HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
27-room 1888 Romanesque Revival mansion in Dubuque's Cathedral Historic District, converted to a bed-and-breakfast in 1985
504 Bluff Street, Dubuque, IA 52001
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Bed-and-breakfast rates; see website for current room pricing
Access
Limited Access
Historic Victorian mansion with original staircases; some rooms may be inaccessible to guests with mobility limitations
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1888 · Built by industrialist Augustine A. Cooper · Romanesque Revival duplex mansion · National Register of Historic Places (Cathedral Historic District) · Preserved from demolition in the 1980s
Augustine A. Cooper was one of Dubuque's prominent industrial figures in the late nineteenth century, with interests in manufacturing and commerce along the upper Mississippi corridor. In 1888 he commissioned a substantial duplex mansion at 504 Bluff Street, within what is now recognized as Dubuque's Cathedral Historic District. The building's Romanesque Revival design — heavy stonework, round arches, and a characteristic asymmetrical massing — placed it firmly in the architectural vocabulary of its moment.
The mansion operated as a private residence through the early twentieth century before eventually passing through multiple owners. By the early 1980s the structure was in decline and faced potential demolition. Preservationists intervened, and the building was saved and adapted for use as a bed-and-breakfast, which opened in 1985. The conversion retained the original interior character including wood paneling, fireplaces, and period hardware.
The Redstone is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing resource in the Cathedral Historic District. Its Wikipedia article documents the construction year, the Cooper family's commission, and the architectural style, placing it among the significant residential Victorian-era properties surviving in downtown Dubuque.
Sources
Reports at the Redstone center on a single recurring figure: a formally dressed gentleman observed in guest rooms and on the staircase landings. The apparition's appearance — period dress, composed demeanor — has led staff and the haunted hotel reporting community to attribute the presence to Augustine A. Cooper, who built the mansion and by all accounts regarded it as the physical expression of his standing in Dubuque society.
In addition to the visual reports, staff over multiple decades have described footsteps on upper floors when rooms were unoccupied, and voices in corridors where no guests were present. The phenomena are described as passive — no guest has reported physical interaction beyond the visual or auditory, and no formal investigations appear to have disturbed the property's functioning as a quiet, atmospheric inn.
Haunted accommodation sites rank the Redstone among the most consistently reported paranormal locations in Dubuque, noting that the Cooper family connection gives the reported apparition more historical specificity than is typical in hotel ghost lore.
Notable Entities
Guests stay in rooms throughout the 1888 Cooper duplex mansion. Reports of anomalous activity — a well-dressed gentleman appearing in rooms, disembodied footsteps, voices — have been most concentrated in the upper-floor suites.
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