Photo: James Rojas/ WBZ NewsRadio
MIDDLETON, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A potentially haunted house in Middleton dating back to the Salem Witch Trials is up for sale.
The Phillip Knight House has stood in Middleton for — at its lowest estimates — 273 years, rotating through several owners, including namesake of the home, Phillip Knight, who provided witness testimony during the Salem Witch Trials.
Knight’s testimony would help lead to the hanging of John Willard, a constable who contested the witch trials and refused to continue witchcraft-related arrests. Willard was supposedly hung at Gallows Hill in Salem on Aug. 19, 1692.
The home stayed in the Knight family until the late 18th century. The current owner, Ethel Marino, ran the Blue Door Bed & Breakfast at the house.
Photo: James Rojas/ WBZ NewsRadio
Melissa Kaiser, Marino’s granddaughter, said she’s heard stories of its paranormal activity.
“Noises, voices, apparitions, pots and pans falling when a fire on the stove [broke out], waking my grandmother up from a nap so she could put it out,” Kaiser said.
A visiting paranormal program even gave tours of the home at one point.
But its ghostly history may be a strong selling point for the home. For Kaiser, she just hopes the home finds the right owner.
“This house needs to find the person who’s going to add the next bit of history for it,” Kaiser said.
WBZ NewsRadio’s James Rojas (@JamesRojas.bsky.social) reports.