Haunted hotel guide · Mobile, Alabama
The Haunted Kate Shepard House, Mobile: Isabel's Room and the Little Girl Nobody Can Explain
An 1897 catalog-built Queen Anne house in midtown Mobile, once a school run by Kate Shepard, where guests and a contractor have asked about a little girl nobody else could see.
The Kate Shepard House is a small bed and breakfast on Monterey Place in midtown Mobile, a short drive from downtown and the cruise terminal. It is a Queen Anne Victorian built in 1897 from plans by the Tennessee architect George Franklin Barber, with a corner tower, a front porch, stained glass and original fireplaces. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its few guest rooms are named for the people and places in the house’s past.
The house is best known in Mobile as the place where Kate Shepard ran a school for more than 40 years. Its ghost stories came to wider attention in 2021, when the owners put it up for sale and told WKRG about a little girl who runs through the house, a pantry door that flies open and a plate that leapt off the mantel. The presence, they said, is mischievous rather than frightening. It is the gentlest stay among the haunted hotels in Alabama.
Kate Shepard House at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 1552 Monterey Place, Mobile, AL 36604
- Opened Built in 1897; a bed and breakfast since about 2002; under new ownership since December 2022
- Most haunted spots Isabel’s Room, the butler’s pantry and the dining room
- Best-known ghosts A little girl seen running through the house, and a playful presence some link to Isabel Shepard
- Booking the haunted room Isabel’s Room is a named room you can book directly on the inn’s website.
- Good to know A handful of rooms only, so book early. The inn guarantees its best price when you book direct.
The ghosts of The Kate Shepard House
The little girl who runs through the house
The Kate Shepard House’s best-known story is a little girl. Wendy James, who owned the house with her husband for 18 years, told WKRG in 2021 that several guests had seen a girl running through the house. A contractor working on the home even asked James whether the child was her granddaughter. No little girl lived there.
A guest staying in Isabel’s Room asked about a little girl she had seen too. Nobody has put a name to her, but the house was a school for decades, filled with young children every day, which is the explanation most people reach for.
The butler's pantry
The original butler’s pantry is the busiest spot in the house. Its door opens with a lever, and the owners told WKRG it once flew open in front of them with nobody near it.
Stranger still, a sheet of water fell from the ceiling above the pantry. A plumber found no leak, and it happened more than once. The ceiling stain was still visible when the house went on the market.
The plate on the mantel
During a meal in the dining room, an antique plate flew off the fireplace mantel and broke on the floor. The owners did not describe it as frightening, just impossible to explain.
That is the tone of almost every story here. James called the presence mischievous and said nothing about it seemed harmful. Our original guide described an elderly lady who roams the hallways and appears in guests’ rooms late at night, leaving people slightly uneasy but never afraid; the owners’ own accounts are of a younger, playful spirit.
Isabel Shepard
Kate Shepard’s sister Isabel was a teacher and active in the Mobile community, and she died inside the house. Her name is on the second-floor room where a guest saw the little girl, and some visitors wonder whether the house’s quieter moments belong to her.
There is no story of a sighting of Isabel herself. She is remembered here as part of the family that gave the house its character, and her room is the one most guests ask for.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- Isabel's Room: On the second floor, street side, with an antique iron and brass queen bed, an original fireplace mantel and a private bath. Named for Kate’s sister, who died in the house, and where a guest saw the little girl.
- The Barber Room: A second-floor room named for the architect, with a carved oak queen bed, crystal chandelier, original fireplace and a double slipper tub.
- Mobile Bay Room and Catherine: The inn’s other named rooms. Check the inn’s website for current descriptions.
- The butler's pantry and dining room: Not bookable, but the heart of the stories. Breakfast in the dining room puts you right beside the mantel where the plate flew.
