Emlen Physick Estate

Emlen Physick Estate At A Glance...

• Built in 1879 to a design by Frank Furness, the 18-room Physick House is one of the best examples of Victorian Stick Style architecture in the country.
• Cape May MAC calls it Cape May's original haunted house, and its Voices from Beyond tour plays recordings staff say captured spirit voices over ten years.
• In October, Scarecrow Alley fills the walkways with funny and spooky scarecrows you can vote on, and there is trick or treating on Halloween afternoon.
• A free self-guided scavenger hunt teaches kids to spot the house's architecture, and Story Stops let you scan a QR code and hear the Physick household tell its own stories.
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• New Jersey Southern Shore Region Cape May County

• Activities:

  • Picnicking
  • Walking

  Amenities:

  • Restrooms/Bathrooms
  • Parking Lot(s)
  • Gardens
  • Picnic / Sitting Area
  • Picnic tables
  • Restaurant On Premises

  Attractions:

  • Museum / Gallery

Contact / Location

A Brief History

Frances Ralston built the house in 1879 for her family, including her son Dr. Emlen Physick, to a design by Frank Furness, who designed more than 600 buildings in the Philadelphia area. A Cape May newspaper noted in 1878 that the new villa would be different from any yet introduced at the resort, and it was: most Cape May cottages of the time were Italianate, Gothic or Mansard, while this one was built in the avant-garde Stick Style with an overlay of raised boards, boxy bays and towers, and oversized chimneys.

After Dr. Physick died in 1916 the estate passed through a series of owners and fell into disrepair. In the 1960s developers wanted to tear it down for tract housing. Concerned citizens formed the Cape May MAC in 1970 to stop the demolition, and in 1973 the City of Cape May acquired the whole estate and leased it to Cape May MAC, which has restored it ever since, largely with money raised from its tours.

Things to See & Do

Take the Physick Estate house tour, with its theme that changes each year. Pick up a free self-guided Physick Estate Scavenger Hunt packet for kids (English or Spanish) at the Hill House office. Walk the grounds, visit the herb garden and Oval Garden, and listen to a Story Stop. Browse the Carroll Gallery, which has changing exhibits all year and turns into a holiday exhibit at Christmas. Other tours run through the year, including a Christmas tour season, and Cape May MAC sells combination tours that pair the estate with one of its trolley tours.

Special / Seasonal Events

Halloween Happenings runs October 1 to 31 in 2026. At the estate it includes the Voices from Beyond House Tour, a daytime tour in which staff play recorded electronic voice phenomena and show photographs they say capture ghostly presences in the Physick House, along with the history of the Physick family. The same story runs as an evening trolley ride from the Ocean Street trolley stop to the house. It is a listen-and-look ghost tour, not a scare attraction: the page describes recordings and photographs, gives no age guidance and mentions no actors.

Other October offerings at the estate: Strange Victorian Obsessions, a first-floor house tour about Houdini, Pepper's Ghost and Victorian fascination with mystery and illusion, and Haunted Tales of the Cape combination tours that end with a tour of select rooms or dessert at Vintage. Scarecrow Alley, funny and spooky scarecrows along the walkways, is on the grounds and you can vote for your favorite. A Department 56 Halloween exhibit of nearly 100 miniature pieces is on the house's enclosed entrance porch daily through October 31 from 10 AM to 4 PM, and Trick or Treat is Saturday, October 31, 2026, from 5 PM to 7 PM, with spooky music and Scarecrow Alley.

At Christmas the estate has specialty Christmas tours, decorated grounds and an Old-Fashioned Christmas Exhibit in the Carroll Gallery.

Admission & Guidelines

For 2026 a Physick Estate house tour is $20 for adults and $15 for children ages 3 to 12, with 25 percent off for Cape May MAC members. The scavenger hunt and the Story Stops are free, and donations are accepted. Tickets are sold at the Carriage House Visitor Center and the Hill House office on the grounds, at the Washington Street Mall information booth and online. Ghost tours, combination tours and dinners have their own prices on the Cape May MAC site.

Facilities

There are public restrooms on the grounds, picnic tables on the grounds and on the brick patio beside the Carriage House tent, a gazebo, bike racks, the Carriage House Museum Shop and Vintage restaurant. The first floor of the Physick House is fully accessible, and the Voices from Beyond tour and other house tours can be accommodated with advance notice.

Parking

Free on-site parking for cars and RVs is on the grounds at 1048 Washington Street.

Cape May MAC (Museums + Arts + Culture) runs the estate and two other Cape May attractions: the Cape May Lighthouse and the World War II Lookout Tower.