Haunted hotel guide · St. Louis, Missouri

The Haunted Lehmann House, St. Louis: Edward Rowse, Nora's Room and the Footsteps on the Stairs

A 10,000 square foot Romanesque Revival mansion on the oldest private street in St. Louis, where the owner says the man who built it is still at home.

By The Haunted Rooms Team · Updated November 2026 · How we rate hotels

3.0/5Haunted Rooms Score
1893Year built
Nora's RoomMost active room

Check availabilityMeet the ghosts

Lehmann House Bed and Breakfast stands at 10 Benton Place, a quiet private street in the Lafayette Square historic district a mile or so from downtown St. Louis. Banker and developer Edward S. Rowse built the mansion in 1893, and the lawyer Frederick W. Lehmann, later Solicitor General of the United States, lived here with his wife Nora for 31 years. Owner Marie Davies rescued the neglected house in 1992 and has run it as a bed and breakfast since July 1993, one of the longest-running in the St. Louis area.

It is a gentler stop than the Lemp Mansion, but it is one of the few haunted hotels in St. Louis where the owner tells the stories herself. Davies has written them up in a booklet, The Spirits of Lehmann House, and told them to local TV and magazines. She calls the presence Edward, after the builder who died in what is now a guest room, and describes it as benevolent. She does not much like the word haunted.

Lehmann House at a glance

3.0/5
Haunted Rooms Score
Haunted reputation2
History4
Ghost hunter access4
$$ · $150 to $300Haunted room bookableHotel embraces its ghostsNo pets
  • Address 10 Benton Pl, St. Louis, MO 63104, in Lafayette Square
  • Built 1893 for Edward S. Rowse, designed by Peabody and Stearns according to the house’s own history; a bed and breakfast since July 1993
  • Most haunted spots Nora’s Room, the Presidents Room, the Judge Sears Room, the library, the second-floor hallway and the third floor
  • Best-known ghosts Edward S. Rowse, the builder, seen at the foot of a bed and heard as footsteps, plus voices and shadowy figures reported by guests
  • Booking the haunted room You can choose your room when you book directly. Nora’s Room and the Presidents Room are the ones the owner says are most active.
  • Good to know A small house with only a few rooms, typically about $185 to $205 a night with a full breakfast in the formal dining room. Book early for October.

Check availability

The ghosts of Lehmann House Bed and Breakfast

Edward S. Rowse, the builder

Rowse and his wife Ann Eliza commissioned the house in 1892. According to the house’s own history, the project ran nearly double its $25,000 budget, and Rowse died in the master bedroom, now a guest room, about a year after the family moved in. The house’s booklet adds that the head builder and the architect also died within a year of its completion.

Davies believes Rowse never left. She told Ladue News she once woke to see a tall figure at her dresser, apparently picking up her jewelry and hairbrush, and recognized him by his mutton chop whiskers. She told KSDK she has also seen him standing at the foot of her bed. Her view is that restoring the house as he would have wanted keeps him content: “I’m not leaving, he’s not leaving.”

Footsteps in the empty hallway

The story that convinced Davies the house had a ghost happened in daylight. She was working downstairs with a plumber named Bud when they both heard a man in hard-soled shoes walk down the second-floor hallway. They searched the floor together and found no one.

On another night, alone in the house, she heard someone moving around upstairs, locked herself in the turret bedroom and tried to flag down a passing police car. When she finally searched the house, every outside door and window was still locked from the inside.

The wagon over Nora's Room

One evening Davies and her neighbor were having a glass of wine in the dining room when they heard something above them like a wagon rolling across a wooden floor, though the floor above was carpeted. The room above was Nora’s Room. They went up with a poker and found the room empty, all three windows shut and nothing out of place. Davies says she slept with the lights on that night.

The dog and the library

While she was refinishing the library, Davies noticed that her Chow, Sebastian, refused to set foot in the room, though her German Shepherd walked in happily. Each time she pulled him in, he bolted. A neighbor later told her that a previous owner had died in the library in 1980.

