The Haunted Sears Haverhill

From the outside, the Rossetti House on the University of Pittsburgh’s Greensburg campus doesn’t seem like the kind of place that would send chills down your spine. It is a Sears Roebuck house that now serves as the university’s Office of Admissions. And legend says its original owner never truly left.

The Pitt-Greensburg Rossetti House at 121 Lynch Way, Greensburg, PA. Photo from Crazypaco on Wikipedia.

The Sears Haverhill, a Colonial Revival with symmetrical windows and a central entryway.

Built in 1940, the Rossetti House began life as a Sears Haverhill. The house was originally constructed for Mary Lynch Quinn. Quinn and her husband lived there for decades.

In 1997, tragedy struck when Quinn, then in her 80s, was found by her caretaker in the swimming pool near her beloved home.

The following year, the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg purchased the 1.5-acre property, converting the Sears home into housing for international students. In 1999, it was renamed Rossetti House in honor of Dr. Guy Rossetti, a longtime professor and administrator at the university.

If you ask around campus, the Rossetti House isn’t just another administrative building — it’s one of the campus’s most famous haunts. According to Paranormal Pitt: Ghost Stories and Legends of the University of Pittsburgh by M. L. Swayne, students and staff have reported unexplained knocks, footsteps, and flickering lights inside the old house.

Some even claim to hear a woman’s voice humming softly in the halls. Many believe it’s Mary Lynch Quinn herself, restless after her home was renamed and repurposed.

One of the eeriest details? Several witnesses have described feeling a sudden cold chill in the living room — the same room where Quinn’s body allegedly was laid out after her death.

Last year, Jason Iampietro of the Revenant Entity Paranormal Society led an investigation of the Haverhill. His team reported possible contact with two entities — Mary Lynch Quinn and a spirit named Juan, thought to be a former student. The group captured electronic voice phenomena (EVPs) and temperature changes suggesting an unseen presence.

Today, the Sears Haverhill is a place where history refuses to rest quietly. Maybe it’s the lingering presence of Mary Lynch Quinn, still watching over her house. Or maybe it’s just the creaks and groans of an old Sears home settling in the Pennsylvania night. Either way, the Rossetti House is a fascinating blend of Sears home history and local ghost lore.

Photo from Pitt-Greensburg.