Entry No. 19 — the Albuquerque file — filed under: haunted
Albuquerque Press Club (Whittlesey House)
Built in 1903 as an isolated, Norwegian-style log villa on the mesa edge, this unhewn lava-rock house now operates as a private journalists' club. Members and staff regularly report spectral encounters with 'Mrs. M,' an apparition in a black shawl whose phantom high heels and self-playing piano echo through the bar.
The story
If you were an architect in 1903 tasked with designing a luxury railroad hotel in the High Desert, your natural impulse probably wouldn't be to construct a three-story Norwegian log villa on the mesa edge above Albuquerque. But Charles Frederick Whittlesey—the man behind the Alvarado Hotel and Grand Canyon's El Tovar—did just that. Whittlesey built the house out of rough pine logs with the bark still intact, secured them with wooden bolts rather than nails, and anchored the living room around a massive fireplace built from unhewn black volcanic rock hauled off the eastern lava beds. He dubbed it 'Bungalow Barracks,' intending it as a home and work base for his draughtsmen, though his family briefly moved in before he departed for California in 1908.
The structure drifted through various private owners and a stint as a college fraternity house before the Albuquerque Press Club bought it in 1973. They turned the rustic log interior into an off-the-record sanctuary for local reporters, editors, and broadcasters looking to swap newsroom gossip over unpretentious drinks. Outside, a wrap-around porch offers clear views down over the city lights; inside, low-ceilinged rooms house a lending library, dart boards, and a pool table tucked downstairs. It remains a working journalists' club and private watering hole operating under a strict code of informal camaraderie.
Then there's the club's permanent resident. A framed portrait of 'Mrs. M' hangs in the corridor between the main bar and the stairs leading down to the pool room. Members and bartenders who've closed up late report the unmistakable sound of high heels clicking across empty wooden floorboards, phantom piano chords rising near the volcanic stone hearth when nobody is at the keys, and pool balls quietly rearranging themselves in the basement room. Staff treat her less as a menace and more as an uncredited night-shift manager—though you still might want to keep your back to the wall if you're sipping a nightcap after last call.
What it's like
Tucked at the top of a quiet residential loop in Huning Highlands, the place looks more like an alpine hunting lodge than a desert watering hole. It's a private club, meaning you'll need to tag along with a member, apply for membership, or attend an open public event to cross the threshold. Once inside, the atmosphere is distinctly anti-hip: low ceilings, dark wood, cheap pours, and regulars debating local politics near the lava-rock fireplace. Grab a drink, step out onto the wrap-around deck for one of the best views of the Albuquerque skyline, and try not to jump when you hear phantom footsteps on the floorboards upstairs.
The move: Grab a drink in the off-the-record bar rooms and listen for phantom piano chords by the black lava-rock fireplace.
- 📍 Huning Highlands
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 201 Highland Park Cir SE, Albuquerque, NM 87102
Hours: Added 2026-07-21 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Hotel Parq Central — Located just down the hill, you can pair a drink at the Press Club with rooftop views and the haunted railway-hospital heritage of Hotel Parq Central.
- KiMo Theatre — Head under a mile west into Downtown to trade the Press Club's log-cabin ghost story for the Pueblo Deco hauntings of the KiMo Theatre.
- Telephone Museum of New Mexico — Pair a visit to Whittlesey House's 1903 Norwegian architecture with four floors of vintage telecommunications history inside a 1906 Bell System building.
Good to know
How can I visit if I am not a member?
You must enter as the guest of a current Press Club member, apply for your own membership, or attend one of the public events—such as book launches, open houses, or ghost tours—hosted at the Whittlesey House.
Why was a Norwegian-style log cabin built in Albuquerque?
Architect Charles Frederick Whittlesey built it in 1903 in a rustic Norwegian Vernacular style while supervising local railroad architectural projects. He used unhewn bark-on pine logs and volcanic basalt for the central fireplace.
Who is 'Mrs. M' and what is the ghost story?
'Mrs. M' is the club's resident apparition. Her framed portrait hangs in the hallway near the pool room stairs, and staff and regulars attribute phantom high-heel footsteps, self-playing piano chords, and moving pool balls to her presence.
Where is the Albuquerque Press Club located?
It is located at 201 Highland Park Circle SE on the mesa edge in Albuquerque's historic Huning Highlands neighborhood, just east of Downtown.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · Wikipedia · constructionreporter.com
last checked: 2026-07-21