Emlen Physick Estate

"Did the Strange Victorian Obsessions tour. Fun, learned some interesting things and the guide was wonderful. Made sure to get there early as it's noted to not be any later than 15 minutes prior to the start of the tour. Wasn't sure where to park and parked on the street. Asked the lady in the next building where to go and she instructed me where to wait. Waiting on a dimly lit porch and the time closing in on 8pm, couldn't help but feel unsure of things. The guide from a trolley tour did show up with others, on time for the 8pm tour. Thirty minute tour for total of $23, plus the concern about getting their early enough when that ended up not be a factor are the two reasons for giving a good 4 rating."

"Excellent information and beautiful estate. We had a large tour group of about 10-11 people and there was not enough space in all the rooms for us to fit. The last ones in saw nothing until on the way out and then we were rushed to the next room. We came to see the room, the furniture the artwork. It's all lovely. We can forgo some of the story to drink in the details. Please let people really see the rooms, allow time for people wander a bit in them, and have smaller tour groups so there is enough room for everyone."

"Last Saturday, our crew scheduled a dose of spooky history goodness to break up the winery-related debauchery of the weekend. The initial purchase included a tour of the estate (which, based on other reviews and a website description, was supposed to be about 45 minutes in duration), followed by a trolley tour of the historic areas of Cape May right around sundown. Unfortunately, the trolley part was cancelled I think about a day or so before we were set to go over there due to lack of conductor (driver? not sure what you call them) availability, so we had to settle for just the house tour. It wasn't terrible, but we definitely left feeling vaguely unsatisfied - the lack of the trolley loomed large. The atmosphere was top-notch. We coincidentally ended up over there during some gail/tornado warnings in the area, so the sky looked super ominous and actually opened up about 30 seconds after we left the building. We met up with the group outside on the porch, and the tour started shortly thereafter, breaking the pack up into two (about 10 people in each) so we could easily navigate around the first and second floors without too much congestion. The house itself is awesome. I grew up in homes that were built between 1770 and 1860, so I can appreciate the attention to detail and overall character that you just don't get from an 80s bi-level. I'm not an expert on Victorian architecture, but the interior of the house seemed very well-preserved and respected. Some of it looked a little stagey (I have trouble believing, for instance, that the original inhabitants carefully propped their Ouija board on a chair when they weren't using it) but I think that's pretty par for the course and not something I would take points off for. We were also fortunate that it was a little nippy (early April) so the lack of ventilation that you often encounter with these types of homes wasn't a factor. The tour guide was nice but seemed a little unprepared. For instance, at one point I believe in the context of a child passing away in the house, she mentioned that the specific percentage of infant mortality was high and then paused - she didn't remember the number and excused it by saying, "I haven't done this tour in a while," admitting that she hadn't given the tour since last year and couldn't remember all of her notes. Isn't that enough of a reason for a refresher prior to actually handling the tour? Beyond that, I wasn't crazy about the heavy emphasis placed on discussing a ghost hunter that the house hired to look around the premises a few years ago. Regardless of how strongly you believe or don't believe in the paranormal, I'd like to hear more confirmed facts about the history of the house and its inhabitants, not unfounded speculation from a guy who was paid to roam around and locate spirits. I wouldn't have minded just some anecdotal observations from him, but to devote almost half the tour to it seemed excessive. The tour itself literally lasted maybe 25 minutes, so I didn't feel like we really got our money's worth (about $15 or so, taking into account the trolley refund), especially since the only reason it technically expanded to 30 minutes was because the host opened the floor up to the group to share ghostly anecdotes. I wasn't anti the anecdotes - in fact, we were all enormously impressed by an adolescent girl who figured out a way to not only drag her dad and sister to Cape May for the sole purpose of ghost hunting, but also got them to get up in the middle of the night with some glowy cat ball things to perform some recon in her hotel ballroom - but I think they should have been a bonus add-on, not officially a way to bloat the tour to a still meager 30 minutes. In hindsight, I wouldn't recommend proceeding with the tour unless the trolley is involved, or the adolescent girl is hired as the guide. I feel like the most important fact I learned on the tour was that cat toys are used to hunt ghosts."

"Wonderful experience. Tour guide was excellent and estate really gives you a feeling that another presence or energy spirit is there. It is a must visit if you have the time. Look for the ghostly Orbs in your photos when you are done. Book in advance."