HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
1870s Italian Revival mansion on the Mississippi bluff, converted to a bed-and-breakfast event venue where guests report a child apparition and moving objects
901 Tremont Avenue, Davenport, IA 52803
Research updated August 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Bed-and-breakfast and event venue; overnight and event rates apply — contact venue for current pricing
Access
Limited Access
Victorian mansion with stairs; limited accessibility
Equipment
Photos OK
Italian Revival mansion built for Davenport businessman William Renwick · Former St. Katherine's School and nursing facility · 1997 renovation as bed-and-breakfast event venue · Listed on National Register of Historic Places
The Renwick House stands on a Davenport bluff with views of the Mississippi River, built for William Renwick, a prominent local businessman, in a period ranging from the 1860s to 1880s. The mansion's Italian Revival architecture — characterized by low-pitched roofs, bracketed cornices, and large windows — was a fashionable choice for wealthy Davenport families seeking to project prosperity in the postwar industrial era.
Following the Renwick family's ownership, the property served different institutional uses over the 20th century, including a period as St. Katherine's School and later as a nursing facility. Each transition left the building with accumulated layers of history, the kind of prolonged institutional use that dark tourism researchers associate with elevated paranormal reporting.
A 1997 renovation converted the mansion back to a residential-hospitality use, reopening it as a bed-and-breakfast and event venue. Local historian and author John Brassard Jr. investigated the property's haunted reputation and documented its reported phenomena in a 2024 account that distinguishes between the building's verified history and the paranormal claims attached to it.
Sources
Local historian John Brassard Jr. conducted an investigation of the Renwick Mansion's paranormal reputation in 2024 and published his findings, providing one of the more careful assessments of the property's claimed activity. The most consistent report across accounts involves a child apparition — typically described as a little girl — appearing in the older sections of the mansion.
Object displacement is also a recurring category: a piano bench reported to shift position without contact, and bottle caps described as moving across surfaces. Electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) recordings made during overnight stays have reportedly captured voices in rooms verified to be empty at the time of recording. Brassard's 2024 account assesses these claims against the building's documented history, noting that the property's extended institutional use — including its decades as a nursing facility — contributes to the range of stories attached to it.
The child apparition, the most visually compelling of the reports, has no identified historical basis in any published account.
Guests report paranormal activity during stays at this restored Victorian bed-and-breakfast, including a child apparition, piano bench movement, and EVP recordings capturing unexplained voices.
The mansion hosts private events, weddings, and meetings. Guided tours of the historic property may be arranged through the venue.
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