The Haunted Home of Molly Brown - the Molly Brown House Museum

Margaret Brown AKA "Molly Brown" was a socialite in the late 1800's and into the early 1930's. She was immortalized in the movie "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", played by Debbie Reynolds.

The house, known as the Molly Brown House Museum in Denver, Colorado was just one of her many residences. The house was built in the late 1880's by the Larges family, a family that made their fortune in the silver mines around Denver. In 1894, Molly and her husband James Brown bought the home for $30K. In 1898, ownership went from James to Molly and she owned it until she died in 1932. Even though she owned the home she spent very little time in it.

Molly spent much of her time traveling around the world. That was the main reason she ended up on the Titanic and survived the sinking of it. During the time she was away from the house she had it rented out. In 1902 the house became the Governor's Mansion. In the years following, the house was rented out to various other well to do families and residents of Denver. In the Great Depression years the neighborhood fell on to hard times and Molly turned the mansion into a boarding house. When Molly died at the height of the Depression in 1932 the house was sold for a mere $6K.

The next owners ran the place as a rooming house and the former mansion fell even farther into deterioration. In 1958 the house changed hands again and in 1960 the owner decided to renovated the home and protect it from being knocked down by people that were on an urban renewal kick at the time. Many of the areas historic mansions were destroyed during that time.

In 1970, Art Leisenring the owner of the house helped to form the group known as Historic Denver. The group was the one responsible for restoring the home to it's former beauty. The house has been restored to the 1910 era with the help of documentation such as photographs.

The story of the house does not end there. It seems that since it has become a museum with daily tours the visitors and staff are reporting supernatural occurrences. The house is thought to be haunted by Molly's husband James. There are smells of cigar smoke that often are smelt in the attic and basement. Which is strange since Molly insisted that James not smoke in the house. The dining room chairs are often found to be rearranged. A ghost of a woman in Victorian dress has been seen in the dining area. There have also been sightings of a ghost cat that is thought to have been Molly's pet. There are also doors that open and close by them selves and other ghosts seen throughout the mansion.

This is one of the very few homes in the USA which you can take a tour and maybe catch a glimpse of a ghost or take an interesting photo with some supernatural evidence appearing on it.

The Molly Brown House is open daily for tours. Tour prices are $7 for adults over 13, $4 for children 5-12 and $6 for seniors. Check the Molly Brown House Museum website for more detailed times and dates of the tours. The house is located at 1340 Pennsylvania Street in Denver, Colorado.