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Listing countless of spooky occurrences from those who have dared to visit the McInteer Villa in Kansas, the mansion is now the blueprint for a classic mansion. Who are the spirits behind the hauntings?
Listing countless of spooky occurrences from those who have dared to visit the McInteer Villa in Kansas, the mansion is now the blueprint for a classic mansion. Who are the spirits behind the hauntings?
Tucked away in the historic town of Atchison, Kansas, the McInteer Villa stands as a breathtaking relic of Victorian architecture along the Missouri River. The most famous thing that ever came out of this place was the legendary Pilot, Amelia Earhart, but they are also something for the ones interested in the paranormal.
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With a striking red brick facade and ornate turrets, the house looks like how haunted mansions are described in movies and books. Its history also harbors a darker reputation—one steeped in mystery, tragedy, and a host of restless spirits.
McInteer Villa was built between 1889 and 1890 by John McInteer, an Irish immigrant who came to the states when he was young boy, all alone. Over the years he earned a fortune and became a wealthy harness maker. The McInteer Villa was originally a proud testament to his success after chasing the American dream alone as a boy. Now it’s more a reminder of the tragedies his family had to go through.
His first wife, Alice Conley died from a long suffering illness and was the first to die in the house. Perhaps she was its first ghost too? They had met in Cincinnati, Ohio and married in 1861. She was also born in Ireland, and had come to seek a new life. Together they had no children but had both nieces and nephews living with them at times. After being ill for a year she died in December 1891 at 9 o’clock in the morning.
As one of the confirmed deaths in the house, some visitors attribute some of the haunting to her. Could it be that people notice when the smell shifts? The air is often thick with the scent of a powdery perfume, as if a spectral woman still lingers in the hallways.
He remarried to a woman called Anna Donovan with three kids from a previous marriage, Peter, Fred and Carles. After McInteer’s death in 1902, his second wife and her family took over the McInteer Villa and she lived there until her death in 1916. The McInteer Villa stayed in the family for years until 1925 and many believe that she and her children are some of the spirits lingering. Could it be her who is behind the cabinets opening by themselves as well as doors around the house as if she was still the lady of the house? Or perhaps it is she who is playing the piano on the ground floor when everyone else has gone to bed.
Most reported occurrences in the McInteer Villa are the disembodied voices coming from nowhere as you walk through the building. Those who step inside McInteer Villa describe an overwhelming sense of being watched, particularly on the second floor. From the hallway on this floor there are also said that heavy steps are heard, pacing back and forth.
But who is the one walking through the house after dark, when no one is supposed to? Strange voices and rattling of doorknobs is said to be the ghost of Charles Donovan, who died on the second floor.
Charles Donovan was the son of Anna Donovan. Like his mother, he also ended his life in the mansion. When he served during the first world war he contracted Influenza he didn’t really recover from and was sick a lot. He was 34 and a veteran, and probably had more than a lingering influenza from the war plaguing him. October 10th in 1922 he committed suicide by shooting himself with a 22 caliber in his bedroom upstairs.
The last in the line of the family to live in the McInteer Villa was Anna’s brother Charles Conlon until he died in 1930.
Over the years, the villa transformed into a boarding house for the next 25 years. Many came and went over the years and perhaps one of the temporary tenants is still staying here? Perhaps this is where a faint hint of cigarette smoke that follows visitors comes from, despite no one in the house smoking. No one is still alive.
In recent years there have also started to spread wilder stories than rattling of doorknobs and vague heavy energy in the house. One story passed around is that one of the biggest rooms they believe that were used for funeral ceremonies for a time, were the bodies were laid out for viewing and this is why there is so much paranormal activity. Perhaps it was, perhaps it was only for the families staying there, it’s not much proof to go on here. It is however not the only legends that have been spread from this house.
In the basement of McInteer Villa there are seven different brick-walled rooms that the mere sight would give goosebumps to those venturing down there. There are rumors of illegal abortions and even darker things happening. There is however no proof that this actually happened. According to the stories, the previous owners refused to go down there.
It’s really not easy to prove what really happened during these years, but we do know of some of the people who stayed here that are said to still haunt it.
In 1929 William T and Naomi Wood lived in the rooming house and had a daughter they named Romona Wood. She was only four years old before she died of unknown causes on September 20th that year. The Wood family moved away to Eugene Oregon, but many believe that the baby cries said to be heard in the house, belong to this little soul.
