Larnach Castle — the jealous wife and the tragic baron of Otago Peninsula

Larnach Castle on the Otago Peninsula near Dunedin, New Zealand, is the only castle in New Zealand and is said to be haunted by at least two ghosts. The castle was built between 1871 and 1887 by William Larnach, a wealthy banker and politician whose personal life was marked by tragedy. His first two wives died young, and his third wife had an affair with his eldest son, driving Larnach to suicide in 1898 in a committee room of Parliament House in Wellington. The castle is said to be haunted by Larnach himself, who appears as a stern figure in Victorian formal wear, and by one of his wives — a woman in a flowing dress seen on the grand staircase and in the ballroom. Guests at the castle hotel have reported hearing footsteps, the sound of a woman crying in the tower room, and the feeling of being watched throughout the building. The castle's dramatic setting, perched on the highest point of the peninsula with panoramic views of the harbor and the Pacific Ocean, and its elaborate Gothic Revival architecture make it one of New Zealand's most atmospheric heritage sites. The tragedy of Larnach's life — success, love, betrayal, and suicide — gives the castle's haunting a depth of narrative that rivals any European counterpart.