Voices and moving furniture

Guests add their own stories. A couple told KSDK they heard a chair moving in the night, and the husband woke to find it sitting at an angle. KSDK says the reported activity centers on the main sleeping quarters, the top floor and the reading room, all open to guests, and OnlyInYourState mentions shadowy figures and disembodied voices.

Davies has one more quiet story from the parlor, where she has sensed people seated around the coffee table in an empty room. KSDK also notes that Rowse was one of three owners who died in the house. OnlyInYourState places his death in the dining room, but the house’s own booklet and KSDK both say the master bedroom, which we follow.

The most haunted rooms and places to look

  • Nora's Room: Named for Nora Lehmann. The room above the dining room where the wagon sound was heard, and one of the three rooms the owner calls most active. A king room for two.
  • The Presidents Room: Another of the owner’s most active rooms, a king room that sleeps three.
  • The Judge Sears Room: Added in recent renovations and also named by the owner as one of the rooms with the most activity.
  • The library: Davies’ favorite room and the one her dog would not enter. A previous owner died here in 1980. Guests can sit here in the evening.
  • The John Stark Room and World's Fair Room: The other guest rooms, a king for up to four and a queen for two, for those who would rather hear the stories than sleep in them.

History of Lehmann House Bed and Breakfast

Benton Place was laid out in 1866 as the oldest private street in St. Louis and named for Senator Thomas Hart Benton. In 1892 Edward S. Rowse, the financier and developer behind the street, commissioned a mansion at No. 10. The house’s own history credits the Boston firm Peabody and Stearns with the design. Finished in 1893, it is a Romanesque Revival house of more than 20 rooms and about 10,000 square feet, the largest home in Lafayette Square.

Rowse did not enjoy it for long. He died in the master bedroom about a year after moving in. In 1898 the house was bought by Frederick W. Lehmann and his wife Nora, who lived here for 31 years.

Lehmann was one of the best-known lawyers in the country. He moved to St. Louis in 1890, drafted the city’s 1909 charter, served as a director of the 1904 World’s Fair, was president of the St. Louis Public Library, and was appointed Solicitor General of the United States by President William Howard Taft, serving from 1910 to 1912. He died in 1931 and is buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery.

After his death the house passed through several owners and fell into disrepair. Marie Davies, who had opened the nearby Parkside Cottage Bed and Breakfast in 1989, bought the mansion in 1992, close to 100 years after the original building permit, and restored its oak, maple and cherry woodwork. Lehmann House Bed and Breakfast opened in July 1993, and restoration work continues room by room.

Tips for a haunted stay

  • Book directly on the Lehmann House website so you can choose the room, and ask for Nora’s Room or the Presidents Room if you want the most-told stories.
  • With only a handful of rooms, October weekends fill early. Book well ahead for Halloween.
  • Ask Marie about the house at breakfast; she has collected the stories in The Spirits of Lehmann House.
  • Take an evening walk around Lafayette Square Park, a block away.
  • Pair it with dinner or a tour at the Lemp Mansion, about two miles south.

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Frequently asked questions

Is Lehmann House in St. Louis haunted?

The owner, Marie Davies, says the house has a benevolent presence she believes is Edward Rowse, who built it and died in the master bedroom. Guests report footsteps, voices, shadowy figures and a chair that moved in the night.

Who haunts the Lehmann House?

Most stories center on Edward S. Rowse, the banker who built the house in 1893 and died in the master bedroom. The owner says she has seen a tall man with mutton chop whiskers at her dresser and at the foot of her bed.

Which room at Lehmann House is most haunted?

The owner names Nora’s Room, the Presidents Room and the Judge Sears Room as the most active. The library, where a previous owner died in 1980, has its own story.

Can you choose a haunted room at Lehmann House?

Yes. The house lists its rooms by name, so you can pick Nora’s Room or the Presidents Room when you book directly.

Who was Frederick Lehmann?

A nationally known St. Louis lawyer who drafted the city’s 1909 charter and served as US Solicitor General under President Taft from 1910 to 1912. He and his wife Nora lived in the house for 31 years.

How much does Lehmann House cost?

Rooms are typically about $185 to $205 a night, with breakfast included. Prices vary by season.

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.

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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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