HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Catering venue in the basement of the 1894 deLendrecie's department store, where staff have for years reported a veiled woman in white in the lower level.
624 Main Avenue, Fargo, ND 58103
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
The VIP Room operates primarily as a catering and event business in the lower level of the Block Six building. Dining-room service has been scaled back over the years; check the venue site for current event and catering availability.
Access
Limited Access
The venue occupies the basement level of a historic 1894 building; access is via stairs into the lower level.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1894 · Former deLendrecie's Department Store, one of the region's largest early retailers · Built 1894 with upper floors added in 1904 · Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 · Founded by French-Canadian merchant Onesine Joassin deLendrecie
Onesine Joassin deLendrecie, a French-Canadian merchant, settled in Fargo in 1879 and chose a site on Front Street, now Main Avenue, on the bet that the young city would grow westward. The store he and his brother ran was first known as the Chicago Dry Goods House and later carried the deLendrecie name. The business became one of the largest retail operations in the region in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The building that stands today, often called Block Six, was constructed in 1894. Additional upper floors were added in 1904 as the store expanded. The structure is a substantial brick commercial block typical of Fargo's downtown building boom in the decades after the city rebuilt from its 1893 fire. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
In later decades the deLendrecie's store closed and the building was converted to other commercial and office uses. The basement level became home to the VIP Room, which has operated as a restaurant and, more recently, as a catering and events business. Local restaurant coverage has described it as a downtown lunch spot and event space tucked into the lower level of the historic block.
The building's long retail history and its prominent place in downtown Fargo make it a recurring subject in local coverage of the city's older commercial architecture, and the VIP Room's basement setting is the focus of its haunt reputation.
Sources
The VIP Room's reputation centers on a single recurring figure. According to a High Plains Reader feature on the venue and a separate Only In Your State roundup of Fargo haunts, staff and guests have over the years described seeing a veiled woman dressed in white in the basement that houses the restaurant and event space. The descriptions vary in detail but agree on the veil, the pale dress, and the impression that she watches over the room rather than menaces it.
The most-repeated story attached to the figure involves a cache of antique gold coins. In the telling, a worker followed the apparition's gesture toward a dark corner and afterward found old coins hidden there. The account is offered as local lore rather than a documented event, and the sources present it as a story passed among staff.
Reports are limited to the basement level and to ordinary working hours and event nights, and they describe a calm presence. No name has been firmly attached to the figure, and the building's documented history as a department store does not record a specific death that the lore points to. HauntBound presents the accounts as gathered by local press and does not speculate on their cause.
Notable Entities
The VIP Room occupies the basement of the 1894 Block Six building, the former deLendrecie's department store. The venue is used for catered events and private functions. Staff over the years have described seeing a veiled woman in white in the lower level, the same space where guests gather.
Walk-up view of the 1894 Block Six building on Main Avenue, the former deLendrecie's Department Store, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The VIP Room is in the basement; the upper floors are commercial and not open for casual visits.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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