HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
+ 1 further entry on record
Nine documented deaths inside a National Register Queen Anne mansion — now Atchison's most booked overnight paranormal investigation site.
1301 Kansas Ave, Atchison, KS 66002
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Ticketed paranormal events and overnight investigations; pricing varies by event. Check mcinteervilla.com for current schedule.
Access
Limited Access
Three-story Victorian mansion with original staircases; tower access requires stair climbing.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1890 · Nine documented deaths on the property, including suicide of Charles J. Conlon · Built 1889–1890 by Irish immigrant John McInteer, Atchison harness and saddle merchant · National Register of Historic Places since March 26, 1975 · Anchor of Atchison's haunted tourism corridor alongside the Sallie House
John McInteer arrived in Atchison, Kansas as an Irish immigrant and established himself in the harness and saddle trade during the late nineteenth century. By 1889 he had accumulated enough capital to commission a substantial Queen Anne residence on Kansas Avenue, and the house was completed by 1890 on a 1.5-acre lot at what is now 1301 Kansas Ave.
McInteer's tenure ended with his death, after which his second wife inherited the property. Her brother, Judge Charles J. Conlon, subsequently came to occupy the house — and it was there that Conlon died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The deaths associated with the property include Conlon's suicide and those of McInteer's two wives, as well as other residents and occupants over the mansion's long history; accounts associated with the villa document nine deaths on the property in total.
A later owner, Isobel Altus, was described by contemporaries as an eccentric retired professional violinist, and her ownership extended the house's somewhat unusual social character. The property was recognized by the National Register of Historic Places on March 26, 1975 — one of Atchison's documented Victorian residences of architectural significance.
Today the villa operates as a paranormal tourism destination under the name 1889 McInteer Villa, hosting overnight investigations, public paranormal events, wine tastings, and private functions. The current operator is Stephanie O'Reilly, who has developed the venue as part of Atchison's growing dark-tourism corridor alongside the Sallie House several blocks away. Approximately 1,000 visitors per season travel to Atchison's cluster of haunted attractions, according to reporting by KCUR.
Sources
The paranormal accounts associated with the McInteer Villa center on the tower room, where lights reportedly turn on and off despite the room lacking electrical infrastructure. The phenomenon has been noted by multiple independent visitors, and the physical absence of wiring is cited by investigators as distinguishing it from simple electrical malfunction.
Apparitions in photographs taken inside the villa are a recurring report. Investigators describe figures — distinct from reflections or photographic artifacts — appearing in images taken in the interior rooms, particularly in areas associated with the deaths that occurred in the house. Figures have also been reported visible at the villa's windows by passersby on Kansas Avenue, in rooms that were confirmed to be unoccupied at the time.
The suicide of Charles J. Conlon — a gunshot wound to the head sustained inside the house — anchors the most specific layer of the villa's dark history. Conlon was a judge, brother-in-law to the second Mrs. McInteer, and a figure of some standing in Atchison's legal community. His death by his own hand in a prominent household would have registered as a significant event in the town's social memory, and it remains the clearest documented tragedy attached to the address.
The villa's nine total documented deaths, across successive owners and occupants, give it a density of dark history unusual even among Atchison's well-documented haunted properties.
Notable Entities
Full overnight access to the McInteer Villa, including the tower room where lights activate without electricity and rooms where nine documented deaths occurred. Investigators have reported apparitions in photographs and unexplained figures at windows when the building is otherwise unoccupied.
Periodic public events including wine tastings, holiday programs, and guided paranormal evenings in the historic rooms of the 1889 Queen Anne mansion.
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