Is the Slades Inn Bed & Breakfast in Maryland Haunted? Read on and learn about the History of the Haunted Bed & Breakfast Slades Inn and Manor Tavern Restaurant across the street.
Haunted Bed & Breakfast
“The housekeeper told me she didn’t like to be in the house alone during the night. Eventually, she refused to work alone at the Slades Inn; especially at night.”
Was the Slades Inn Bed And Breakfast Haunted?
This time, we will begin the story in a historic Victorian Mansion down the street, the Slades Inn, which was converted into a Bed and Breakfast.
A local couple purchased the home in 2004 and immediately began renovating it. I believe the renovation project lasted about three years, and I recall driving past it many times during rehab.
A huge sign was hanging outside the home: “Slades Inn Bed & Breakfast Coming Soon!”
Before being transformed into Slades Inn B&B, the home was initially white, with only one turret. A garage was on the left side of the picture, where the addition is now.
Behind the house, down the driveway, is a horse barn with four newly renovated apartments above it.
>>>Click here to see a picture of the Slades Inn – Google Images.
Behind the horse barn are a small stable and a vast prefabricated metal outbuilding that could be used as a garage or workshop.
Every room in the Slades Inn was meticulously restored using only the most exquisite furnishings, and Amish workers performed the new woodwork inside.
Slades Inn Falls Into Hard Times
The Bed and Breakfast, which has now “gone under” due to challenging economic conditions, is currently for sale by the bank.
I would love to convert this home into a community center and give it to the people of Monkton or turn it into a spiritual retreat center for people wanting to escape the daily grind.
The Slades Inn could also be used for meetings, parties, seasonal events, and celebrations. Well, either those ideas or turn it into a brothel and provide another kind of service. 😉
When my family and I moved to Monkton, we wanted to look inside the Slades Inn. Eventually, we visited the Inn and met the innkeepers.
After getting to know them for a few months, I was asked to help with a family party hosted there, which I agreed to do. I probably worked about five or six parties for them and was excited because I loved being inside the house.
The Inn’s new owners poured millions of dollars into the renovation, and I can only say it is the most beautiful home or B&B I have ever been in.
Every guest room has a jacuzzi tub, spa shower, gas fireplace, antiques, and king-size beds, and all the rain spouts and rain gutters are made of copper.
History of The Slades Inn
In 1746, William Slade built Slade’s Tavern on the property, which houses the Slades Inn B&B. Also, William Slade served as an informer during the Revolution.
Back in the colonial days, there weren’t hotels and motels like we do now, so weary travelers would spend the night in a tavern that fed and housed them and their horses.
Best friends, George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette, would spend the night at the Slades tavern during their trips between Virginia and Philadelphia. Across the street, on Old York Rd, was once a stable for guests’ horses.
The stable has since been remodeled and is now a favorite local restaurant named The Manor Tavern. Soldiers were known to revel on the lawn of the Slades Tavern during the Civil War. In 1900, Slade’s Tavern was flattened, and a Victorian farmhouse, now Slade’s Inn, was erected.
I had searched the property for the foundation of the old Slades tavern, but I couldn’t find anything.
Finding Some Recent History About the Slades Bed and Breakfast
During the spring of 2009, my family and I visited Oregon Ridge Nature Center because it was such a beautiful day. About one hundred others had the same idea because the park was packed with people and pets.
Being in a social mood that day, I began chatting with a couple playing frisbee with their dog.
We talked about this until the subject of where I live came up. I said: “Monkton,” and she asked if I knew about the Slades Inn. I said, “Yes, I am friends with the innkeepers, and I have even worked a couple of catering jobs there.”
She said: “Growing up, she was friends with the family’s children that used to live there.” She told me they would “party” on the top floor, drinking and smoking while having a good old time.
She then began to tell me how the Mom, who was still relatively young at the time, got sick and eventually died in the house. After she died, the husband let the house go, ultimately selling it because it was too much for him to handle.
The house has 23 acres of land plus several barns and outbuildings. The New Inn owners buried an in-ground swimming pool behind the house during the renovation.
I asked the innkeepers if they had experienced paranormal activity in the home.
They replied, “Yes, on the top floor.”
They told me a picture securely latched to a hanging hook mysteriously fell off the wall and smashed onto the floor.
It startled them badly, as I remember.
Next to the main house is a carriage house with two guest suites on the bottom floor and the innkeeper’s quarters above it.
They had an Akita dog that would sometimes bark upstairs when it was in the main house, so they usually wouldn’t let her in there too often.
I know that dogs can sense energies and apparitions that humans cannot; cats are even more so. On the top floor of the Slades Inn are four guest rooms. Two of them have a turret, and two do not.
A turret looks like a witch’s cap, and you can see it in the picture if you google “Slades Inn B&B in Monkton.” The 1900s Slades Inn home had one turret when it was built, and a second one was added during reconstruction to create balance.
So knowing that the Mother had died in the house, I went upstairs to the top floor to feel the energy.
