The George Allen House

Known today as the Southern Mansion - a popular Cape May B&B - the main section of the building was originally designed by nationally known architect Samuel Sloan for George Allen and constructed in 1863.

The home remained in the family until the mid 1940s when the last Allen relation died and her husband reportedly sold the house and all the antique furnishings for $8000.

When I purchased my cottage in Cape May in 1986 we would walk by the boarded up house with our young children and called it the haunted house. It was very scary especially at night.

In the 1990s it was purchased and lovingly restored and a large wing was added to the original house.

The new owners christened it the Southern Mansion because Sloan featured the plans for the house in a builder pattern book for folks who could not afford an architect and he called it the Southern Mansion.