Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Ambitious Guest” is based on a true historical tragedy. In 1825, Samuel Willey, his wife, and their five children moved to Crawford Notch in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The Old Notch House, built in 1793, served as the Willey family’s home and as an inn. A landslide in June 1826 prompted Willey to erect a stone shelter. On August 28, 1826, a rainstorm caused the Saco River to flood, leading to severe landslides. The Willey family and their two employees retreated to the shelter and perished. As in Hawthorne’s story, the Willey home was unscathed by the natural disaster. However, none of the victims are found in Hawthorne’s story, whereas the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Willey, two of their five children, and the two employees were recovered. When responders investigated the Willeys’ home, they found “unmade beds, clothes strewn about and an open Bible on a table” (“The Willey Family Tragedy Starts White Mountain Tourism.” New England Historical Society, 29 Feb. 2024).

Newspapers and Theodore Dwight’s guidebook The Northern Traveler introduced the Willey family’s tragic story to a national audience, and travelers flocked to the White Mountains to see the house that survived the landslide. The work of artists and writers like Hawthorne both capitalized on and contributed to tourists’ interest in the tragedy. Hawthorne visited Crawford Notch in 1832. Three years later, he published “The Ambitious Guest” in The New-England Magazine as the first installment of a series of travel pieces entitled Sketches From Memory, by a Pedestrian. Other famous artists and writers who visited the site include Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Daniel Webster, and Thomas Cole. Today, the Willey House historical site remains open to visitors as part of the Crawford Notch State Park.