BUCKNER MANSION: White Columns, Dark Secrets

Behind the towering white columns and elegant galleries of this Garden District mansion lurks a troubled past filled with slavery, death, and the restless spirit of a woman who refuses to leave.

Based on a story from the Weird Darkness episode, “Submerged Secrets“

A Monument to Wealth and Power

In the heart of New Orleans’ Garden District stands a mansion that has captured the attention of ghost hunters and horror fans alike. Buckner Mansion, with its towering white columns and dark history, sits like a giant among the oak trees that line the elegant streets of one of America’s most haunted cities.

The year was 1856 when Henry Sullivan Buckner decided to build what would become one of the most recognizable homes in New Orleans. Buckner was a wealthy man who had made his fortune in cotton and slavery during the years before the Civil War. He owned several impressive homes already, but this new mansion had to be special. It needed to be bigger and grander than anything his former business partner Frederick Stanton had built in Mississippi.

Buckner hired architect Lewis E. Reynolds to design the house. The plans called for a two-story brick mansion with an observatory and four pediments. What Reynolds created was a stunning example of Greek Revival architecture that still takes visitors’ breath away today. The mansion features 48 fluted columns in both Ionic and Corinthian styles, with galleries wrapping around three sides of the building.

Inside the mansion, 16-foot ceilings tower over grand ballrooms and walls lined with floor-to-ceiling windows. The entire property sits surrounded by an elaborate fence made of stone and cast iron, as if trying to keep something either in or out.

When construction finished, Henry Sullivan Buckner moved into the mansion with his wife Catherine. After Henry’s death, their daughter Laura and her husband Cartwright Eustis took over the property. The mansion remained in the Buckner family for more than 60 years before being sold around 1920.

From Family Home to School

In 1923, the mansion found new life as the home of Soulé Business College, one of the oldest business schools in the South at that time. The school added a two-story brick building behind the mansion to serve as classrooms. For 60 years, students walked the halls where the Buckner family once lived. The school finally closed its doors in 1983.

After the college closed, Buckner Mansion returned to being a private home. In 2013, the mansion gained new fame when television producers chose it as the main filming location for American Horror Story: Coven. In the show, the mansion served as Miss Robichaux’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies, a boarding school for young witches. The show brought hundreds of fans to the mansion’s iron gates, all hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous haunted house.

Hollywood Horror and Modern Day

Today, the mansion is valued at more than $3.1 million. It has been available as a vacation rental, with rates reaching nearly $4,700 per night.

But the mansion’s true claim to fame may not be its appearance on television or its stunning architecture. Local residents and visitors have reported strange events within the mansion’s walls for decades.

Miss Josephine’s Eternal Watch

The most persistent ghost story involves a woman known only as Miss Josephine. According to local legend, Josephine was an African American woman who remained with the Buckner family after the Civil War ended. Some believe she chose to stay in the house even after her death, continuing to watch over the property as she had in life.

Witnesses claim to have seen Josephine’s ghostly figure on the mansion’s grand staircase. Others report hearing the sound of someone sweeping, even when no one else is in the house. Some visitors say they have smelled the scent of lemon peel throughout the mansion – supposedly one of Josephine’s favorite fragrances when she was alive.

The paranormal activity extends beyond Miss Josephine’s presence. Guests and caretakers have reported lights that flicker on and off without explanation. Doors open and close by themselves, sometimes multiple times in a single evening. Heavy chandeliers have been seen swinging back and forth for hours, even when there is no wind or breeze to move them.

These reports have never been proven or explained, but they continue to draw curious visitors to the mansion. Whether the stories are true or simply the product of overactive imaginations, Buckner Mansion remains one of New Orleans’ most talked-about haunted locations.

Built on Human Suffering

The mansion’s dark history extends beyond ghost stories. Built during the antebellum period in the American South, the house represents a time when slavery was legal and common. The Buckner family’s wealth came directly from the labor of enslaved people who worked their cotton plantations. This connection to slavery adds another layer to the mansion’s troubled past.

The Garden District itself was once home to numerous plantations, where enslaved people lived and worked under harsh conditions. Many of these plantations were later divided into the elegant neighborhoods that exist today, but the history remains embedded in the land.

Buckner Mansion stands as a reminder of this complex and painful period in American history. Its beautiful architecture cannot hide the fact that it was built with money earned through human suffering. This knowledge may explain why so many people feel an unsettling presence when they visit the mansion.

The mansion’s appearance in American Horror Story has only added to its reputation as a haunted location. The show’s producers specifically chose the mansion because of its forbidding appearance and dark history. The mansion’s towering columns and shadowy galleries provided the perfect backdrop for a story about witches and supernatural powers.

Fame and Tourism

Since the show aired, tourism to the mansion has increased dramatically. Ghost tour companies regularly stop at the mansion’s gates, sharing stories of Miss Josephine and other supernatural encounters. Paranormal investigators have requested permission to spend nights in the mansion, hoping to document evidence of ghostly activity.

The mansion’s current owners have embraced its haunted reputation while also preserving its historical significance. They maintain the property’s original architectural features while acknowledging the complex history that surrounds the building.

Visitors who approach Buckner Mansion today can still see the original mosaic tiles near the front gates that read “The public character its color from education as the parent draws.” These tiles were installed when the mansion served as Soulé Business College, but they serve as a reminder that the building has served many purposes throughout its long history.

Secrets Among the Oak Trees

Whether someone believes in ghosts or not, Buckner Mansion remains an impressive example of 19th-century architecture and Southern history. Its 48 columns and grand galleries continue to draw visitors who appreciate beautiful buildings and complex historical stories.

The mansion sits quietly among the oak trees of the Garden District, holding its secrets close. Some of those secrets may be supernatural, while others are simply the painful truths of American history. Both types of secrets continue to fascinate people who visit this remarkable building.

Miss Josephine, if she truly haunts the mansion, serves as a connection to the real people who lived and worked within these walls. Her presence reminds visitors that this mansion was not just a beautiful building – it was a home where real people experienced both joy and sorrow.

The scent of lemon peel, the sound of sweeping, and the sight of a figure on the stairs may or may not be evidence of supernatural activity. But they are certainly evidence that Buckner Mansion has left a lasting impression on everyone who has encountered its dark beauty and troubled history.

Sources: All That’s Interesting, Weird Darkness
Cover photo: Jennifer Zdon, NOLA.com

NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is not an AI voice. (AI Policy)