The Slades Inn has an awesome vibe, and I never felt anything unnatural or frightening until I went upstairs.
I felt this intense, dense, dark energy in the one guest room with the original turret.
I immediately wanted to leave but stuck around because I wasn’t afraid of ghosts, and the Innkeepers were in the house if I needed help. So, I discovered the ghost room in the house and felt sure that an energy was present, lingering like a mist.
I did not doubt it. The housekeeper told me she didn’t like being in the house alone at night. Eventually, she refused to work alone at the Slades Inn, especially at night.
She said she felt scared like something was “watching her.” She didn’t want to say anything more, so I didn’t push the subject.
My Last Time In The Slades Inn Bed and Breakfast
During the summer of 2010, the owners of the Slades Inn asked me to do inventory for them because the bank was taking back the house the following month.
They asked me to take pictures and document every piece of furniture room by room, including the basement. The power was already off, so there wasn’t any air conditioning, and it was mighty toasty in there, especially on the top floor.
Yes, I had to go back to the ghost room and inventory it, and yes, I saved that room for last. So I began the inventory of the ghost room, and I felt that heavy feeling again, and whatever was in there didn’t want me there.
About 100 dead flies are on the window sill because the housekeeper was let go due to the impending foreclosure.
Think Amityville Horror Bwahhhhh!
So, I am taking pictures in this room, documenting everything, and simultaneously trying to keep my cool. It doesn’t help that I feel something touching my neck. I had learned not to panic regardless of what was happening in life, and I didn’t.
I finished the inventory in the “ghost room” and began walking down the two flights of stairs to get back to ground level when I heard a door slam. I thought one of the owners stopped in to check on me.
I checked the first level of the Inn because it either came from there or from the basement. I began announcing, “Who’s there?” just like in a classic horror movie. Of course, there was no reply, and I couldn’t speak ghost.
The front doors and other entrances into the house on the first level were closed and locked, so it probably came from the cellar, where I proceeded to investigate the strange noise.
The basement is not large, but a massive fireplace is probably initially used for cooking. There is also an enormous steel door that leads outside, which is locked.
During the renovation of the Slades Inn, I was told that the work crew had to dig out the basement floor several feet because it was too short. They rigged up a conveyor belt from the basement to an outside window to remove all the debris.
Two basement rooms have doors leading to a storage room and a boiler-type room. I didn’t see or hear anything else once down there, so I went back upstairs, and the basement door slammed shut on my way up.
Luckily, when I reached the top, the door wasn’t locked, and maybe a draft or something caused it to close (rational mind working here).
So, who or what was in the house? A ghost of the previous owner’s wife, William Slade, soldiers, Piscataway Indians, and enslaved people. Either way, I was done with the inventory, and I got out of Dodge.
But whatever was in there was having some fun at my expense.
If you ever want to do some ghost hunting, there is an easy way to detect energies in a place or home. You will need a battery-operated radio.
Walk around the site you want to check out. The radio frequency will get louder when you are near a high-energy place or when the energy changes. Tune it until you get that static sound.
Sometimes, electrical currents will set it off, but other times, it may be a ghost. The truth is that every home and every place has residual energy attached to it.
One way to remove negative energy in a home or place is to perform a smudging ceremony, which involves opening all the doors and windows while burning dried sage.
Walk around every corner of the room, including closets, allowing the smoke from the sage to neutralize any lingering negativity.
Also, you can instantly expel negativity by bringing positive energy to a room or place.
Update – 1/16/13
The Slades Inn had been for sale for several months without any buyers. In November 2012, the bank hosted an auction to purchase it and eagerly allowed people to come in and look.
The minimum bid the bank would accept for the property was $749,000, which is a steal, in my opinion, because I have an idea of what the previous owners paid for it and how much they spent renovating it.
The highest bid was for $650,000, which was too low in the bank’s eyes. The week before the auction, the Real Estate company hosted an open house, so I went to see the inside of the Slades Inn again.
The home was empty, and I could see where contractors had to fix some of the pipes in the wall that had busted during the previous winter months.
The Slades Inn had a sad vibe; it felt neglected and abandoned. I hope whoever buys the Slades Inn takes good care of her and fills the home with love.
Update 1/30/15: My family and I were shopping at The Goodwill store in Jacksonville when, guess who, we bumped into? It was the former house cleaner for the Slades Inn when it was a B&B. I approached her and said, “Didn’t you work at the Slades Inn?”
She replied, “Yes.”
I said,” My wife and I were friends with the Innkeepers.” She looked at us and said, “Yes, I remember you.” Before I could get out another word, she said, “That place is haunted.”
I hadn’t even mentioned anything like that to her, but that was the first thing she said. She told my wife and me that she would hear what sounded like people running upstairs while she was cleaning the house.
The Slades Inn is three stories tall and has a basement. It has two staircases: the main staircase and a hidden staircase behind the walls. She also told me that she often heard what sounded like people arguing with each other upstairs.
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