Lizzie Borden’s mansion in the US remains a private residence — TIME
In Fall River, Massachusetts, United States, the Victorian mansion Maplecroft, where Lizzie Borden lived until her death in 1927, remains a private residence. According to TIME, the current owners, Brooke and Michael Doherty, bought the house in 2021 despite its connection to a high-profile criminal case.
Borden moved to Maplecroft three months after a jury acquitted her in the case involving the murders of Andrew and Abby Borden in August 1892. She was 32 at the time. The mansion is located about a mile from the house where the murders occurred; it now operates as a museum and bed-and-breakfast.
A mansion modern for its time
Borden bought the approximately 4,000-square-foot house with seven bedrooms in a prestigious area of the city and named it Maplecroft. In 1893, the mansion had electricity, hot and cold running water, and flush toilets in three and a half bathrooms. This was a significant improvement over her previous home.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
The house retains its main and back staircases, six carved fireplaces, original decorative cornices, Tiffany light fixtures, and stained-glass windows. After a previous owner’s plan to turn Maplecroft into a hotel did not materialize during the pandemic, the asking price was reduced to $800,000. The Dohertys made an offer, the amount of which was not disclosed.
Life after the trial
For a time, Lizzie’s older sister Emma lived with her at Maplecroft, along with pets: three Boston bull terriers and a black cat named Daisy. In 1904, Lizzie became close to Massachusetts’ theater community, including actress Nance O’Neil. According to TIME, she also hosted loud parties in the house’s basement, which has a wooden dance floor, wood paneling, and a hidden small cupboard.
After a weeklong party in 1905, Emma left Maplecroft and stopped communicating with her sister. Both died days apart in 1927 and were buried side by side in the family plot. Lizzie Borden, who had no children, bequeathed most of her money to the Fall River League for Animal Protection.
