Haunted places guide · Cleveland, Ohio
Franklin Castle, Cleveland: The Truth Behind Ohio's Most Haunted House
Four children, a grandmother and a mother died while the Tiedemanns lived in this stone mansion. Decades later came tales of murders, hidden passages and bones in the walls. Here is what really happened at Franklin Castle.
Franklin Castle is a four-story stone mansion with a round corner tower on Franklin Boulevard in Ohio City, just west of downtown Cleveland. It is often called the most haunted house in Ohio, a claim repeated so often that it has become part of the building’s identity.
The truth is quieter and sadder than the legends. The Tiedemann family who built it lost one member after another, and the house stood empty or changed hands many times before the ghost stories took off in the 1960s and 1970s. It is a private home today, being restored by its owners, so this guide tells you how to see it without trespassing.
Franklin Castle at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 4308 Franklin Blvd, Cleveland, OH 44113 (Ohio City)
- Built 1881 to 1883 for Hannes Tiedemann, designed by Cudell and Richardson
- Style Queen Anne, four stories, more than 20 rooms and about 80 windows
- Most haunted spots The top-floor ballroom, the tower room and the so-called cold room
- Best-known ghosts A girl in white (often linked to Emma Tiedemann) and a lady in black at the windows
- Visiting Private home: see it from the street; occasional ticketed events
- Ghost hunting Only at occasional events organized with the owners
History of Franklin Castle
Hannes Tiedemann was a German immigrant who made his money in the wholesale grocery business and later in banking. In 1881 he began a grand house on Franklin Boulevard, then one of Cleveland’s best addresses, to designs by the architects Cudell and Richardson. It was finished in 1883 in the Queen Anne style, with a round corner tower, steep gables and more than 20 rooms.
Death came to the family almost at once. Tiedemann’s 15-year-old daughter Emma died of diabetes on January 15, 1881, and his elderly mother Wiebeka died soon after. Three more of his children died over the next few years. His wife Luise died of liver disease on March 24, 1895, at 57. Tiedemann sold the house in 1896 to the Mullhauser family, and by 1908 he and every member of his family were dead, leaving no heir.
From 1921 German societies used the house as a meeting place. It later passed through a string of private owners. In 1984 Michael DeVinko, Judy Garland’s last husband, bought it and spent around a decade renovating it. Michelle Heimburger bought it for $350,000 in 1999, and a fire that year badly damaged it; the restoration was never finished. A March 2011 fire damaged the carriage house.
Later in 2011 the house was rezoned for three-family use and sold to Chiara Dona Dalle for $260,000. Her family has been restoring it since, with Amish craftsmen working on the interiors, and WKYC reported plans to open it as a museum of curiosities. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 15, 1982.
The ghosts and legends of Franklin Castle
The girl in white
The gentlest story is the most widely told. People inside the house describe footsteps in the top-floor ballroom, voices from empty rooms and a child’s giggle. WKYC reported that these are usually blamed on a girl in white, believed to be Emma Tiedemann, the daughter who died of diabetes in 1881.
The lady in black
A dark female figure is said to stand at the tower windows looking down on the street. She is often linked to Luise Tiedemann. The room where Luise died was once said to be 10 to 15 degrees colder than the rest of the house, and ghost lore calls it the cold room.
Murders, passages and a hanged girl
The wilder legends grew from the 1960s onward: an ax murder in the tower, a mass shooting in the basement, Tiedemann hanging a daughter called Karen in a secret passage, and hidden rooms used by bootleggers. Bill Krejci, co-author of the book Haunted Franklin Castle, told WKYC that the murder, bootlegging, spying and mass execution stories are not true. Apart from a small servants’ stairway between the kitchen and front door, the secret passages do not exist.
The bones in the wall
In 1975 human bones were found in the house, and the discovery is often used as proof of the legends. The leading explanation, given by Wikipedia and Atlas Obscura, is that they were planted by a new owner who soon began selling ghost tours. Their origin has never been settled.
Crying babies and cookies
Older retellings, including our own earlier guide, told of a crying baby heard through the walls and of a family whose children wanted to give cookies to a little girl nobody else could see. These are part of the house’s folklore, passed on by former residents and ghost writers, with no record behind them.
