Across various regions in the United States and beyond, a growing number of residents are choosing to live in homes located within or adjacent to burial grounds. While unconventional, these residences often blend history, nature, and community stewardship, presenting a unique way of engaging with the past and the landscape of final resting places.
In Hillsdale, New York, Leah Guadagnoli, a culinary artist and farmer-florist, resides with her fiancé, Tim Sengenberger, in a former 19th-century church surrounded by the graves of approximately 170 individuals. Guadagnoli describes the atmosphere as surprisingly peaceful and views the gravestones—worn by lichens and moss—as integral components of the natural environment. She has hosted meals on the grounds, maintained by descendants of those interred, and plans to hold her wedding there. Guadagnoli also incorporates local flora into her culinary creations, noting the unique appeal of ingredients like cemetery-grown violets.
Similarly, Sarah Gundle, a psychologist from New York City, lived for a time on a property adjacent to a one-acre burial site in western New Jersey. She found the environment conducive to reflection and calm, suggesting that living among graves can foster empathy for both others and oneself. Her family added plantings and decorative elements to enhance the landscape, receiving appreciative feedback from visitors with personal connections to the site.
In Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, Kat Momenzadeh and her husband, Ed Choma, purchased a 19th-century building that once served as a cemetery gatehouse, noted locally as “the one with the hole in the middle.” Previously used as a haunted house attraction and described by home renovation networks as “the scariest house in America,” the structure underwent significant restoration prior to the couple’s arrival in 2025. Their visits to the surrounding wooded burial grounds include stopping at the grave of a newborn buried there in the early 20th century, illustrating the personal connections that develop between residents and cemetery history.
Beyond residential use, burial grounds have also seen entrepreneurial activity. In London, Nicholas Horowitz and his family live in a Gothic former vicarage at Paddington Old Cemetery, where they maintain beehives producing what they call Tombstone Honey. The site, home to graves of notable figures including Michael Bond, creator of Paddington Bear, has been transformed into a place of calm amid the city's dense housing. Architectural features and historical artifacts found on the property contribute to the uniqueness of this cemetery residence.
This trend links to a longer history of habitation related to cemeteries. Scholars note that during the Gilded Age, mausoleums were often furnished with domestic comforts, offering a blurred boundary between living spaces and burial sites. The contemporary increase in such properties is partly due to religious and secular organizations selling off cemetery facilities, as well as homeowners discovering historic graves on their land. These developments raise challenges about preservation and recognition of burial sites, as forgotten tombs may emerge unexpectedly.
Longtime caretakers also play a key role in maintaining cemetery integrity. For example, at Chicago’s Bohemian National Cemetery, the late Helen A. Sclair, known as “The Cemetery Lady,” combined residence with advocacy and scholarship on death and funeral customs. In Queens, Marion Duckworth Smith has cared for a 17th-century homestead and its adjacent tombstones for decades, preserving the memory and physical upkeep of early settlers’ graves while involving community volunteers in maintenance efforts.
Similarly, James Sheehan spent seventy years tending a walled tomb enclosure dating back to the early 18th century, engaging family members and local groups in maintaining the site with respect. Though health issues recently curtailed his activities, Sheehan’s commitment reflected a deep personal connection to the history embodied by the gravestones.
Whether through restoration, residence, or stewardship, those living among gravesites underscore a multifaceted relationship with mortality, memory, and place. Their experiences reveal that, rather than inspiring fear, living among the dead can foster reflection, community, and preservation of historical landscapes.