McConaughy House

The McConaughy House's modern paranormal accounts originate in the post-1981 restoration period when a law firm occupied the building as office space. Restoration-era staff reportedly heard footsteps in upper hallways with no one present, and recurring disturbances loud enough to send attorneys and clerical staff into empty rooms to investigate. The Coral Tree Tea House, the current business operating out of the building, acknowledges this tradition on its own website, stating 'There is no doubt that this beautifully restored house is spirited,' and current staff report items being rearranged in the gift shop and electricity flickering — accounts independent of the original lawyer-era reports.

A preliminary investigation by psychic Ginnie McGovern, the International Paranormal Research Organization (IPRO), and the San Diego Ghost Hunters captured a woman's voice from a deserted hallway, clicking and shuffling sounds, and produced photographs with orbs. A second independent investigation was conducted by ISAW Paranormal (the 'I Saw a Ghost' blog group) in October 2009. The McConaughy House became the source of most of the night's activity across Heritage Park; the ISAW team captured what they described as one of their best EVPs of that investigation (sounding like 'What's your name?') and recorded pronounced K2 meter activity. ISAW Paranormal subsequently held annual investigations at the house. The 2009 ISAW session is documented independently of the earlier Ginnie McGovern/IPRO session and represents a second named group's documented experience at the site.

The haunting is not tied to a specific named family member or documented death inside the house. John McConaughy himself died in 1889 but the house remained occupied across multiple ownerships and a major 1981 relocation, complicating any 'site-memory' framing. The lore is best read as restoration-era staff-and-visitor folklore on a consistent base of reports spanning multiple decades and two independent investigation groups.