Ghosts, murder, mystery, and haunted houses have long appealed to the public. Many tour agencies now arrange visits to haunted houses across America. Roanoke House, the setting for the sixth season of the series American Horror Story has raised questions about the House’s authenticity, what occurred on Roanoke Island, and whether you can visit Roanoke House.
You cannot visit Roanoke House as it does not exist. This infamous farmhouse was built by a film crew for the sixth season of the “American Horror Story” series. Fans of the series can tour the historic Roanoke Island and visit the museum or the Murder House.
Related: Can You Visit Bonanza Creek Ranch? | Can You Visit Three Mile Island? | Can you visit Auschwitz?
Can You Visit Roanoke House?
For lovers of the horror genre, a visit to the set where the movie is filmed makes it all the more real with the hope that they might run into a ghost or two or solve the longstanding mystery of the murdered ghost. Several houses are featured in various movies or series across the United States, where tourists are allowed a walk-through.
Fans of the series American Horror Story are disappointed to find that Roanoke House is not an actual house they can visit or walk through. The House, used in the sixth season, is an icon, with many fans wanting to visit and verify facts. But there is no physical place for fans of the series to visit.
As a fan of American Horror Story, you may like to know the address, 900 Sappony Road, Martin County, North Carolina, exists. And so does the Shaker Mansion around which Roanoke House is fashioned.
Although the series is set in Roanoke, North Carolina, the set crew in California constructed the House. Everyone from the production staff to the construction crew kept the location a secret until the construction was complete and filming began.
Roanoke House was not built as just an outside shell, unlike other film set houses. It had an interior complete with rooms and furnishings. The House was fitted with the iconic spiral staircase, which fans of the American Horror Story know is a feature in every new season of the show.
The spiral staircase subtly links each new season of the show to one another. And it implies a link to the underworld.
Is The Story Of Roanoke House Based On Fact?
The creators of hit movies and series like the American Horror Story enjoy coming up with a storyline that is so believable it is almost tangible. They draw a thin line between fact and fiction. These stories are so well written that audiences ask themselves whether there is any fact.
The story of the colony’s disappearance on Roanoke Island is a fact. The disappearance of the colonists became the storyline for season six of the American Horror Story, and since then, there have been several unanswered questions.
In the 16th Century, the British settled on Roanoke Island, now known as North Carolina. And conflicts between the settlers and the Native Americans occurred from the onset. The group of settlers became dejected and thought of returning to England.
The group of settlers who found their way to Roanoke Island was one of the first to leave Great Britain and travel to the Americas. And Virginia Dare was the first child born in America to British parents.
John White, commander of the British settlers, returned to England to procure supplies for the settlers. He returned to the colony two years later to find no sign of the settlers. Almost two hundred colonists had disappeared without any trace.
The Croatoan Indians may have been involved in the colonist’s disappearance, but there was no evidence of this either. The single evidence found were the words “Croatoan” carved into a tree trunk. It was this carving that the producers of the American Horror Story used as the basis for the show.
Some speculate the Native Americans may have killed the colonists, while others believe they were captured and integrated into the Native American colony.
Almost four hundred years later still, no one knows the truth about the colonist’s disappearance. Over the years, there have been several speculations as to their disappearance. Scientists have also conducted soil tests, believing a pandemic may have wiped the colonists out, but they haven’t found anything concrete either.
Then comes the creators of American Horror Story, who’ve used the colonist’s disappearance to spin an almost believable tale. As with many shows these days, the creators have used artistic license to their advantage.
What History Lies Behind Roanoke House?
The original Roanoke House was built in the 1700s by Edward Philippe Mort, who claimed to be the ancestor of the serial killer, Dandy Mort. The House was fashioned around a double-story Shaker mansion built on a ten-acre plot.
Towards the end of the 1700s, Edward Mort was killed by the Lost Colonists of Roanoke Island.
Ownership of Roanoke House changed many times, with catastrophic disasters affecting every new family that moved into the House.
In 2017, Matt and Shelby Miller became the new owners of Roanoke House. They moved into the House with Matt’s sister Lee Harris and her two daughters, Emily and Flora Harris. The ghosts of those who passed away thought to be the Lost Colonists, haunted the family.
It reached an apex when Flora Harris was murdered by one of the Lost souls. After that, by mysterious circumstances, Shelby was transported back to the time before the Colonists disappeared.
The story is a complicated one with more unanswered questions. What happened to the Lost Colony? Do they still haunt Roanoke House?
Fans may never discover the truth behind Roanoke House or if there were any survivors. Or what became of Roanoke House. And the fact that Roanoke House is fictitious adds to the mystery.
Is Roanoke House Linked To Other Stories?
More questions surround Roanoke House and not just the link to the Lost Colonists. There are mentions that Roanoke House may also be the Murder House featured in the first season of American Horror Story. Here again, the show’s producers have taken a creative license.
In the first season, the mystery of Roanoke Island is mentioned but only in passing. And as is explained later in the series by the show’s producers, Roanoke House is not Murder House.
One significant difference between the two houses is that Murder House is based in Los Angeles while Roanoke House is set in North Carolina.
Murder House is, however, linked to the stories and the houses portrayed in other seasons, like Hotel, Coven, and Apocalypse.
Many fans will be interested to know Murder House is real. The actual House, Rosenheim Mansion, is in Los Angeles, California. However, visitors are not permitted into the House for tours.
The House, however, is available for around $1450 per night as a vacation rental.
So, if you’re disappointed about not having Roanoke House to visit, you can drive out to Murder House. It remains a tourist attraction, and you have bragging rights that you visited Murder House.