What Happened to the Lizzie Borden House After the Murders?

On August 4, 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were found murdered in their home at 92 Second Street in Fall River, Massachusetts. Their youngest daughter, Lizzie Borden, was charged with both murders but acquitted the following year, and no one else was ever convicted.The house survived, along with the rooms that made it infamous, but much has happened there since 1892. Even its address has changed, though the building never moved. For the past 30 years, the home has operated as a popular museum and bed and breakfast that attracts true crime fans, brave guests, and ghost hunters alike.Netflix’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story revisits the brutal murders that took place in the house. Here’s what happened to the Borden home after the murders, and what visitors find there today.What Was the Borden House Like in 1892?Andrew bought the Second Street property, which was built in 1872. It had been built for two households in 1845, but he remodeled it for his family. The location suited him: His businesses on Main Street were only a short walk away.The house had an awkward feature that matters when you try to picture the murders. Apart from an upstairs landing, it had no hallways. Getting from one room to another meant walking through a room, and the family kept many of the doors locked. Bridget Sullivan, the live-in maid, slept on the third floor.On August 4, 1892, Abby, 64, was killed in the guest room where Lizzie’s uncle, John V. Morse, had spent the previous night. Andrew, 70, died in the sitting room below. Both rooms are still part of the house.What Happened to the House After Lizzie Borden’s Trial?Lizzie and her sister, Emma, stayed at their Second Street home through the trial. After Lizzie’s acquittal in June 1893, they moved to a larger house in Fall River’s Hill neighborhood, which they named Maplecroft.So there are actually two Lizzie Borden houses in Fall River. Maplecroft was her home after the trial. Second Street was where Andrew and Abby died.The sisters held onto the murder house until they sold it in 1918. Over the years, it’s served as a rooming house, a printing business, a toy and stationery business, and a family home.On August 4, 1996, exactly 104 years after the murders, it opened as a bed and breakfast and museum. “Before, all (people) had was the outside to look at, and now, they get to go in and see where the actual crimes were committed,” former co-owner Martha McGinn told South Coast Today in 1996 ahead of the opening.Where Is the Lizzie Borden House Today?The house is still in the same spot on Second Street, but as Fall River grew, the street was renumbered. The address is now 230 Second Street, rather than 92. You can walk into the upstairs guest room and the downstairs sitting room. Some doors and hardware are original, while the Victorian décor has been recreated.Since 1996, the house has changed owners a few times. In 2005, owners Lee-Ann Wilber and Donald Woods made some changes to the property to restore the home closer to what it was like in 1892. They demolished a business that was attached to the house in 1940 and painted the exterior dark green with black trim. In 2021, Lance Zaal, the founder of US Ghost Adventures, bought the home for $1.8 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.Over 50,000 people visit the home annually, per Time magazine, where you can take a tour and even stay the night. The tour doesn’t skimp on the grisly details. According to visitor accounts, there’s a sheet-covered mannequin on the sitting-room sofa, where Andrew died. Another is found on the guest-room floor, where Abby was discovered, and brave guests can even spend the night there.In the dining room, replicas of Andrew’s and Abby’s skulls are on display, complete with hatchet wounds. Their real skulls were used as evidence during Lizzie’s trial.Is the Lizzie Borden House Haunted?The owners certainly lean into the house’s reputation. Alongside daytime history tours, they offer evening ghost tours and hunts. Guests have reported hearing voices and children laughing on the third floor, where Sullivan once slept. Guests also claim to have spotted marbles rolling across the floor, coat hangers moving, and a chair rocking by itself, according to People.The stories about children laughing upstairs have a grim connection to the house next door. In 1848, Eliza Darling Borden drowned two of her young children in a basement cistern before taking her own life. She was married to Lizzie’s great-uncle Lawdwick, though Eliza herself was related to Lizzie only by marriage. Visitors later turned the children into part of the murder house’s ghost lore.Can You Sleep in the Lizzie Borden House?The room where Abby was killed is available to book. It’s named after John V. Morse room, who stayed there the night before the murders. Lizzie and Emma’s former bedrooms are also available, along with a room on the third floor where Sullivan slept.The owners of the house collect stories from people who say they’ve heard strange noises during their stays. One anonymous guest wrote, “At 4:40 in the morning, I heard the chilling sound of a man screaming. I was unable to go back to sleep after that.”But whether you’ve slept or not, checkout remains promptly at 10 a.m.Watch Monster: The Lizzie Borden StoryMonster: The Lizzie Borden Story revisits the brutal murders that took place in the Borden home in 1892. The show depicts Lizzie (Ella Beatty) as a repressed young woman who plots to kill her parents, Andrew and Abby Borden. The eight-episode series is now streaming on Netflix.