Among the most infamous residents was Goldie, a woman who allegedly passed away in her rocking chair—an item that now moves on its own, as if she still lingers in the space she once called home. The chair is still in the house, with a Raggedy Ann doll sitting in it and a framed obituary of the woman who died at its side.
Her name was actually Isobel Altus, a professional violinist who used to live here after she bought the house in 1952. Or was she actually a violinist? According to some sources she was actually a laundress and a stenographer. Although she did actually teach violin at the Colorado Women’s College for between 1922-1926.
She was said to be quite eccentric according to her neighbors and wanted to restore the house but didn’t manage it because of the expenses. She was said to have worn only black and her neighbors called her a witch because of her eccentricity and house. She also never married and never had any children. She died in 1969 and most likely, some of the wildest haunted rumors of it being a haunted house comes from this period if we are to speculate. An unmarried woman living by herself, wearing all black in a mansion? Of course it must be haunted then!
Story has it that the rocking chair was where she took her life according to some sources. But is it true? She is also said to have died in her sleep in her chair by the fireplace of natural causes. Right before she did die, she sold the house to George Gerardy who actually did end up renovating it. He let her stay in the house until she died on December 21 (15). She was left for 24 hours before she was found by her neighbor Dorothy Bond.
According to those visiting the house, they have seen the rocking chair go back and forth without anyone touching it. She is also said to be the one appearing throughout the house wearing a long black dress.
Both George Gerardy and his wife Thelma Gerardy also died in their home from natural causes according to most sources, but strange tales started to be told about these two as well. It is said from the current owner of the house that Thelma did experience strange things in their home. It was most likely them who said they didn’t want to go down to the basement for example. How did they feel about the attic though?
The sound of footsteps over the floor with no one present is also said to happen in the attic as well. The very room feels heavy with all the spirits lingering there. The atmosphere has been described as uncomfortable, especially from women who report about being touched or even scratched by unseen hands. There is also a shadow figure said to have growled on occasion, and is perhaps connected to this alleged entity.
Who this entity is supposed to be, is unknown, but a shadowy figure is said to be lurking in the shadows. Some are claiming that it is the ghost of George Gerardy, who is said to have hung himself in the attic in 2006. Seems rather unlikely though, as he was 86 years.
It is a strange design of the house, and one of the architectural features of the house is the tower. Here, also the people walking past the house from the outside are also said to experience the paranormal things happening from the villa.
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The light is said to go on and off in a strange and flickering manner, perhaps not so strange if the wiring or light bulb is an old one. But the strange thing here is that the tower of the villa has no electricity whatsoever, so what is the light then?
Now, the thing about the light flickering is perhaps a bit outdated now, as there is in fact electricity there today on the third floor. But what happened before the lights got installed and how long it was however is unknown.
Unlike other historic haunted locations, McInteer Villa welcomes visitors looking to explore its ghostly corridors. Stephanie O’Reilly bought the mansion in 2018 and outfitted it to take visitors back in time. She bought it from the children of Charles Gerardy.
She started to fill her new home with old stuff, some of it said to be haunted by spirits brought inside from outside of the house. This is the story behind the creepy marionette doll who is said to be haunted. Certainly a haunted appearance, this marionette doll dates back to the 1800s, and has real human hair coming out from his head.
The house regularly hosts public events, including overnight stays, guided ghost hunts, and themed holiday gatherings and throughout the year most weekends are fully booked up. O’Reilly invites paranormal researchers into her home to investigate, keeps the cameras running in some of the more active rooms as well as placing toys reacting to movements around the house to catch some ghosts.
This is from where most of the rumors of the haunting comes from, and there are countless blogs and forum comments talking about their stay at the villa and how their investigation went. How the doors kept opening, strange things they captured in their photos, that time a speaker was allegedly thrown off the counter by a mysterious force as well as being able to move around boxes without anyone touching it.
The most unnerving occurrences include dramatic temperature shifts. It is said that a news crew visited the mansion once, and the temperature shifted over 40 degrees without an explanation. Unexplained noises, and shadowy figures glimpsed in the villa’s windows are also seen, only to vanish upon closer inspection.
Whether you’re a skeptic or a believer, the stories surrounding McInteer Villa are hard to ignore and the experience of staying at a haunted mansion hard to pass up for a lot of people. Is it the spirits of past residents refusing to leave? Or is the house itself a conduit for something far more mysterious?
The 1889 McInteer Villa (@the1889mcinteervilla) • Instagram photos and videos
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Alice Conley McInteer (1829-1891) – Find a Grave Memorial
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54225008/charles_donovan
