Funeral homes are worth dying for. And (eternal) rest is history.

Buying a house

“It almost felt like we were welcomed into the house. And then I never felt scared or nervous again.”

Megan Johnson, The Boston Globe.

October 23, 2024 | 11:09

When Robin and Mike Legere purchased the former Frazier Funeral Home in Winthrop, the guest book podium where guests signed in for funerals was still located at the main entrance.

The pink special lighting falling on the open coffins was still bright. In the basement there is a preparation room, an embalming station for flushers and drainage pipes run to the floor.

“They left the cart in the back,” Robin said, noting that she and her husband use it to move wood around the yard.

Owners of Legere Homes, a construction, design and project management company, Robin and Mike have previously renovated several properties in the area. But the Winthrop property, dating back to the late 19th century Colonial Revival, was their first with a long history as a funeral home. In the face of the housing crisis in Massachusetts, the Legeres family is not the only one who has decided to purchase apartments in historic buildings with a funeral history.

Shortly after purchasing the property in 2017, Robin visited with her mother and sister and found the space “so dark and scary”. The rooms were covered with musty, smoky carpeting, and there was an incredible density in the air.

“You couldn’t tell where the other ‘people’ were standing, whether they were in another room or right behind you,” Robin recalls. “It was so weird.”

That same weekend, the couple tore down the carpets, revealing vertical-grain fir floors underneath. After a while, the entire house was illuminated by the sun’s rays.

“It almost felt like we were welcomed into the house. After that, I never felt scared or nervous again,” Robin said.

During the reconstruction into a three-family residence, they found several interesting items, including: scalpels in the walls. Robin’s discovery of a veteran’s gravestone prompted her to contact her local cemetery. It was installed on the lord’s grave.

The couple lives in a three-bedroom apartment on the second and third floors and rents two apartments on the first floor. They called the property “our final resting place.”

“Possibly Haunted”

When Erika Eucker, broker and owner of Media Realty, took over the listing of the former Turgeon Funeral Home in Millbury in 2023, the Greek Revival still had everything from an embalming table and its chemicals to crucifixes on the walls.

“There was still ash there,” Eucker recalls. “There are still many cremations left.”

Wanting to get the attention it deserved, Eucker placed a “for sale” sign out front with a sign on top that read, “Possibly Haunted.” The ad went viral and received many offers. It was sold to someone who hoped to turn it into a multifamily home, but ended up selling it to a funeral home across the street.

“They will not haunt the funeral home.”

Of course, some people buy premises in former funeral homes without knowing the history. Cassidy Norton, a newspaper publisher, purchased a two-bedroom apartment in the historic Chelsea building in 2017. Built by the son of the “Chelsea Potato King,” the Queen Anne-style building was known as the Casey Funeral Home until 1974. Norton didn’t know its history, but neighbors quickly informed her. Still, she didn’t care.

“I always believed that by the time someone got to the funeral home, all the trauma would be over,” Norton said. “If they’re going to haunt somewhere, they’re not going to haunt a funeral home.”

Hilary Foutes, a realtor with Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty, helped her client Tanis Yannetti, owner of Dragonfly, purchase the former Nichols Funeral Home in Marblehead in 2021. (Yannetti’s brother David is Karen Read’s attorney).

The immaculately restored six-bed, five-bathroom home features throwback features such as a fireplace and a side driveway where they believe a hearse will carry coffins.

And then there are the supernatural elements.

“She is convinced there are ghosts in the house, but it doesn’t scare her. He says they feel happy,” Foutes said of Yannetti, who found the bedside tables open upstairs. “I always feel like there are kids running around on the third floor.”

The problem is traffic, not ghosts

In some cases, people live in the same building as operating funeral homes.

When Magrath Funeral Home in East Boston moved into a newly constructed building, six apartments were placed above it. Many residents (those breathing) don’t seem to care.

“The biggest problem is traffic,” said Meg Grady, an agent with Lantern Residential/Eastie Love, who sold two apartments and rented three, and it all went quickly. “As a facility, a funeral home is a great neighbor because there are no residents there 24/7. They don’t speak.”

Brett Herr, a financial and accounting consultant, bought an apartment in the building in 2019 and currently rents it. He had no concerns about it being in the same building as a funeral home, but said he “was and still is a little concerned about resale value. But honestly, they are great neighbors.

As for Robin and Mike, they’ve lost several potential tenants over the years who typed the address into Google and the name of the funeral home came up. But they easily won the approval of Mr. Frazier, whose funeral home had previously occupied the space. The couple invited him for a beer in their garden, and he often dropped by unexpectedly, until his death in 2020.

“He was always very excited about what we were doing,” Robin said. “He was very pleased with our move and loved and respected the house as much as he did.”

Follow Megan Johnson on X @megansarahj and @globehomes.