Where to look
- The tower windows: visible from Franklin Boulevard, where the lady in black is said to appear.
- The top-floor ballroom: where footsteps and voices are reported.
- The cold room: Luise Tiedemann’s room, once said to be far colder than the rest of the house.
- The servants' stairway: the only real hidden route in the house, between the kitchen and the front door.
Visiting Franklin Castle
Franklin Castle is a private home, and its owners live in and work on it. You can see the front, the tower and the iron fence from the sidewalk on Franklin Boulevard, and the house is an easy stop on a walk through Ohio City’s Victorian streets, a few minutes from the West Side Market.
From time to time the owners or outside organizers announce ticketed events inside. In August 2024, for example, Night Shift Paranormal Events held an evening with a castle tour and a psychic workshop, and it sold out. Wikipedia also reports that the owners began offering occasional overnight stays from December 2022. Watch for announcements, and never try the gate or the doors outside an event.
- Visiting Private home: see it from the street; occasional ticketed events
- Ghost hunting Only at occasional ticketed events announced by the owners or organizers
Tips for your visit
- Walk by at dusk, when the tower windows are easiest to see against the sky.
- Combine it with Ohio City’s restaurants and breweries and the West Side Market nearby.
- Follow paranormal event organizers in the Cleveland area for rare ticketed nights inside.
- Read Bill Krejci’s book before you go if you want the full, debunked story.
- Do not trespass: the owners live there and the house is under restoration.
Go ghost hunting nearby
Visiting a haunted place by day is one thing. Investigating one after dark is another. On a Haunted Rooms ghost hunt our team takes you through a historic building with professional ghost hunting equipment, runs EVP sessions and vigils, and gives you time to explore on your own. These are the nearest ones we run.
- Mortuary Manor Ghost Hunt, Toledo: investigate a former north Toledo funeral home with its embalming rooms, basement morgue and viewing parlors still in place.
- Haunted Grand Midway Hotel Ghost Hunt and Sleepover, Windber: investigate a historic hotel in a western Pennsylvania coal town, then stay the night.
- Haunted Cresson Sanatorium and Prison Ghost Hunt: a former tuberculosis sanatorium and state prison on a mountaintop near Altoona, with its tunnels and cell blocks.
More haunted places nearby
- The Ohio State Reformatory: Ohio’s most famous haunted prison, about 80 miles southwest in Mansfield
- Punderson Manor Lodge: a haunted state park lodge 35 miles east of Cleveland
- Haunted hotels in Ohio
- Haunted places in Ohio
Visited one of these places? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from visitors and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your visit. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
Is Franklin Castle really haunted?
It has one of the strongest haunted reputations in Ohio, with reports of footsteps, voices and figures at the windows. The family tragedies behind the stories are real, but the tales of murder and secret passages have been debunked.
Can you go inside Franklin Castle?
Only at occasional ticketed events. It is a private home under restoration, so see it from the sidewalk on Franklin Boulevard and watch for announced events.
Who built Franklin Castle?
Hannes Tiedemann, a German immigrant grocer and banker, built it between 1881 and 1883 to designs by Cudell and Richardson.
Were there murders at Franklin Castle?
There is no record of any. Researcher Bill Krejci says the ax murder, mass shooting and hanging stories are not true. The Tiedemann deaths were from illness.
Were bones found in Franklin Castle?
Yes, in 1975, but the most common explanation is that they were planted by an owner who then began running ghost tours. Their origin was never established.
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the official website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as staff, visitors and investigators tell them, and we say where records contradict a story.
- Wikipedia: Franklin Castle
- WKYC: Exclusive look inside Ohio City's haunted Franklin Castle
- Atlas Obscura: Franklin Castle
- Night Shift Paranormal Events: A Haunting Evening at Franklin Castle (Aug 2024)
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About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every place in our guides using official sites, historic registers, local archives and news coverage, and we report ghost stories as the stories they are. We review each guide regularly so you are not sent to a place that has closed, changed hands or banned visitors. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.