Entry No. 15 — the Raleigh file — filed under: haunted
Heck-Andrews House
Completed in 1870, this striking Second Empire Victorian mansion was one of the first grand homes built in Raleigh after the Civil War and is famously associated with the ghost of Gladys Perry, an eccentric tenant who lived there as a hermit.
The story
When construction wrapped in 1870, this Second Empire structure was a statement piece—one of the very first major mansions built in Raleigh immediately following the Civil War. Designed with a steep, concave mansard roof and a central tower that commands North Blount Street, it was built to signal that money and power were returning to the capital. But grand Victorian scale has a habit of souring into urban myth once the gloss wears off.
The mansion’s permanent place in Raleigh ghost lore belongs to Gladys Perry, an eccentric tenant who lived as a recluse in the house during its mid-20th-century decline. Perry almost never stepped outside, retreating into the darkening upper rooms while the neighborhood changed around her. Decades after her time, street-level observers were still convincing themselves that a pale white face was standing watch behind the glass of the high tower windows.
What it's like
You won't be rambling through the bedrooms on a casual afternoon—the mansion sits on North Blount Street, steps from the Governor's Executive Mansion, acting primarily as an architectural landmark. Your best strategy is an evening foot-route along the oak-shaded sidewalk. Stand across 309 N Blount Street right as dusk settles and the streetlamps flicker on; the geometry of the mansard roof and high dark windows looks intentionally designed to make you double-take.
The move: Walk down historic Blount Street at twilight to admire the home's dramatic central tower and concave mansard roof, keeping an eye on the windows where locals once claimed to see Gladys's ghostly white face peering out.
- 📍 Downtown Raleigh
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 309 N Blount St, Raleigh, NC 27601
Hours: Added 2026-07-21 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Mordecai Historic Park — Walk six blocks north to keep the ghost-hunting theme going at Raleigh's oldest house on its original foundation.
- H.H. Brimley Victorian Taxidermy Exhibit (NC Museum of Natural Sciences) — Head two blocks west to match the mansion's 1870s era with a preserved 19th-century taxidermist's den.
- Watts & Ward — Trade the sidewalk stare at the tower for a drink beneath Moore Square in a subterranean 1920s-style lounge.
Good to know
Can you tour the inside of the house?
General walk-in public tours aren't held on a regular daily schedule. Most visitors admire the restored Second Empire architecture, tower, and grounds from the public sidewalk on North Blount Street.
What makes the architecture notable?
Completed in 1870, it is one of Raleigh's premier post-Civil War examples of Second Empire Victorian design, distinct for its dramatic central tower and concave mansard roof.
Who was Gladys Perry?
Gladys Perry was an eccentric hermit who rented space in the home during its period of decay, becoming the focal point of local legends about a spectral face peering from the tower.
Where is the home located?
It sits at 309 N Blount St in Downtown Raleigh, right along the historic government-district corridor near the Executive Mansion.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Wikipedia · ncrealtors.org · saraharcherwrites.com · usghostadventures.com · raleighhistoric.org
last checked: 2026-07-21