The Haunting of the Lemp Mansion

Season Five, Episode Eleven | Transcript

In this Halloween-themed special of The Art of Custom, we trade blueprints for ghost stories as they record live from one of St. Louis’s most notorious haunts: the Lemp Mansion. Once home to one of America’s great beer baron families, this 19th-century estate is as famous for its ornate architecture as for its tragic and chilling history.

Joined by Betsy Burnett-Belanger, the mansion’s longtime historian and paranormal guide, we explore stories of the Lemp family’s fortunes, misfortunes, and lingering spirits. From unexplained noises and vanishing audio files to first-hand tales of spectral sightings, this eerie episode blends historic preservation with haunted house lore... perfect for spooky-season listening.

A Mansion with a Famous Legacy

Built in 1868 by beer magnate William J. Lemp, the Lamp Mansion in downtown St Louis once embodied Gilded-Age luxury. But beneath its finely carved woodwork and marble mantels lies a tragic past : a string of tragic deaths, rumors of a hidden heir, and the slow unraveling of one of St. Louis’s wealthiest dynasties.

As Betsy recounts, the Lemp Brewery once anchored Millionaire’s Hill, a neighborhood of lavish estates connected by underground caves used to store barrels of German-style lager. But when Prohibition struck, the Lemp empire - and family crumbled.

Spirits of the Brewery Barons

Betsy’s ghost tours blend storytelling and history. She describes the nine resident spirits said to roam the mansion, five from the Lemp family and four unknown visitors from later decades. Their presence is most often felt on the second and third floors, where guests report footsteps, shadows, and whispered voices.

Among the most beloved spirits is Zeke, the young son of William and Julia Lemp, said to still wander the upper hallways searching for his mother. Guests have claimed to hear a child laughing, or even feel a small hand brush theirs in the dark.

Paranormal Encounters During Recording

While taping the episode, the team experience their own mysterious disturbances drained batteries, missing audio files, and a sharp, unexplained noise echoing through the parlor. Even their guide seems unfazed; for her, such occurrences are part of everyday life at the mansion.

In one hair-raising moment, Betsy interprets the sound as a possible “validation” from one of the spirits she was describing because the timing was too eerie to ignore.

From Opulence to Obsession

The tour moves from the front office, site of Billy Lemp’s demise, to the grand parlor used for family funerals. Each space carries the weight of history. The parlor’s mahogany mantels and hand-painted frescoes were resurfaced from beneath layers of paint by the Pointer family, who had purchased and restored the mansion in the 1970s.

Over two decades as a boarding house left the home scarred and neglected, but careful restoration revived its Victorian splendor. The Pointers’ passion project became a restaurant, bed-and-breakfast, and eventually a hotspot for paranormal tourism.

The Lavender Lady & Other Restless Residents

Upstairs, Betsy guides the hosts into the famed Lavender Suite, named for Lillian “The Lavender Lady” Lemp, the glamorous first wife of William Lemp Jr. Though she never lived there, the room is the most requested by overnight guests and the one most often associated with gentle hauntings.

Betsy explains how “residual energy,” like a recording loop, can replay moments of strong emotion. In this room, laughter, footsteps, and the mews of phantom cats echo through the night. Guests have even felt the weight of an unseen presence sitting beside them on the bed.

Historic Architecture With a Side of Spooky

It is hard not to marvel at the mansion’s architectural details, from towering pocket doors and intricate carvings, to marble fireplaces and embossed tin tiles, and during the tour we weaving in practical builder tips about craftsmanship and hardware for modern homeowners. But in this setting, even discussions of joinery and trim feel cloaked in ghostly ambiance.

The ornate craftsmanship reminds listeners that even haunted homes can inspire admiration for historic design.

The Eternal Guests of the Lemp Mansion

Betsy closes the tour describing other spirits, from the watchful Charles Lemp, known for startling guests, to the spectral pets still padding through the halls. She shares stories of guests fleeing barefoot into the night after late-hour encounters, and of television crews from Ghost Hunters and National Geographic capturing unexplainable activity on film.

Whether believer or skeptic, every visitor leaves with goosebumps and a new respect for the mansion’s haunted heritage.

The Legacy of Home

The Lemp Mansion offers more than a ghost story. It is a lesson in how history, architecture, and emotions linger within a home’s walls. It’s also a reminder that not all great houses are defined by design alone; some are shaped by the stories and memories that are made there.