discover why stories about old houses have a habit of surviving for generations.