Last spring, we got to visit and tour what LIFE Magazine once called “the Most Haunted Home in America:” The Whaley House in San Diego, Calif.

On May 6, 1856, Thomas Whaley began construction on his new home, proclaiming, “My new house, when completed, will be the handsomest, most comfortable and convenient place in town or within 150 miles of here.” The two-story Greek Revival house was designed by Thomas Whaley and made from bricks created in Whaley’s very own brickyard on Conde Street.

The property was infamous amongst the community as the site where horse thief Yankee Jim Robinson was publicly executed. Whaley, however, was unfazed by the location’s grim history and continued to build his dream home. It wasn’t long after the Whaley family moved into the home that their young son Thomas, died of scarlet fever inside the house at 18 months old.

Baby Thomas, who’d been the first in the family to pass away, always stayed close by, as reported by many who have visited the home. They could hear tiny footsteps, the sounds of him crying, even giggling when no one was in sight.

Thomas, Anna and several other spirits have also been felt within the home, on the stairwells and on the property. Mists, lights turning on and off by themselves, and crystals in the parlor room’s lamp swinging without any prompt are all signs that the Whaley House still belongs to the many who called it home over the years.

Many descendants of the Whaley family have lived and died in the home over the years.

Whaley was a New York native who came to California during the Gold Rush era and succeeded as a businessman, first in San Francisco, then San Diego.

Visit our Instagram or Facebook account to see interior pics of the house.

Info from whaleyhousesandiego.com