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Maplecroft History Uncovered, Inside Lizzie Borden's Lavish Mansion Located On The French Street
Maplecroft is the French Hill mansion Lizzie Borden bought after her acquittal, featuring Queen Anne architecture, a carriage house, and staff quarters.
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Add BollywoodShaadis on GoogleNetflix's Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, the fourth installment of Ryan Murphy's Monster anthology that premiered September 17, 2026, is based on the true story of Lizzie Borden, tried and acquitted for the 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River.
The eight-episode series, starring Ella Beatty as 'Lizzie,' traces her transformation from a suspect to an outcast, centered on her later life at Maplecroft, the mansion she bought after the trial and called home until her death.
Lizzie Borden's life at Maplecroft after the trial
Maplecroft is located at 306 French Street in Fall River, originally listed as 7 French Street. It is a 4,000 sq. ft., 14-room Queen Anne Victorian built around 1887 to 1889, with seven bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, six carved fireplaces, original crown molding, Tiffany sconces, and stained glass.
After her acquittal in June 1893 for the August 1892 axe murders of Andrew and Abby Borden at 92 Second Street, Lizzie Borden did not disappear. She spent her inheritance (equivalent to about USD 10 million today) on this house in the swankiest neighborhood called The Hill, about a mile from the murder house.
Lizzie and her sister Emma bought the house in September 1893, just three months after Lizzie came out of prison. It was a huge upgrade. Unlike Second Street, Maplecroft was completely modern for 1893, with electricity, running hot and cold water, and flush toilets in all bathrooms.
Lizzie later owned one of the first cars in town, a black Ford Model T nicknamed Tin Lizzie, stored in the carriage house, which is now an art studio. That carriage house had its own private gas pump and a turntable because she could not reverse park. For a time, she lived there with Emma and their many pets, including three Boston Bull Terriers and a black cat named Daisy, plus live-in staff.
Parties, family split, and new owners of Maplecroft
Around 1904, Lizzie befriended famous actress Nance O'Neill and hosted her theater company at Maplecroft. She had stopped following strict social rules, quit church and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and threw loud, lavish parties in the basement.
The basement was finished like a speakeasy with a wood dance floor, floor-to-ceiling wainscoting, and a latched panel hiding a shallow cupboard just big enough for whiskey bottles during Prohibition. However, Emma did not approve of it. After a particularly offensive week-long bash in 1905, Emma left for good. She told the Boston Post the happenings at the French Street house had become absolutely unbearable. The sisters never spoke again.
Lizzie began calling the house Maplecroft by 1908 and had the name carved into the granite front step in 1909. She used the name Lizbeth A. Borden and lived there alone until she died in the house on June 1, 1927. She was woken in the parlor. Emma died nine days later. Both are buried together in the family plot.
Lizzie left most of her money to Fall River's Animal Rescue League. The house passed through families, the last with children living there in the early 1980s. In 2014, Kristee Bates of Texas bought it and spent about USD 400,000 restoring it.
In 2018, Donald Woods and Lee Ann Wilber, owners of the Second Street Bed and Breakfast, bought it for USD 500,000 and added a USD 200,000 hidden sprinkler system. It was listed from 2022 to 2023 for USD 890,000 and was bought in 2021 by Brooke and Michael Doherty as a private residence. They still live there.
Have you watched all the episodes of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story on Netflix? Let us know.
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