The Kehoe House

The history of The Kehoe House begins with the inspiring rags-to-riches story of William Kehoe, who immigrated to Savannah from County Wexford, Ireland, in 1851 at age eight. Apprenticing in a local iron foundry, Kehoe worked his way up to foreman before buying the business and building a massive iron foundry along the Savannah River front. Becoming one of the city's wealthiest industrial tycoons, Kehoe married Anne Flood in 1868. As their family expanded to ten children, Kehoe purchased the southern half of Columbia Square for $950 and commissioned local architect Andrew DeWitt Bruyn to construct a grand family estate.

Completed in May 1892 at a lavish cost of $25,000, the three-story brick and cast-iron mansion became a masterpiece of Renaissance Revival design, utilizing custom decorative cast iron for its exterior stairways, window headers, columns, and verandah railings rather than traditional carved stone. The Kehoe family resided in the mansion until William Kehoe's death in 1929. His heirs sold the property in 1930, after which it served various uses over the subsequent decades, including a boarding house, an antique shop, and a funeral home operated by Goette Funeral Home.

During its era as a funeral parlor in the mid-20th century, thousands of deceased Savannah residents lay in state inside the double parlors, deepening the mansion's spiritual connection to the afterlife. For a time in the 1980s, the mansion was owned by New York Jets football star Joe Namath. In 1990, the property underwent a meticulous two-year historic restoration before reopening as a premier luxury bed and breakfast inn.

The primary ghost lore of The Kehoe House revolves around the spirits of children who resided in the mansion during the Gilded Age. Local urban legends persistently describe a tragic story in which two of the Kehoe children allegedly got stuck inside one of the mansion's brick chimneys while playing hide-and-seek and suffocated. While historical records confirm that all ten Kehoe children survived into adulthood, guests and staff routinely experience haunting phenomena that strongly suggest child spirits inhabit the upper floors.

Visitors staying in Room 201 and Room 203 frequently report feeling small child-like hands gently tugging at their bedsheets during the night, hearing sweet disembodied giggling in empty corridors, and discovering small handprints appearing mysteriously on clean glass mirrors and window panes. Guests also describe seeing small, phantom toy cars or balls rolling across level floorboards when no living children are present in the inn.

Other legends speak of the mansion's former life as a funeral home. Guests sitting in the main floor double parlors report feeling sudden, inexplicable temperature drops accompanied by the lingering scent of Victorian funeral lilies and rose water. A regal, shadowy male figure resembling William Kehoe is also occasionally spotted standing quietly on the grand iron balcony overlooking Columbia Square, keeping watch over his beloved home. Furthermore, visitors report seeing a gentle Victorian woman standing near the central staircase late at night.

Guests, hotel staff, and paranormal researchers at The Kehoe House have documented a wide range of supernatural occurrences across the property. On the third floor—formerly the Kehoe children's playroom and schoolroom—visitors frequently hear disembodied footsteps pacing down empty hallways late at night, accompanied by the faint, melodious sound of 1890s piano music floating through closed doors.

In guest rooms 201, 203, and 205, occupants report feeling gentle touches on their arms or hair while lying in bed, sudden drops in ambient room temperature by fifteen degrees, and feeling an unseen, comforting presence standing by their bedside. Doorknobs turn on their own, electronic keycard locks flicker inexplicably, and digital cameras frequently record bright glowing light orbs and ectoplasmic mist near the grand carved wooden staircase. Guests also report seeing shadowy human figures moving through doorway frames during late night hours, hearing faint knocking on wardrobe doors, and feeling an unexplained breeze in windowless interior halls.

The Kehoe House is a monumental three-story brick and red terra cotta Renaissance Revival mansion featuring extensive decorative exterior cast-iron elements, including grand double entrance stairways, window headers, Corinthian columns, balustrades, decorative cornices, and a sweeping second-story verandah overlooking Columbia Square.

The interior layout features soaring 15-foot ceilings adorned with intricate ornamental plaster ceiling medallions, original heart-pine flooring, double parlors with sweeping marble fireplaces, brass chandeliers, period antique furnishings, decorative wainscoting, and a grand central mahogany staircase. The mansion houses 13 individually decorated guest rooms, private suites, a formal dining parlor, an executive library, and a private rear courtyard garden.

The Kehoe House is located at 123 Habersham Street, situated on the northwest corner of Columbia Square in the heart of the Savannah Historic District. Operating as an adult-only luxury bed and breakfast inn, access to the interior guest rooms, dining rooms, and parlors is reserved strictly for registered overnight guests.

Visitors exploring Savannah can admire the mansion's stunning cast-iron architecture and Columbia Square facade from the exterior public walkways and park benches. The inn is a prime highlight on local architectural tours and walking ghost tours, with guides sharing its iron foundry origins and ghost stories from Habersham Street. Reservations should be booked well in advance due to high demand.

The Kehoe House earned its national reputation as one of Savannah's most famous haunted inns due to its Gilded Age iron foundry history, its decades as a funeral home, and consistent guest reports of playful child ghosts, floating orbs, and phantom piano music. Honored as a top romantic hotel nationwide, its blend of luxury and active hauntings draws travelers from across the world.