PAD06 - The Shunned House

Officially known as the Stephen Harris House, this clapboard house was built in 1763 and is featured in the H.P. Lovecraft story "The Shunned House". The house sits on Benefit Street on the historic East Side of Providence, Rhode Island. Benefit Street was originally Back Street and is one of the oldest streets in the city. This particular house was home to a Huguenot couple that was buried on the site when they died. When the street was widened, most of the bodies in the family plots along this street were moved to the North Burial Grounds, but some were missed, including the bodies of the Huguenots. The Harris family that owned this house after the Revolution suffered a series of misfortunes. Mrs. Harris suffered from mental illness and was often heard screaming - in French - from the second floor bedroom, leading some to speculate that she was possessed by the dead Huguenots. The houses reputation suffered through the years and the Harris family was unable to sell it. In Lovecraft's time, the house had been abandoned for well over a decade and was in a severe state of disrepair. The house was finally restored to its present form in the 1970s.


Click to view full image

Technorati: photography PAD photo-a-day digital photography
IceRocket: photography PAD photo-a-day digital photography