The Sorrel Weed House
- Sep 11, 2022
- 4 min read
The Sorrel Weed House (sometimes written as Sorrel-Weed) lies in the heart of Savannah, Georgia's Madison Square. With its bright coral exterior, it's almost impossible to miss from the street, but don't let its cheerful façade fool you. The Sorrel Weed House's history is stained by suffering, betrayal, and death.
The House's Early Years
The house was designed by Charles Clusky and boasts over 16,000 square feet spread across four levels (including a basement). It was built in the late 1830s for Haitian-born Francis Sorrel. Francis had earned his fortune as a successful merchant. Before the house was even built, his first wife Lucinda died, leaving him a widower, although Francis soon remarried. His second wife was Lucida's younger sister Matilda.
After moving in, Francis, Matilda, and their children lived in the main house while their slaves were confined to the upper level of the carriage house.
Tragedy Strikes
Truth and legend have become so blurred that no one can say for certain exactly what events transpired in the weeks and days leading up Matilda's untimely death in 1859 (soon after the Sorrel family moved out and Henry Weed moved in, giving the Sorrel Weed House its name). Many believe that Matilda committed suicide by throwing herself out of an upper story window into the courtyard below after she discovered that her husband was having an affair with one of their slaves (whose name was reportedly Molly). All that can be known with any amount of certainty is that Matilda died after falling from an upper story of the house. Exactly how and why she died - whether it was suicide, an accident, or even murder - remains a mystery.
More Tragedy
Matilda Sorrel's death, although the most sensational, was not the only death to take place on the property. Francis's son Frank Sorrel was a successful doctor who set up shop in a room in the home's basement. Although the survival rates of Frank's many patients were high compared to those of other doctors' patients at the time, they were still shockingly low by modern standards at roughly 49%. This means that an unknown number of people died in the basement of the house while Dr. Sorrel operated there.
Before everything that happened with the Sorrel family and decades before construction on the Sorrel Weed House even began, there may have already been many deaths on the land where it would later be built. The 1779 Siege of Savannah brought battles full of bloodshed and horror to what would eventually become Madison Square. Some paranormal investigators believe that the spirits of those who died during that infamous siege still haunt the Sorrel Weed property and the surrounding area.
The Legend Lives On
Today the Sorrel Weed House is in the process of being fully restored (in an attempt to make it both historically accurate as well as to bring it up to code) and can be toured by the public. While during the day the only tours offered are historical and architectural in nature, after dark, those interested in learning more about the more supernatural aspects of the house can sign up for one of their Ghost Tours or After Dark Paranormal Investigations. This reportedly haunted house has also been featured on a variety of shows including Ghost Hunters and Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural.
Personal Experience
I had the wonderful opportunity this past summer to tour the Sorrel Weed House for myself. It was hard to imagine this house as the hub for supernatural activity that many make it out to be. With its exterior colored in bright orange and green hues and interior bathed in the abundance of natural light that pours in from its many floor-to-ceiling windows, the spacious house feels more charming than haunted. That being said there are also a number of elements to the house that give it a certain unsettling feeling. If you look closely at one of the brick doorways of the basement level, you can still see traces of its original paint color: haint blue (so named for the belief that this color would ward off evil spirits). The grand staircase at the center of the house may also serve as an unnerving sight to guests due to the fact that it frames what appears to be a floating door. In actuality there was just a miscalculation in the blueprints for the stairs when they were rebuilt recently causing the landing to fall a few feet short of the door. As you look around the parlors and studies on the main floor, you are greeted with several large and imposing portraits of stern looking men which, even in the early afternoon light, have an undeniable air of creepiness. All in all, the tour was incredibly inciteful and, if you ever find yourself in Savannah, Georgia, I definitely recommend checking it out.
Links
If you want to learn more about the Sorrel Weed House and Savannah's Historic District, check out the Official Savannah Guide at https://www.officialsavannahguide.com/sorrel-weed-house.
If you're interested in touring the house, you can schedule one at https://sorrelweedhouse.com/.
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