The Hauntings of 14 West 10th Street

Posted: 12.04.2024 | Updated: 12.11.2024

Location is everything when it comes to New York real estate — and a home in the heart of Greenwich Village is the top of many New Yorkers’ dream locations. Yet, if an apartment opens up at the seemingly charming 14 West 10th Street, prospective renters may be deterred when they learn that the building also goes by another name: the House of Death. 

Tales of murder and spirits haunt the House of Death, and many residents end up moving out because they can’t handle sharing their home with nearly two dozen ghosts. To see the brick-and-mortar yourself and check out other NYC spectral hot zones, book a ghost tour with NYC Ghosts tonight. 

Is 14 West 10th Street Haunted?

There have long been whispers of phantoms lurking in the infamous New York townhouse. The origins of the spirits include famous former residents, a murdered child, as well as more than a dozen other ghosts of former renters. 

The House of Death’s otherworldly phenomena has been observed by many residents and guests alike. It’s not so much a question of whether the building is haunted but just how many spirits really haunt it.

The History of 14 West 10th Street

The brownstone at 14 West 10th Street started out like any other building on the block. Built in the 1850s, it was originally a large, single-family townhouse. Four stories high, the home was only a few blocks from Washington Square Park and offered a prime central location to explore all that New York had to offer. 

Many members of the New York upper class called 14 West 10th Street home in its early years, including James Boorman Johnston, one of the founders of the Metropolitan Underground Railroad and the Broadway Underground Railroad, and his wife.

However, the home’s most famous inhabitant moved in 50 years later. 

Mark Twain’s residence

By the time author Mark Twain (real name Samuel Clemens) moved into 14 West 10th Street in 1900, he was already world famous. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer had been out for 25 years, while Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was celebrating its 15th anniversary. 

Mark Twain was 65 at this point and likely looking for a quiet place to call home in the city, and 14th West 10th Street checked all the boxes. In fact, Twain is said to have called the home one of his favorite houses. 

Yet, even at this time, the House of Death was well-known for its unearthly experiences. Twain was a skeptic of such rumors, so he dismissed them and moved in. This didn’t stop the unexplainable from occurring, however. 

Mark Twain’s ghost encounter

One evening, Twain was relaxing by the fire when he saw a piece of kindling move on its own beside the fireplace. It must have been quite the movement because Twain didn’t just investigate; he shot at the piece of wood. 

Twain claimed he thought a rat was trying to steal the wood. Yet, when he went to inspect the kindling, he couldn’t find any trace of a rodent. He did, however, find a few drops of blood. 

Though we may never know what Twain struck with his bullet that night, current residents of the house may yet have the chance to ask Twain himself what happened. 

The Ghost of Mark Twain

While Twain only lived in the brownstone for a year, it seems he couldn’t simply leave his beloved home behind. Sightings of Twain’s ghost dressed in his iconic white suit have been seen on the first floor and near the staircase. Witnesses claim he appears to have a sad look on his face. 

One mother and daughter who lived in the building in the 1930s said that Twain’s spirit spoke to them, stating: “My name is Clemens, and I has [sic] a problem here I gotta settle.”

Around this time, the home transformed from a single-family townhouse into ten separate apartments, which is how the building is broken up to this day. While none of the apartments are currently available, the rent for one of the roughly 1,000-square-foot apartments will run you upwards of $5,600 a month. 

In one of these apartments is where the great tragedy of 14 West 10th Street occurred. 

The murder of Lisa Steinberg

In 1987, New York criminal defense attorney Joel Steinberg and his partner Hedda Nussbaum were living in a second-floor apartment at 14 West 10th Street. Steinberg had been approached by a woman who wanted legal help in putting her daughter, Elizabeth, up for adoption. 

Rather than go through the court system, Steinberg and Nussbaum illegally adopted the little girl themselves and changed her name to Lisa. A few years later, they did the same thing with a baby boy named Mitchell. 

This all came to law enforcement’s attention after they received a 911 call on November 1, 1987. The caller said the now-six-year-old Lisa had stopped breathing. 

Paramedics arrived to a gruesome scene. Not only was Lisa nonresponsive, but Mitchell was covered in filth and tied to a playpen. Nussbaum also showed signs of abuse. 

Despite their best efforts, the medical team wasn’t able to save Lisa, and she was pronounced dead at the hospital. The investigation revealed that Steinberg, high on drugs, had hit Lisa on the head and left. He was sentenced to prison, eventually being released in 2004. 

After this horrific murder, the townhouse officially took on the moniker “the House of Death.” 

Current residents speak of a young female spirit who still resides in the building. Is this Lisa? Unable to move on to the other side? Or is this another young girl who used to live in the building?

Whoever it is; she’s not alone. 

The other ghosts of the House of Death 

There are said to be 22 different spirits who haunt 14 West 10th Street. These include everyone from a woman dressed in white to a phantom gray cat. 

One well-known resident even documented her experiences in the building in the 70s. Off-broadway actress Jan Bryant Bartell began experiencing a dark energy after moving into the fourth-floor apartment at 14 West 10th Street (what used to be the servants’ quarters). Bartell said she could feel a “monstrous moving shadow” present in her home. 

Bartell wrote about her encounters in her book Spindrift: Spray from a Psychic Sea. However, just before the publication of her book, Bartell died — possibly from suicide. 

Haunted New York City

While the House of Death has plenty of ghost stories to dive into, its neighbors in Greenwich Village have their own spooky tales as well. Next door is the Emma Lazarus House, where the aforementioned poet lived and died. Her spirit, however, remains active within the walls of her home. 

A quick stroll away is also Washington Square Park, which was built over the bodies of thousands of people who passed from disease, crime, and even executions. 

If you want to learn more about the Village’s dark past, and see these shadowy New York staples for yourself, book a ghost tour with NYC Ghosts. 

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