Haunted hotel guide · Denver, Colorado
The Haunted Patterson Inn, Denver: Ghosts of the Croke-Patterson Mansion
Legend says the man who built this red sandstone chateau spent one night in it and never came back. The records say he stayed six months, but the stories of what happened after have made it one of Denver’s most famous haunted houses.
The Patterson Inn is the Croke-Patterson-Campbell Mansion, a red sandstone chateau with a turret on the corner of East 11th Avenue and Pennsylvania Street in Capitol Hill. Built in 1890 and 1891, it was a family home, a radio station and apartments before it opened in 2013 as a nine-suite inn for adults. It is one of the top picks on our list of haunted hotels in Denver.
Few Denver buildings have more stories attached. Workers in the 1970s said their work was undone overnight, and two guard dogs are said to have leapt from a third-floor window. Guests today describe footsteps, knocking, voices and a baby crying in the basement, and the house has appeared on the Travel Channel’s Portals to Hell.
Patterson Inn at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 420 E 11th Ave, Denver, CO 80203, in Capitol Hill
- Built 1890 to 1891, designed by Isaac Hodgson Jr. after the Chateau d’Azay-le-Rideau
- Most haunted spots The carriage house, the third floor, the basement and the main staircase
- Best-known ghosts Thomas Patterson, Kate Patterson, an Irish caretaker, children’s figures, a crying baby
- Booking the haunted room There is no haunted room package. Nine themed suites, each with a private bath.
- Good to know Adults only (18 and over). Breakfast, free parking and a bar. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973.
The ghosts of The Patterson Inn
The man who never came back
The best-known legend says Thomas Croke, who built the house, spent a single night in it, was so frightened that he never returned, and traded it away. Records tell a plainer story: Croke lived there for about six months before trading the house to Thomas Patterson in 1893 for 1,440 acres of ranchland. The legend is part of the house’s lore, but it is not what happened.
The guard dogs and the undone work
The most repeated story dates from renovations in the 1970s. Workers said they would arrive in the morning to find the previous day’s work undone. To rule out intruders, two guard dogs were left in the house overnight, and the story says they were found dead the next morning below a third-floor window, as if they had jumped. We have found no contemporary report that confirms it, but it has been told for decades and is the reason many people know the house.
Kate Patterson and Thomas Patterson
Thomas Patterson, the lawyer, politician and newspaper owner who made the house his family home, is the figure many believe still walks it. The ghost of his wife, Kate Patterson, is said to appear to guests, according to stories collected by Axios Denver.
The Irish caretaker in the carriage house
The spirit of an Irish caretaker is said to haunt the carriage house behind the mansion. He has no name in the stories, only a job he never gave up.
Children, a crying baby and moving drawers
When Brian Higgins restored the mansion from 2011, he and his crew reported ghostly figures of children, voices and sudden temperature changes, and the builders found old children’s clothing inside the thick walls. Visitors have reported a baby crying hysterically in the basement, dogs barking upstairs when there are no dogs, and drawers on the third floor opening and closing by themselves. Higgins documented the restoration in a film called The Castle Project, and the Travel Channel’s Portals to Hell later investigated the house.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- The third floor: The window of the guard dog story and the drawers that move.
- The carriage house: Home of the Irish caretaker.
- The basement: Where visitors report a baby crying.
- The main staircase: Footsteps and knocking reported by guests at night.
History of The Patterson Inn
In December 1890 Thomas Croke, a Denver carpet-store owner, took out a permit for an $18,000 red sandstone mansion at East 11th Avenue and Pennsylvania Street. Architect Isaac Hodgson Jr. designed it in the French chateau style, modeled on the Chateau d’Azay-le-Rideau in the Loire Valley. Croke lived there only about six months and in 1893 traded it to Thomas Patterson for 1,440 acres of ranchland.
Patterson, a lawyer and politician who also owned the Rocky Mountain News, made it his family home. His daughter Margaret married New York Sun writer Richard Campbell, and the Campbells lived there until 1924, which is why the house carries all three names. Later it was home to an orchestra school, and in 1927 the radio station KFVR broadcast from it. In 1930 it was divided into seven apartments.
By the early 1970s the house was crumbling and at risk of demolition. Realtor Mary Rae bought it in 1972 and kept it as apartments, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. In 2011 Brian Higgins bought it for $565,000 and spent two years restoring it, repairing the sandstone, replacing wiring and plumbing and adding an elevator. The Patterson Inn opened in 2013, and it has remained in business through a 2017 sale listing.
Tips for a haunted stay
- This is an 18-plus inn, so it suits a couples’ haunted weekend rather than a family trip.
- Ask the staff about the carriage house and the third floor; the stories are part of the house.
- Capitol Hill is walkable: the State Capitol and Cheesman Park, with its own grim history, are close by.
- Pair the stay with the Brown Palace or the Lumber Baron Inn for a Denver haunted weekend.
- Book directly or through Booking.com and check parking details when you reserve.
More haunted hotels nearby
- The Brown Palace Hotel: Suite 904 and the phantom quartet downtown
- Lumber Baron Inn: an 1890 mansion with an unsolved 1970 murder
- Cheesman Park: the park built on Denver’s old cemetery
- Haunted hotels in Colorado
- Haunted hotels in Denver
Stayed in one of these hotels? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from guests and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your stay. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Patterson Inn haunted?
It is one of Denver’s best-known haunted houses. Stories include guard dogs that died after a night in the house, work undone overnight, Kate Patterson appearing to guests, a caretaker in the carriage house and a baby crying in the basement.
What is the Croke-Patterson Mansion?
The red sandstone chateau at 420 E 11th Ave in Capitol Hill, built in 1890 and 1891 for Thomas Croke and later home to Thomas Patterson. It is now the Patterson Inn.
Did Thomas Croke really leave after one night?
No. That is the legend, but records show he lived there about six months before trading the house to Thomas Patterson in 1893.
Can children stay at the Patterson Inn?
No. The inn is for guests aged 18 and over.
Was the Patterson Inn on Portals to Hell?
Yes, the Travel Channel series investigated the mansion.
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.
- The Patterson Inn
- Colorado Encyclopedia: Croke-Patterson-Campbell Mansion
- Axios Denver: Denver's haunted places (2023)
- KMAX 94.3: One of Denver's most haunted buildings is now an elegant hotel
- BusinessDen: Historic chateau-turned-B&B in Cap Hill listed (2017)
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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 hotel in our guides using hotel histories, local archives, news coverage and the accounts of guests and staff, and we review each guide regularly so you are not booking a hotel that has closed or changed its name. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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