The 49-room English Tudor mansion built by Mayo Clinic pioneer Dr. Henry Stanley Plummer, who died there on December 31, 1936, is now a Rochester city park where visitors report footsteps in empty rooms and a figure believed to be the doctor himself.
1091 Plummer Lane SW, Rochester, MN 55902
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Guided tours available for a modest fee; grounds open free during park hours.
Access
Limited Access
Landscaped grounds with some slopes; historic mansion interior has period-era stairs and narrow passages.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1924 · Built 1917-1924 for Dr. Henry Stanley Plummer, a transformative figure in Mayo Clinic's early development · 49-room English Tudor Revival mansion; Plummer died in the house December 31, 1936 · City of Rochester acquired property in 1948; operated as a public park and arts center · Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Henry Stanley Plummer arrived at the Mayo Clinic as a physician in 1901, at a moment when the institution was beginning its transformation from a regional surgical practice into a national referral destination. Over the following three decades, Plummer contributed an unusual range of innovations to the clinic's operations: he designed the interconnected medical records system that gave Mayo its reputation for coordinated care, established a leading thyroid clinic that drew patients from across North America, and personally engineered a pneumatic tube and telephone exchange system for the clinic's main building.
Plummer commissioned his mansion on a 10-acre hilltop site in southwest Rochester beginning around 1917. The design was executed in the English Tudor Revival style, featuring half-timbered exterior detailing, stone chimneys, leaded-glass windows, and hand-crafted woodwork throughout the 49 rooms. Construction was completed by 1924. Plummer and his wife Daisy lived in the house for the remainder of their lives.
Henry Plummer died in the house on December 31, 1936, following a period of declining health. He was 63 years old. Daisy Plummer continued to live at the estate after his death. The City of Rochester acquired the property in 1948 under the terms of Daisy Plummer's will.
The city has operated the Plummer House of the Arts as a public park and cultural venue since acquisition, offering guided tours of the interior during the summer season and renting the grounds for events. The estate is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Sources
The paranormal reputation of Plummer House rests on a set of recurring accounts that have circulated among Rochester residents for decades. The most consistent reports involve footsteps heard in empty rooms, particularly on the upper floors and main staircase — the rooms Plummer occupied and the space where, by multiple accounts, guides and visitors have heard movement when no one is present.
A figure in period dress has been reported in the upper rooms, typically glimpsed briefly and disappearing when approached. Rochester-area ghost tour operators and local media coverage, including a roundup of the city's creepiest locations by The Rock of Rochester, have cited these accounts in connection with Plummer's death in the house on December 31, 1936. The date — New Year's Eve, the close of the year — has given the lore a particular texture in local retellings.
No formal paranormal investigation with published results has been conducted at the house that is findable in primary sources. The accounts that exist come from visitor reports, local journalism, and paranormal travel resources citing guide testimony. Dr. Plummer's documented career and the specificity of his death in the house make the identification of the reported figure — whatever its nature — unusually anchored to a real historical person.
Notable Entities
Docent-led tours of the 49-room English Tudor interior explore Dr. Plummer's life, his contributions to Mayo Clinic, and the architectural details he personally designed. The main staircase and upper rooms are the areas most associated with reported paranormal activity.
The landscaped grounds surrounding the mansion include formal gardens. The estate's hilltop setting above Rochester provides views of the city.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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