Haunted Houses

Sometimes Weatherproofing Can't Help

Chill in the air? It could be Edith Wharton. The celebrated author of over 40 books, including The Age of Innocence, House of Mirth, and her final collection, Ghosts, designed and built her massive house and gardens in Lenox, Massachusetts starting in 1902. Wharton's house was inspired by the Palladian-style Belton House in England, and incorporated classical Italian and French influences. She named the place The Mount. Though Wharton sold it in 1912, she had so adored The Mount that she haunted it after her 1937 death. In the late '70s, a voice teacher for the theater group that then occupied the house was startled from her nap in Wharton's old writing quarters by an extreme plunge in the room's temperature. She awoke to find Wharton, Wharton's husband, and her male secretary, all of whom turned to look at her.