Est. 1870 · Former Residential Care Facility · Paranormal Lockdown Featured Location
Isaac Ringland, the elected mayor of Malvern, built the original structure in the 1870s, making it the fourth building constructed in the young Iowa city. Ringland died on December 8, 1880; his wife survived him by nearly a decade. In 1890, following her death, the property was sold and substantially expanded to function as the Cottage Hotel, opening in 1891. The building's scale and central location made it a natural candidate for adaptive reuse as medical and residential care needs grew in the region.
Over subsequent decades the property transitioned from hotel to nursing home to residential care facility for adults with psychiatric and other conditions. The facility operated continuously until 2005. During those decades, residents and staff accumulated a history that the building's current operators describe as marked by allegations of abuse and mistreatment — accounts that remain difficult to verify in detail but are referenced consistently across investigative and journalistic coverage of the property.
Josh Heard acquired the manor after its closure and developed it as a paranormal investigation venue, working with American Hauntings (operating as Bump in the Night) to host public and private investigation events. The property was featured on TLC's Paranormal Lockdown and Travel Channel's Destination Fear, both productions that brought documented investigative footage from inside the building to national audiences.
Sources
- https://www.bumpinthenight.net/night-at-malvern-manor
- https://www.3newsnow.com/news/local-news/kmtv-investigates-malvern-manors-haunted-history
- https://alechoes.com/features/2025/10/the-scary-story-of-malvern-manor
- https://www.thegravetalks.com/the-malvern-manor/
- https://www.hauntedrooms.com/iowa/ghost-hunts/malvern-manor
ApparitionsShadow figuresEVPCold spotsPhantom voicesTouching/pushingHair pullingObject movementPhantom soundsPhantom footstepsIntelligent haunting
The paranormal reputation of Malvern Manor draws directly from its care facility history. Unlike properties where hauntings are attributed to anonymous historical figures, Malvern Manor's investigators have documented specific entities tied to specific rooms based on facility records.
Grace is the most documented entity. Described as a former resident who experienced severe mental illness and dissociative presentations during her time at the facility, her former room generates near-nightly EVP activity according to the investigation operators. The recordings are notable for the simultaneous presence of multiple distinct voices, which investigators attribute to the dissociative personality history. Several visiting groups have captured audio consistent with an older woman's voice in the room.
Inez is identified as a child entity, a 12-year-old girl who died at a neighboring property in 1901 and whose presence has migrated, per investigative accounts, to the manor's upper floors. Her presence is associated with quieter anomalies: objects moved at floor level, temperature drops near windows.
The most unsettling reports from Malvern Manor describe a non-human presence concentrated below the attic on the upper floors. Multiple investigation teams, in reports written independently of each other, describe an overbearing sensation of being watched or followed by something with no identifiable historical attribution. Physical manifestations in this area include pushing, hair pulling, and what investigators describe as resistance when attempting to leave the room. Several well-documented cases involve paranormal investigators abandoning the building before their scheduled investigation concluded.
Notable Entities
GraceInez
Media Appearances
- Paranormal Lockdown
- Destination Fear
