Sauer Castle, Kansas City, Kansas

Not for sale, just of interest. Haunted House stories for Halloween.

Rounding a curve on a winding, residential street, a red brick structure looms over the landscape. Set behind long lengths of chainlink fence, one gets a sense of foreboding as if the carved lions framing the doorway and the windows in the tower are watching us. It is the Sauer Castle.

Anton Sauer came to the United States from Austria with his wife Francesca and five children in the 1860s. They first moved to New York City, but after Francesca died in 1868 and Anton’s tuberculosis worsened, he relocated to Kansas City.  There he remarried, had more children (total of 12) and built his c.1871 mansion, the Sauer Castle.

The now deserted structure originally stood on 63 manicured acres with room for Anton’s vineyard, a winery, bakery and schoolhouse for the children. He spared no expense in the interior of his opulent home, either. Ornate doors lead one into a large foyer with a stunning staircase.

Anton chose the location of his home because it reminded him of this hometown along the Rhine River in the Swiss Alps. With views of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers, it was the ideal setting for his large family. Little did he realize, however, that the house was built smack in the middle of what was once the Shawnee Indian trail. That trail later became part of the old Santa Fe Trail through which many wagons passed on their journey west.

In part due to traumatic events in the house, and partly due to its construction on ground where the Shawnee and settlers experienced hardships and adversity, some say the property is a hotbed of paranormal activity. Sadly, the house appeared to bring bad luck to its inhabitants.

After Anton died, his wife and daughters continued to live in the castle. But after Anton’s infant great-granddaughter tragically drowned in the pool, two people committed suicide and several deaths of natural causes occurred in the house, rumors were sparked that the house was haunted. Disembodied voices were reported, including shouting, laughing and crying, while doors were known to open and slam shut on their own. People also indicated a creepy feeling of being watched and reported objects shaking violently.

The Sauer family, however, kept residence in this once-gorgeous Italian-style Villa for five generations until 1954. After they sold it, the next owner, Paul Berry, only lived in a small section of the house. He often resorted to fighting vandals, thieves and curious trespassers off the property with his fierce three-legged dog.

When Paul Berry died in 1985, the house was already in serious disrepair, but it fell into even more neglect and disintegration during the three years it lay vacant.  Carl Lopp, a descendent of Anton Sauer, purchased the home in 1988. He had hopes of converting the mansion into a bed and breakfast, but as an absentee owner, the roof began to leak and windows were broken. You would think that as a descendent, Loop would have at least maintained the home. Historical societies have even offered to fix it up or buy it and put the family name on it, but Loop is unwilling.