1901 French-chateau six-story landmark at 10th and Main, now apartments above shops; legends center on a bellman in the elevator and a misty grey apparition.
928 W Main St, Boise, ID 83702
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Exterior and ground-floor commercial tenants (Guru Donuts, Bombay Grill) are publicly accessible. Upper floors are private apartments and not open to visitors.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Downtown city sidewalks; ground-floor businesses accessible.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1901 · Opened January 1, 1901 as one of Boise's premier early-twentieth-century hotels · Most expensive building in Boise at construction at $125,000 · Hosted Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, William Jennings Bryan, and Clarence Darrow · Hub during the 1907 Big Bill Haywood trial · National Register of Historic Places (added July 9, 1974) · Adaptive-reuse apartments above ground-floor businesses
The Idanha Hotel was built to give Boise a hotel worthy of the railroad-era traffic arriving on the stub line from Nampa. Construction began in 1900 and the doors opened on New Year's Day 1901. Architect William S. Campbell designed the building after touring modern hotels between Boise and New York, and the resulting six-story red brick structure with sandstone basement, mansard roof, and round corner turrets in the French-chateau style cost $125,000 - the most expensive building in Boise at the time.
The Idanha quickly became the social and political center of the city. Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, William Jennings Bryan, Polly Bemis, and Clarence Darrow all stayed at the hotel. The building was a working hub during the 1907 trial of Western Federation of Miners leader Big Bill Haywood, who was prosecuted in Boise for the assassination of former governor Frank Steunenberg. During Prohibition the building housed a hidden speakeasy with a concealed system for storing and delivering alcohol, a detail noted by LocalWiki Boise's historical entry on the hotel.
The hotel later hosted Roger Miller during the writing of one of his compositions and served as the launchpad for Gene Harris's lounge act career. The hotel operation wound down through the mid-twentieth century, and in the 1970s the upper floors were converted into apartments. Today the ground floor houses Bombay Grill and Guru Donuts, with 10th Street Station Bar and Mullet Proof Hair Co. occupying the basement.
The Idanha was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 9, 1974. The building's sandstone basement is increasingly rare in downtown Boise as more recent construction has shifted to concrete foundations.
Sources
The Idanha's reputation as a haunted building dates to its 1970s conversion from hotel to apartments, when construction crews reportedly first described unexplained activity. According to Idaho Haunted Houses and Haunted Places, the most-told story attaches to a former bellman who is said to have been shot inside the hotel - some accounts place the incident in the 1970s, others simply note it as 'years ago.' His ghost is described as moving the elevator on its own and being briefly glimpsed peering around corners.
A second strand of the lore centers on the lower levels of the building. The Wikipedia article and ghost-directory entries describe a misty grey apparition, audible crying and moaning, lights cycling on and off, and a woman's presence said to linger in the basement. Some popular retellings describe her as a murder victim buried in the building, but no independent historical record corroborates a basement burial; treat that detail as unverified folklore.
A third pattern of reports comes from residents on the third and fourth floors. According to LocalWiki Boise and the Wikipedia entry, sleepers have described being drawn from their beds and having bedding pulled, and restaurant staff on the ground floor have described kitchenware moving without obvious cause.
The Idanha is a standard stop on multiple Boise ghost walks, including the US Ghost Adventures Boise Ghost Tour and Lizzie Borden Ghost Tours Boise, where guides recount the bellman, basement, and renovation-era stories from the sidewalk at 10th and Main.
Notable Entities
The Idanha is a standard stop on Boise downtown ghost walks (US Ghost Adventures, Lizzie Borden Ghost Tours). Guides discuss the building's 1901 opening and the bellman, basement, and renovation-era stories from the sidewalk.
Photograph the French-chateau facade, mansard roof, and corner turrets from the public sidewalk at 10th and Main. Pair with Guru Donuts or Bombay Grill on the ground floor for a casual stop.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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