Carolyn Muir, a young widow from Philadelphia, moves into Gull Cottage on the coast of Maine with her two young children, family dog, and housekeeper. Unknown to her Gull Cottage is already inhabited by the ghost of the former owner Captain Daniel Gregg, a charming but somewhat aggravating ghost who is not sure if he wants this family in his home.

A young couple on the way to their wedding get stranded at Gull Cottage for the night and Captain Gregg is beside himself at what to do with them. So he decides they must get married that night.

With the house badly in need of repair, Carolyn tries to play off Claymore's vanity by telling him that a national magazine wants to do a photo shoot of Gull Cottage and if he could attend to some of the work that needs done it would be much more impressive. The Captain finds her plan amusing and bets her $5 dollars that Claymore will not do the repairs, but when it appears that he really won't fix the necessary items, the Captain comes up with a brilliant scheme of his own.

Claymore brings a stranger to look at the house who claims he is a student of architecture and wants to take photos of the house. When he comes back to the house after the Muirs leave for the evening Captain Gregg thinks he's a burglar and tries to scare him away, not realizing that he is actually a parapsychologist who is determined to find the ghost of Gull Cottage and make him known to an unsuspecting public.

The Schooner Bay Historical Society decides to place a statue of a local hero in the town square. The president of the society, Miss Elvira Grover takes it upon herself to choose the person without the voting of the other members, and decides upon her ancestor--Captain Horatio Figg, a supposed hero of the Mexican War who died at sea. The Captain is overcome with rage at this choice, which Carolyn takes for jealousy because he himself was not picked. Not so he says, at least not in part, Captain Figg was a coward who demanded to be put off the ship, fled from all combat and actually returned to Schooner Bay and died there. Carolyn, who is writing an article on Figg, tells the Captain she must have proof of his accusations. Triumptly, the Captain takes her to Figg's gravestone, situated in the pet cemetary on the old Figg homestead but he can not prove that the seaman's medals were fakes or that he was not hero at the Battle of Vera Cruz. Carolyn takes the historical society to vie

This episode guest starred Shelly Faberes as Vanessa Peekskill, the great-great granddaughter of the Captain's lost love. She comes to Gull Cottage to find more information on their romance that she has discovered in letters that Captain Gregg had written to her ancestor. The Captain is immediately enchanted by Vanessa and insists that she stay as long as she wishes and have a free run of the house, including the sea chest which has always been off limits. Carolyn finds herself growing more and more jealous over Vanessa and the attention the Captain pays to her and she begins to wonder if maybe they should move and leave Vanessa and the Captain alone.

When antique hounds visit the cottage, Claymore tries to sell them the Captain's barometer by switching it for a replica he had made, but the Captain switches them back and Claymore is arrested for selling the fake.

Carolyn's Uncle Arnold comes to visit just in time for Candy's birthday. A traveling salesman that indulges in magic tricks on the side, he was always a favorite of Carolyn's who remembers him as the uncle she rarely got to spend time with. Candy and Jonathan are delighted with him at first and Candy even asks her mother if she will talk Uncle Arnold into staying for her birthday party so he can perform some magic. But soon the children grow tired of his stale jokes and not so good tricks and try to think of away to get him to leave. When they complain to Carolyn that they love him but don't want him to come to the party after all, Uncle Arnold overhears and then tells Carolyn he can not stay, as business is calling him away. She knows that he overheard and tries to talk him out of it but to no avail. After talking to Carolyn trying to help her through the unhappiness she feels, Captain Gregg talks to Jonathan and reminds him that uncles are human and can not be tossed aside like

When Claymore gets Mrs. Muir to star in his amateur theatre production, the Captain feels abandoned and decides to disrupt the show.

In this touching episode, Carolyn decides that she can no longer live in Gull Cottage the way it is and must do a major renovation. After an initial disagreement over her plans, the Captain agrees to allow her to do what she wants ""even if it ruins Gull Cottage"", and she sets to work to make it less of a ship and more of a home. She removes antiques and replaces them with modern furniture, much to the Captain's chargrin. However, when she has his Monkey Puzzle Tree cut down, which had broken a window during a storm, the Captain disappears from Gull Cottage. A contrite Carolyn tries to tell him she is sorry, but Jonathan informs her that the Captain is gone. Everyone can feel the hollowness in the house, his abscence causes, even Martha and Candy who are not aware of his presense. Carolyn decides there is only way to have the Captain forgive her, so she replaces the tree. Captain Gregg is touched by her thougtfulness and all is well at Gull Cottage once again.

When Carolyn is desperate in need of money to fix the plumbing but can't think of one idea for her article, Captain Gregg comes to her rescue with disastrous results.

The Captain extends a series of invitation to Carolyn for conversation and Madiera, to celebrate the end of the passing day, but things never quite seem to work out as he intended, due to ""petty household chores.""

When Martha takes an interest in the local dentist, who seems to ignore her advances, Carolyn takes the matter into her own hands, enlisting the Captain for a little help.

Carolyn recieves a telegram from an old friend who is coming to Schooner Bay to entice her to marry him. He arrives on his huge yacht and tries his best to be charming, hoping that Carolyn will see her mistake of not marrying him in the first place and will finally make the right decision. Captain Gregg, obviously jealous of ""her Philadelphia sailor"", has a lot of fun making Blair as uncomfortable as possible, including a scene with the lawn sprinkler that is too funny for words. Carolyn tells Captain Gregg to leave Blair alone and to try to control his jealousy. The Captain replies that is he is not jealous nor has any reason to be, but later admits to himself and to her that he was prehaps a bit jealous of her old beau. Blair asks Carolyn to marry him again and this time she accepts, much to his joy until she makes him realize that marriage to her would also include a a ready made family and giving up his carefree existence. He makes a hasty retreat, thankful to get away with his

When the door knob on the bedroom starts to stick, the Captain insists that Claymore be called to fix it, although Carolyn informs him she would rather have it fixed herself. Not heeding her words, the Captain calls Claymore to Gull Cottage, just as Claymore was preparing to leave for a vacation. Claymore nervous as always when being in the Captain's presence, makes a big show of fixing the door, by trying to open it with force. The Captain on the other side, opens the door and Claymore goes flying through the air, landing outside in a dead faint. The doctor declares that Claymore has a slipped disc and must not be moved from Gull Cottage. Carolyn tries to make his missed vacation up to him, by saying he is welcome at Gull Cottage and they will take care of him just like he was on his vacation. Claymore in true fashion, demands outrageous meals, lots of attention and tells Carolyn that he will sue her for his accident. Even after Claymore discovers that he is cured he stays on at G

Jonathan and Candy find a beautiful antique clock locked in the wall of the attic and it's decided that the clock should be hung in the front hall and used. The Captain seems delighted with the find and asks if they do intend to start it. Not sure why he is so happy at the thought of getting the clock fixed, Carolyn soon discovers that the clock has a curse on it put on it by a former Gregg. When the clock is started, the last living Gregg will die at midnight and Claymore is convinced that he's a goner.