- Phil Marchand grew up in the “Henry Derby House” in Salem and said the third floor was weird.
- Marchand turned the house into an Airbnb for $1,295 a night and said guests claimed to see ghosts.
This narrated essay is based on a conversation with Phil Marchand, the 43-year-old owner of Henry Derby House Airbnb in Salem, Massachusetts. It has been edited for length and clarity.
The house I rent on Airbnb was built in 1838 in Salem, Massachusetts. Henry Derby, who worked as a tailor in town, was the first owner and the person whose house is named after. Many guests who have stayed in the house say it is haunted.
My wife and I lived there for three years and did three full seasons as traditional B&Bs. After having our first child, living at home with a baby became too difficult. That’s when we first turned it into a full-time Airbnb in 2015.
Running an Airbnb is so much easier than running a bed and breakfast. We are currently renting out the whole house as one unit rather than renting out individual rooms.
I really think the fact that the house is known to be haunted helps business
I usually book a year in advance for October. I open my dates on October 1st for the following year, and they will usually be 100% booked by the end of the month. I have just opened the dates for next year, and I have increased the rates. I am now asking $1,295 per night. My rates are significantly lower during our low season, which is winter between January and March.
There are some people who seek to stay in a haunted house. Paranormal investigators came with all their gear and actually conducted a thorough investigation into the house. They have this really cool “Ghostbusters” gear that they bring. They always leave telling me that they have resumed some kind of activity.
We saw other people coming in October who are just looking for a spooky place to stay. For the most part though, I try not to push the “haunted” aspect too much because I want it to be a family home that is a welcoming place for people.
I know all the names of the people who previously lived in the house
The only thing I don’t know is the names of the servants, because there were servants’ quarters on the third floor. We kind of have an idea who it might be if there’s a ghost in the house. We’re always like, “It could have been that person or that person.” There really isn’t an obvious answer, though.
From everything I’ve heard, whatever spirits live there are pretty friendly. I don’t mean to scare people who are afraid of being tormented by ghosts, but I have to acknowledge the fact that it’s there simply because there are so many stories about a ghost in the house. There’s literally a ghost tour that comes in front of the house and tells stories, and I don’t want people to be surprised.
We never had anyone who was really scared. I think people are more surprised. Guests will say, “I woke up, and one of my things was across the room, and I was like, what’s going on?” Or they’ll say they woke up and felt like something was sitting on the end of their bed.
I’ve never heard of anyone being horrified to the point of having to leave, but many people who haven’t even had a ghost experience will ask if the house is haunted.
When I lived in the house there was definitely a strange feeling
For me personally, I always felt like if anything scary was going on, it was on the third floor. I always had the feeling that there was some sort of living spirit up there. When I was in other parts of the house, I always heard footsteps coming from the third floor, whether people were home or not.
Throughout middle school and high school, my room was on the second floor and I was always hearing things. The noises would keep me awake, and now, even to this day, I need to sleep with a fan right next to my head for white noise.
A close friend of mine who stayed with me at home for a while swears he saw a ghost on the third floor. He thought it was my sister, and I was like, “Uh, she’s not home.” His face turned white and he described what he saw, which looked like a young girl with long hair. This is what many people have said the ghost looks like.
Personally, I never saw anything, but even when I went back there as an adult and lived on the third floor, I still had the wildest dreams and woke up with the impression of having been confronted with spirits.
Over the years we have heard so many stories from people who have stayed there
The most convincing case was that of a young girl in her twenties who came from Canada. She didn’t really speak much English, but she came with her brother, who was interpreting for us, and she claimed she could see ghosts everywhere she went. We asked her about the ghosts in the house, and she said, “Oh yeah, I see her. She’s right over there on the stairs.” She described pretty much exactly what we had heard other guests describe the ghost.
Most of the time when people leave me their review on Airbnb, they don’t put it in the review, but tell me about what happened in the house during their stay in the private messages section.
I think I will keep it as Airbnb for as long as possible. There’s definitely a chance I want to come back when my kids are older, because I love Salem. It’s a nice place to live, and it’s right downtown.
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