HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
+ 1 further entry on record
A 1906 Colonial Revival home on Chico's Esplanade where long-time resident George Vogelsang died at 90 after falling on the stairs in 1958; lawyers who later occupied the building documented persistent unexplained activity for years.
1362 Esplanade, Chico, CA 95926
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Bed and breakfast rates; five guest rooms available. Gourmet two-course breakfast included.
Access
Limited Access
Two-story historic home on The Esplanade; guest rooms on both floors. Some rooms have clawfoot tubs.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1906 · Colonial Revival Architecture on the Chico Esplanade · Site of George Vogelsang's Death, 1958 · Long Career as Law Offices with Documented Activity
Chico's Esplanade has served as the city's most prominent residential boulevard since the late nineteenth century, lined with Victorian-era and early-twentieth-century homes set back from a wide, tree-lined median. The Goodman House was built in 1906 in the Colonial Revival style after the property was deeded to Horace Goodman in 1905. The two-story structure features the wide verandas, symmetrical facade, and period millwork characteristic of the style.
George Vogelsang became associated with the property in the early twentieth century and occupied it for nearly fifty years, a tenure that anchored the house firmly in the neighborhood's memory. Vogelsang died in 1958 at the age of 90, following a fall down the house's steep interior staircase. Local records and the LocalWiki Chico entry on the property refer to the house as the Goodman-Vogelsang House, acknowledging both original owners.
After Vogelsang's death, the property changed hands and was eventually converted to law offices, a use that continued for several decades. Lawyers and their staff who worked in the building through the 1970s and beyond documented a pattern of unexplained activity—objects displaced, doors behaving strangely, footsteps without a source. A painter working in the basement in 2003 repeatedly heard footsteps overhead, finding no one present when he investigated.
Tom and Margo Graham purchased the property in 2003 and undertook renovations to open it as a bed and breakfast. The Chico News & Review covered the haunting accounts in a 2008 article, in which owner Margo Graham expressed skepticism, noting that she had found explanations for reported phenomena and had personally experienced nothing during her ownership.
Sources
The haunting accounts at the Goodman House follow a pattern established during its years as law offices, when the unusual activity was frequent enough that the building's occupants brought in outside consultation. Staff described desk nameplates being repeatedly thrown to the floor, doors swinging open without apparent cause, and water running in unoccupied rooms. These reports were documented by lawyers and office workers rather than overnight guests, lending them a different character than typical inn ghost stories.
A psychic consultant brought to the property identified what she described as a strong spirit presence—a kind man—and a lighter female energy. Both were characterized as benign. The male presence has been attributed in local accounts to George Vogelsang, who fell down the steep interior staircase and died at 90 in 1958 after nearly five decades of residence in the house.
A painter working alone in the basement in 2003, around the time Tom and Margo Graham were renovating the property, heard footsteps overhead repeatedly and found no one present when he investigated. Current owner Margo Graham told the Chico News & Review in 2008 that she found the haunting claims unconvincing and had experienced nothing herself. She noted that reported phenomena had largely ceased since the house returned to residential use from office occupancy.
Notable Entities
Five guest rooms in a restored 1906 Colonial Revival home on Chico's historic Esplanade. Rooms feature antique furnishings, queen beds, and private baths, some with clawfoot tubs. The steep staircase associated with George Vogelsang's 1958 fall remains a central architectural feature of the house.
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