Completed in 1875, the SK Pierce Mansion was built as a towering symbol of wealth for chair magnate Sylvester Knowlton Pierce—a 9,518-square-foot Victorian masterpiece filled with ornate details, grand architecture, and an unmistakable presence. But almost from the moment the Pierce family moved in, the house became steeped in tragedy.

Only weeks after settling into the new home, S.K.’s first wife, Susan, died inside the mansion from erysipelas, a vicious infection historically described as “skin-eating.” The darkness didn’t stop there. S.K. and his second wife, Ellen, also died inside the home, adding more loss to its grim legacy.

Later on, another tragedy struck within the Pierce family: Rachel Pierce, the young daughter of S.K.’s son Edward, died in the mansion at just two years old.

As was custom in the Victorian era, the mansion’s Ladies’ Parlor was routinely used for wakes, and many local deceased were brought into the room for viewing—meaning countless bodies passed through the home, further deepening the layers of death tied to the property.

Edward, the youngest Pierce son, became the last family member to live in the mansion. During the Great Depression, financial hardship forced him to turn the estate into a boarding house. During this period, a boarder named Eino Saari died in a horrific fire after falling asleep with a lit cigarette—another tragedy absorbed into the home’s foundation.