Haunted hotel guide · Galveston, Texas
The Mansion on 17th, Galveston: The Old Schaefer Haus and Its Whistling Ghost
Once the Victorian Inn, then the Schaefer Haus, this East End mansion is now a polished B&B. Guests of its earlier years heard a man whistling and voices from an empty room.
The Mansion on 17th is a three-story Victorian in Galveston’s East End Historic District, a short walk from the Strand and the cruise terminal. For more than half a century it ran as an inn under two other names: first the Victorian Inn, then the Schaefer Haus. Some booking sites still list it as Schaefer Haus, so if that is the name you searched for, you are in the right place.
Its ghost stories come from the Victorian Inn years. A 2019 Montrose Star article on Galveston’s Halloween spirits reported that guests in the third-floor suite heard humming and muffled conversations from the empty living room below, felt unseen touches and heard a man whistling when no one was there. The current owners do not mention ghosts. It is one of the quieter stories in our guide to haunted hotels in Galveston.
Mansion on 17th at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 511 17th St, Galveston, TX 77550
- Opened 1890 according to the inn (some listings say 1899); an inn for more than 50 years
- Most haunted spots The third-floor suite and the downstairs living room
- Best-known ghosts A whistling man, humming and murmured conversation
- Booking the haunted room No room is sold as haunted. Ask for a third-floor room when you book.
- Good to know Seven rooms over three floors, stairs only; no pets; breakfast included; vintage golf carts for hire. The house was sold in 2026, so confirm bookings directly.
The ghosts of The Mansion on 17th (formerly Schaefer Haus)
Voices from the empty living room
The best-known report from the house is the sound of a gathering that is not there. In a 2019 Montrose Star piece on Galveston’s Halloween spirits, guests staying in the third-floor suite of what was then the Victorian Inn described hearing humming and muffled conversations drifting up from the living room downstairs, when the room below was empty.
The whistling man
The same guests reported a man whistling, though no man was there to be found. It is a strangely cheerful detail for a ghost story, and it is the one that sticks with people who hear about the house.
Unseen touches
Guests in the suite also described feeling touched by someone they could not see. Like the voices and the whistling, the reports are anonymous and come from the inn’s earlier years. The house has since been restored and renamed, and the current owners do not talk about ghosts, so treat these as stories from its past.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- The third-floor suite: Where the humming, voices, whistling and touches were reported. The top floor is reached by stairs only.
- The living room and parlors: The downstairs rooms the voices seemed to come from. Today they are guest lounges.
- The Hitchcock Suite: Named for a legend, passed on by previous owners, that Alfred Hitchcock sat on its balcony and was inspired to make The Birds by birds on a telephone wire.
- The porches and fire pit: Good spots to sit out after dark in a quiet corner of the historic district.
History of The Mansion on 17th (formerly Schaefer Haus)
The inn dates the house to 1890, a Gilded Age mansion in the East End, Galveston’s historic neighborhood of Victorian homes. Real estate and travel listings give 1899 instead, so the exact year is uncertain. One photo archive labels the house as the Isaac Heffron house, but the Isaac Heffron House on the National Register records is a different building on Postoffice Street, so we have not repeated that name.
For more than half a century the house took guests, first as the Victorian Inn and later as the Schaefer Haus. Under those names its rooms carried German city names such as Bremen, Frankfurt and Hamburg.
Today it trades as The Mansion on 17th, a restored bed and breakfast with seven rooms and suites renamed for Galveston history: the Moody, Sealy and Rosenberg rooms for the island’s great families, the Hendley Room for 19th-century mayor Joseph Edwin Hendley, and the Balinese Room for the famous Prohibition-era nightclub that Hurricane Ike destroyed in 2008. The Hitchcock Suite keeps alive a local legend about Alfred Hitchcock.
Breakfast is included, and the inn hires out vintage golf carts for trips to the Strand.
In 2025 and 2026 the property at 511 17th Street was listed for sale as a seven-bedroom historic home, and real estate sites show it as sold in June 2026. The inn’s website and Visit Galveston listing were still live in late 2026, but if you are planning a stay, call ahead to confirm the bed and breakfast is still taking guests.
Tips for a haunted stay
- The building changed hands in 2026. Call the inn on (409) 440-9740 before you book to confirm it is still operating as a bed and breakfast.
- Ask for a room on the third floor, where the stories were reported. There is no elevator.
- Book the Hitchcock Suite for the house’s most entertaining legend, ghostly or not.
- Search for both names. Some booking sites still list the inn as Schaefer Haus.
- Combine a stay with a ghost walk in the East End and a visit to Ashton Villa.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Hotel Galvez & Spa: the island’s grand 1911 seafront hotel and the ghost of Audra in Room 505
- The Tremont House: a historic downtown hotel near the Strand with its own ghost stories
- Haunted hotels in Texas
- Haunted hotels in Galveston
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 Mansion on 17th in Galveston haunted?
Ghost stories from its years as the Victorian Inn describe humming and muffled voices from an empty living room, unseen touches and a man whistling, all reported by guests in the third-floor suite. The current owners do not promote it as haunted.
Is the Mansion on 17th the same as Schaefer Haus?
Yes. The house at 511 17th Street operated as the Victorian Inn and then the Schaefer Haus for more than half a century before taking its current name.
When was the Mansion on 17th built?
The inn says 1890. Some booking listings give 1899.
Did Alfred Hitchcock stay at the Mansion on 17th?
That is a legend passed on by previous owners: that Hitchcock sat on the balcony of what is now the Hitchcock Suite and was inspired to make The Birds. We found no record to confirm it.
Does the Mansion on 17th allow pets?
No. Listings say pets are not allowed.
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 Mansion on 17th (official site)
- The Mansion on 17th (Visit Galveston)
- The Mansion on 17th, also known as Schaefer Haus (Travelocity listing)
- An island full of Halloween spirits (Montrose Star, Oct 2019)
- The Mansion on 17th (Travel Weekly hotel listing)
- 511 17th Street, Galveston (Estately sale record)
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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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