Built in 1845 as the home of cowbell manufacturer Orson Starr and his family, the Orson Starr House is the oldest existing house in Royal Oak, according to the city’s historical commission. It is also said to be among the state’s most haunted places. Orson Starr was one of the most prominent businessmen in the early history of Royal Oak. The property includes eight acres around the home, and a nearby park and church still use the Starr name.

Five generations of the Starr family lived in the house before it was sold in the late 1970s to Royal Oak to be turned into a museum, Royal Oak Historical Commission Chair Alexandra Kerrigan said. It was restored to be as accurate to its original state as possible and furnished with period-accurate furniture and artifacts. It was added to the state’s register of historic sites in the early 1980s. 

The museum is open one Sunday a month during the fall, winter and spring with guided tours by Kerrigan. The house also has resident paranormal investigators, John Yost and David Boyer of Flyer Paranormal, who do public ghost tours of the house one weekend a month on Saturday nights. More information on the ghost can be found on Flyer Paranormal’s website. 

Several members of the Starr family died on the property, either in the current house or the cabin that stood on the property before the house was constructed, Kerrigan said. Five of the Starr’s ten children died young, with three passing away within the same week, she said. Orson Starr and his wife Rhoda Gibbs Starr also both died in the house. City workers have long shared stories of ghostly experiences within the house, particularly in the children’s bedroom upstairs, with spirits of several of the Starr children who passed away being said by some to still reside there. 

One Detroit’s Chris Jordan talked with Kerrigan to learn about the house’s history and spoke to Yost and Boyer about the paranormal activity said to take place there. Plus, Jordan participates in a late-night paranormal investigation with colleagues Andrea Riley and Nate Turner to see if they could experience the ghostly activity.