An 1893 limestone hotel on Granbury's historic square, rebuilt after a 2023 fire; the spirit of longtime manager Mary Lou Watkins is said to slam doors, operate faucets, and rattle guests awake in Room 5.
119 E Bridge Street, Granbury, TX 76048
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Boutique hotel room rates from approximately $333/night. The Granbury Ghosts and Legends Tour departs adjacent to the hotel; separate tour pricing applies.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Second-floor hotel with lobby-level access; Granbury Square is flat
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1893 · First Texas Square on the National Register of Historic Places · Mary Lou Watkins Legacy · Nutt Brothers Family Business, 1874–present · Granbury Main Street City Designation
The story of the Nutt House Hotel begins with three brothers: David Lee Nutt, who was sighted, and his blind brothers Jesse and Jacob, who arrived in Granbury in the 1870s and built a mercantile business under a tent, then a log structure, then eventually a two-story limestone building on Bridge Street. David Lee Nutt and his wife Sudie began offering rooms to businessmen visiting Granbury in the early 1900s, and the operation was formally organized as the Nutt House Hotel by 1910. In 1916, the hotel relocated its guest rooms to the limestone mercantile building's second floor, above the street-level commercial space.
Mary Lou Watkins, a granddaughter of David Lee Nutt, took over management of the hotel in 1967. Over the next sixteen years, Watkins became the square's most prominent advocate, using the hotel as both a business and a platform to preserve Granbury's 19th-century commercial architecture. Her efforts resulted in Granbury Square becoming the first Texas town square listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the first designated 'Texas Original Main Street City.' A bronze statue of Watkins, dinner bell in hand, stands across from the hotel on the square. Watkins died in 2001.
In March 2023, a fire broke out at the hotel during an ongoing renovation, substantially damaging the second floor and roof while the building was unoccupied. A new ownership group, the Nutt House Group, acquired the property in December 2023 and completed a restoration that preserved the original limestone structure, the iconic cypress columns that survived the fire, and portions of the original wood flooring. The hotel reopened in November 2024 as an eight-room luxury boutique property with a restaurant on the ground floor.
Sources
The Nutt House Hotel's reputation for paranormal activity centers on Mary Lou Watkins, who managed the property for 16 years and left so strong an imprint on the building's identity that her name became the hotel's premium suite designation after her death in 2001. According to multiple guest accounts documented by staff and by Dallas Terrors, the phenomena associated with Watkins concentrate in the suite that carries her name: guests report sudden drops in room temperature, the ceiling fan switching on without explanation, faucets running without being turned, and doors opening or slamming on their own. The most striking account involves multiple guests independently reporting the sensation of being shaken or gently rocked awake in the middle of the night.
Room 5 is associated with a different and apparently younger presence. Guests and staff refer to this entity as Sally and describe her primarily through sound: footsteps crossing the floor when no one is there. According to the hotel's own documentation on its ghost tour page, the footsteps in Room 5 have been captured on video recordings.
The hotel is the departure point and a principal stop on the Granbury Ghosts and Legends Tour, which Frommer's Travel Guides has named one of the seven best ghost tours in the country. The tour was created by author Brandy Herr and her mother Coletta Henderson, both of whom worked in the hotel's former ground-floor café.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Stay overnight at this eight-room boutique hotel. Guests may request the Mary Lou Watkins Suite, associated with temperature drops, ceiling fan anomalies, and the sensation of being shaken awake. Room 5 is separately reported to feature the footsteps of a young girl named Sally.
A walking ghost tour departing steps from the Nutt House Hotel on Friday and Saturday evenings, recognized by Frommer's Travel Guides as one of the seven best ghost tours in the country. Covers Granbury Square's most storied locations.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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