The ghost of the home’s previous owner, Captain Daniel Gregg also resides in the cottage. He died there one night in November 13, 1869 when he accidentally kicked over a gas heater by his bedside and expired. The fumes killed him, but his death was wrongfully reported as a suicide. So, for one hundred years, Daniel retained possession of the cottage by haunting it and scaring potential buyers away. Then in 1968, Claymore Gregg, Daniel’s only living relative (a real tightwad) leased the cottage to the strong-willed but unsuspecting Carolyn Muir. 

When Carolyn first saw the cottage she confessed "It's exactly what I had in mind - a dear, gentle lovely little house." After the Captain revealed himself, Carolyn told him "Now that we've moved in, I hope you'll be kind enough to do your haunting elsewhere." The Captain thundered back "You do your living elsewhere". Upset, Carolyn confessed "the minute I saw this house I seemed to belong here. It's as though it was welcoming me, asking me to rescue it from being empty."  As Carolyn began to cry, she explained that she spent her life savings to move to Schooner Bay and that she couldn't leave. Seeing Carolyn's "spunk" and that she truly loved the house, Daniel establishes a truce with Carolyn and allows her to stay -- on a trial basis.

Carolyn moved into Gregg’s upstairs bedroom ("The Captain's Cabin") to be close to her children while the spirit of the Captain kept watch on the observation deck on the roof above or resided within his oil painting portrait in the parlor. But when it came time to change her clothes, however, the ever modest Carolyn still stepped inside in a closet to disrobe. After all, dead or not. Captain Gregg was a man, and a handsome one at that. Truth be told, the Captain popped in occasionally just to watch Carolyn sleep.

Captain Gregg's Portrait

Over time, Carolyn and the Captain became comfortable with each others rhythms and habits. Caroline began to predict Daniel's moods by reading the barometer on the wall (When angry, the device indicated "Stormy Weather"). Carolyn even became fond of the Captain's favorite expression "Blast!" which she adopted as one of her own curse words. And every Tuesday, Carolyn and the Captain established a custom, if time permitted, to meet in the wheelhouse at 2:00pm and share a leisurely glass of Madeira.

The biggest mistake Carolyn ever made while living at Gull Cottage was cutting down the Captain's prized but now overgrown Monkey Puzzle tree. He had personally planted the tree 137 years earlier. When Carolyn had the tree removed, Daniel Gregg's spirit suddenly left the cottage, as if the tree had somehow rooted him there. Desperate, Carolyn traveled to Boston and bought a new tree. Upon planting it, the Captain returned.

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