Lizzie Borden House (A Bed and Breakfast & Museum)
4.8(5.8K)google
4.6(367)yelp
Youth-FriendlyIndoorEerie & HauntedThrillingMust-SeeGuided Tour OnlyGuided TourQuirkyEducationalHistoric BuildingFolk Culture
Overview
The Lizzie Borden House is notorious for being the home of Lizzie Borden and her family, and it is the location of the 1892 unsolved double murder of Lizzie's father and stepmother Andrew and Abby Borden. It is located on 230 Second Street in the city of Fall River, Massachusetts.
Practical Info
Every day10:30 AM – 1:00 AM
Suggested Duration1.5-2.5 hours
Best TimeOctober during the Halloween season offers the ultimate eerie atmosphere but requires months-ahead booking. For standard visits, opt for the Evening Ghost Tours after 6:30 PM, when historic Victorian lamplight enhances the chilling true-crime storytelling.
Getting ThereLocated in Fall River. Driving from Boston is best: take I-95 S to MA-24 S toward Fall River, take Exit 5, follow President Ave, and turn onto Second St. The house is at No. 92 and features a small visitor lot adjacent to the building.
Travel Tips
- Due to small historic room limits, daytime house museum tours and nightly ghost hunts require strict online pre-booking; no standby options are available at the Fall River ticket desk.
- Operating as a live bed and breakfast, overnight guest check-in begins at 16:00, which means all daytime historical museum tours conclude promptly at 15:30 to clear public access.
- The house preserves original 1892 layouts, wood flooring, and structural artifacts; touching historic displays is illegal, and open beverage containers or metal-studded bags are prohibited.
Reviews
Positive
- An absolute holy grail for true-crime enthusiasts! The meticulous Victorian interior recreation brings the infamous 1892 double-murder mystery vividly to life.
- The historic property is well-signed with old photographs and vintage press clippings neatly curated, and accessible ramps were added carefully without ruining the home.
- The costumed tour guides are phenomenal, theatrical, and dramatic, pacing the suspense perfectly and happily helping guests take photos at the infamous sofa.
- Despite its macabre theme, the ticket price packs nearly an hour of specialized historical storytelling, providing superb value for fans of Americana and paranormal lore.
Heads up
- Because it preserves the original compact Victorian residential layout, the rooms are very small and crowded with antique furnishings, making it feel claustrophobic.
- Restrooms are extremely limited, and primary indoor facilities are restricted to overnight B&B guests, leaving daytime museum tourists stuck with basic basement utilities.
- During the October Halloween rush, crowd density explodes; management expands tour group sizes, packing visitors like sardines inside the tiny bedrooms.
- The gift shop merchandise, like toy hatchets and ghost-hunting EMF meters, carry extreme markups, feeling overly commercialized and gimmicky.