History of The Kate Shepard House
The house was ordered from a catalog. Charles Martin Shepard, general passenger agent for the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, chose a design by George Franklin Barber, the Knoxville architect who sold house plans by mail across the country. According to New Orleans Magazine, major parts of the house were made in Knoxville and shipped to Mobile on 13 railroad cars. It was finished in 1897, with eleven fireplaces, stained-glass windows and elaborate fretwork.
In 1910 Shepard’s daughters, Kate and Isabel, began using the house as a school. Kate ran a private boarding and day school there for the children of Mobile’s leading families until her death in 1952. Kate Shepard Elementary School stands nearby. Isabel died in the house as well.
The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. In 2002 Bill and Wendy James bought it and opened it as a bed and breakfast, adding private bathrooms upstairs but keeping the original downstairs plan, stained glass, built-in bookcases, light fixtures and butler’s pantry. In the attic they found a trove of family papers: school books, letters, receipts and land deeds from Kate’s maternal grandmother’s family, the McRaes of Mississippi. Kate’s great-uncles were John J. McRae, governor of Mississippi in the 1850s, and Colin J. McRae, a Confederate financial agent.
Some of those Civil War papers, known as the McRae Papers, are now displayed at the Confederate Relic Room in Columbia, South Carolina. The house featured on HGTV’s If Walls Could Talk in 2008. The Jameses put it up for sale in 2021, and new owners have run the inn since December 2022.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Book Isabel’s Room directly through the inn’s website; there are only a few rooms, so book early.
- Ask the owners about the McRae Papers and the attic finds; the house’s documented history is as interesting as its ghosts.
- Take breakfast in the dining room and keep an eye on the mantel.
- Pair your stay with an evening downtown: the Malaga Inn, Battle House and Fort Conde Inn are a short drive away.
- The inn is in a quiet residential street, so it suits travelers who want a calmer base than downtown.
Want to investigate, not just sleep?
Sleeping in a haunted hotel is one thing. Investigating one after dark is another. On a Haunted Rooms ghost hunt our team takes you through the building with professional ghost hunting equipment, runs EVP sessions and lets you explore on your own during free roam.
- Old Moore County Jail and Old Lynchburg Funeral Home Ghost Hunt, Lynchburg, TN: One of our nearest ghost hunts to Alabama, in southern Tennessee.
- Thomas House Hotel Ghost Hunt and Sleepover, Red Boiling Springs, TN: Investigate a haunted hotel all night, then sleep in it.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Malaga Inn, Mobile: an 1862 downtown inn with a lady in white on the Room 007 veranda
- The Battle House, Mobile: Mobile’s grand hotel, with a lady in red in its ballroom
- Fort Conde Inn, Mobile: an 1836 house beside the reconstructed French fort
- Haunted hotels in Alabama
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 Kate Shepard House in Mobile haunted?
The owners have said so. Guests and a contractor have asked about a little girl seen running through the house, a pantry door flew open on its own and an antique plate flew off the dining room mantel. The owners describe the presence as mischievous, not harmful. These are personal accounts, not proven events.
Who was Kate Shepard?
Kate Shepard was the daughter of Charles Martin Shepard, who built the house in 1897. From 1910 until her death in 1952 she ran a private boarding and day school in the house. Kate Shepard Elementary School stands nearby.
Which room is haunted at the Kate Shepard House?
Isabel’s Room, named for Kate’s sister who died in the house, is the one guests ask for. A guest staying there asked the owners about a little girl she had seen.
Is the Kate Shepard House still open?
Yes. The previous owners sold it after listing it in 2021, and new owners have run it as a bed and breakfast since December 2022. Book through the inn’s website.
Who designed the Kate Shepard House?
George Franklin Barber, a Knoxville architect who sold house plans by catalog. Major parts were made in Knoxville and shipped to Mobile by rail.
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.
- WKRG: Historic midtown Mobile house for sale comes with ghost stories (2021)
- The Kate Shepard House: Rooms
- The Kate Shepard House: History
- New Orleans Magazine: Mobile's historic Kate Shepard House (2009)
- Wikipedia: Monterey Place (Shepard House)
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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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