You can sleep like the dead at this short-term rental.
A set of three macabre buildings in Worcestershire, England have gotten second lives as overnight lodgings.
After buying the abandoned trifecta of spooky structures — a funeral home, a well house and a small church with an adjoining graveyard — owners Stuart and Victoria Dudley decided to maintain their ominous charm by converting them into vacation houses.
Each is now available as a one-bedroom cottage, rentable for $220 a night. Inside the former funeral home, holidaymakers are treated to thematic decor including a line of coffins that read “Funeral Director” and embalming tables in the kitchen.
“When we refurbished this property, we tried to retain as many of the existing features that we could which had been hidden away under the plaster or left and not exposed,” said Victoria, 49, Jam Press reported. “The family set of coffins on the wall were acquired from a funeral director up north.”
The well house, while available to rent, is permanently inhabited by the ghost of a man who experienced a watery death at the site hundreds of years ago — or so some say.
“In the Well House, the legend is a French gentleman drowned in the 18th century,” said Stuart, a 44-year-old architect. “There is a memorial commemorating his death on the front of the well — it’s a nice bit of history.”
All three of the buildings date back to the 17th century. The land they’re located on was once a cider farm, and used to grow apples and pears.
The properties tend to attract guests interested in gothic architecture, witchcraft and English history, including many American tourists.
“At night we’ve heard strange sounds and when we’ve gone to check it our there’s nothing there,” said Stuart. “Often, you’ll be in one of the properties at night and you’ll see shadows move and the temperature will suddenly drop.”
Ex-Brit turned Manhattan resident since 2008.