Stone Lion Inn
The Stone Lion Inn is Oklahoma’s first and oldest bed and breakfast. Located in Guthrie, the 1907 Victorian mansion was once the home of Mr. and Mrs. Houghton and their twelve children. However, the good times wouldn’t last long when an incident occurred at the hands of a negligent nurse. This costly mistake would go on to turn this once beloved home into a nightmare from which the former owners can never escape.
Why is the Stone Lion Inn haunted?
It’s believed that the hauntings began when one of the Houghton children, Augusta, fell ill and died of whooping cough after a trusted nurse gave her the wrong amount of cough medicine. Today, disembodied voices and footsteps and doors opening and closing on their own are a few of the eerie events that plague the home. Keep reading to find out what else keeps the staff looking over their shoulder and the guests sleeping with one eye open.
Looking to experience the hauntings of Oklahoma for yourself? Book a ghost tour with Oklahoma City Ghosts or Tulsa Ghosts!
The History of the Houghton Home and Family
The home was built in the early 1900s by T.E. Houghton, a prosperous merchant looking to create a larger house for his expanding family. He lived there with his wife and twelve children for nearly twenty years. The mansion is 8,000 square feet and has four floors. At the time of completion, it cost $11,900 and was the most expensive home in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
The Houghtons moved out of the home at some point during the 1920s, when it became a boarding house. Soon after that, the purpose of the home changed again, and it became a funeral parlor. Years and years went by, and the home went back to a boarding house and then finally a private residence again, which now serves as a historic bed and breakfast.
Mr. Houghton even bought the land next to their old home to build the larger mansion seen today.
Home to Haunted Inn
Rebecca Luker restored and established the Victorian mansion in 1986 after she moved from Santa Fe to Guthrie with her two children.
Luker was recruited to come to Oklahoma’s original capital city, Guthrie by Ralph McCalmont, a local banker interested in historic tourism and development. In 1986, the Oklahoma economy was reeling from the oil bust and the failure of one of its largest banks. McCalmont believed that Guthrie’s unique historic preservations (the largest number of historic properties registered per state capita) offered the best hope for the suffering local economy.
“Ralph had promised people that there would be a bed and breakfast establishment in Guthrie before the end of 1986. Ralph knew that I had experience in Santa Fe restoring historic properties and turning them into bed and breakfasts. He asked if I could move, restore the home, and be open for business in 60 days. I told him I could.”
The restoration was taxing, and soon after starting, Luker realized its difficulty. To generate more revenue for her family and the restoration, she decided to add entertainment to the inn. This is where the ‘murder mystery’ dinners started.
During the inn’s first year of business, guests started to experience strange happenings during their stays.
Hauntings of the Stone Lion Inn
Past and current owners, visitors, and ghost-hunting groups have all reported strange phenomena inside the home. Sightings of a young girl and a man resembling Mr. Houghton have been reported. Some of the guests at the inn would come downstairs for breakfast the morning after their stay and ask Luker if she had a little girl. They all shared the same story: a little girl had awakened them and stood beside their bed. Luker realized the similarities in the stories and began to dig a bit into the history of the home.
It was then that she learned that the Houghton’s eight-year-old daughter had died in the home and that the house had been used as a funeral parlor in the 1950s. An embalming table can be seen right in the front entryway of the inn!
Augusta, the Houghton daughter, is said to haunt the halls of the inn still, and her father has been seen (and smelled) huffing and puffing on his tobacco pipe. Guests have also witnessed a child tucking them into bed at night; others report being woken up by the same child later in the evening. Some guests even report the sounds of multiple kids jumping on the beds, even when no children are staying at the inn.
One of Rebecca’s children kept his toys in the storage closet, always putting them away neatly after he was done playing with them. Around 10 at night, footsteps could be heard on the back staircase, which goes up to the third-floor former play area. Every morning, the Luker family would find the toys strewn all about the floor. Could it have been the Luker boy? Not a chance—this continued to happen even when Rebecca put a lock on the door.
A male apparition has been seen in the basement area of the home, dressed in an old-fashioned black suit. Some believe this is T.E. Houghton himself, smoking cigars and checking out the heating system of the home.
Some entities may have attached to the house during its years as a funeral home, as other full-bodied apparitions are reported and have yet to be identified.
The home has been the subject of many ghost hunts, including some nationally known groups such as TAPS.
Some visitors report feeling touched as they relax into bed for the evening, while others hear a woman’s voice echoing through empty hallways. One particular guest felt a heavy weight on the edge of the bed, and then the ceiling fan shut off, almost as if someone stood up on the bed to turn it off for her before she fell asleep.
Haunted Oklahoma
Guests can stay at the Stone Lion Inn, choosing from one of six unique suites. The grounds of the inn are equally as beautiful as the home itself, boasting pecan trees, lilacs, and a gazebo. While a visit to the inn may be just what you need to relax and unwind in Oklahoma history, keep in mind that the bed and breakfast is one of America’s most haunted, and you may not ever truly be alone during your stay!
Want to learn more about the most haunted places in America? Check out our blog!
Sources:
http://hauntedhouses.com/oklahoma/stone-lion-inn/
http://southwesternghostsandhauntings.blogspot.com/2013/10/stone-lion-inn-guthrie-oklahoma.html
https://www.chrie.org/assets/docs/JHTC-case-notes/JHTC-vol-5/JHTC_Vol5Issue2-Soulek_case.pdf
