HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
An 1892 Santa Monica mansion relocated in 1973 — the elderly caretaker was never accounted for after the move, and staff at the basement bar have since reported an opening door, flickering lights, and a dark male figure
2640 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90405
Research updated June 2026
Age
21+
Cost
$$
Bar and restaurant pricing. No cover charge for the Basement Tavern bar area.
Access
Limited Access
The Basement Tavern is in the lower level of the building. Stairs required for bar access. Main St sidewalks are flat.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1892 · 1892 Queen Anne Victorian mansion built for Dr. George Kyte · Relocated from Ocean Boulevard to Heritage Square (Main St) in 1973 · One of the oldest surviving residential structures in Santa Monica
Dr. George Kyte built the Victorian mansion at Ocean Boulevard in 1892, during Santa Monica's early development as a coastal residential community. The house was designed in the elaborate Queen Anne style fashionable among wealthy Californians in the late 19th century, with the characteristic wraparound porch, decorative woodwork, and asymmetrical massing of that period.
The building remained in use through the late 19th and early 20th centuries but faced demolition pressure as Ocean Boulevard was developed for commercial and denser residential use. In 1973, preservationists arranged to relocate the structure to Heritage Square, a designated historic preservation district on Main Street. The building survived intact.
Central to the haunting narrative documented by Creepy LA is the story of Delia — an elderly woman described as the building's caretaker who was living in the house at the time of the 1973 relocation. Creepy LA's account, sourced from local lore, states that Delia was never accounted for after the move: whether she was relocated along with the house, left before the move, or disappeared in the process is not known. Her fate is described as unresolved.
The building now operates as a mixed-use venue, with the Basement Tavern in the lower level. Discover Los Angeles has documented the Victorian as one of the city's haunted bars, noting the building's age and relocation history as context for the staff-reported phenomena.
Sources
The Basement Tavern at the Victorian has generated staff accounts that follow a recognizable pattern for bar and restaurant hauntings: objects moving, doors opening on their own, lights behaving strangely, and footsteps in areas that are unoccupied. These phenomena have been reported consistently enough to be documented by Creepy LA and Discover Los Angeles as characteristic of the space.
The dark male figure is the most specific visual element in the accounts. Staff describe seeing a figure in the bar or adjacent spaces that matches no known occupant, and local lore identifies this figure as Dr. George Kyte — the home's original builder and first owner, who died in the late 19th or early 20th century. No documented incident in Kyte's history explains why he would be the resident ghost; the identification seems to derive from the logic that a house's original builder would naturally claim it even after death.
Delia, the caretaker, is the secondary haunting: a person whose fate is genuinely unresolved. The 1973 relocation was a significant engineering undertaking that involved moving an entire Victorian house from one Santa Monica address to another, and the claim that the elderly woman who lived there was simply not accounted for afterward is the kind of practical tragedy that becomes ghost narrative. Whether Delia died before, during, or after the move, or simply moved elsewhere without the neighborhood noticing, is not documented in accessible sources.
The combination of an 1892 building, a 1973 relocation with a missing person attached to it, and a basement bar that has been the setting for staff reports makes the Victorian one of the more layered haunting narratives in Santa Monica.
Notable Entities
The Basement Tavern operates in the lower level of the Victorian building at 2640 Main St. The 1892 structure was relocated from Ocean Boulevard to Heritage Square in 1973. The Basement Tavern is a functioning bar accessible during regular business hours — a walk-in experience with no booking required.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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