Entry No. 32 — the Atlanta file — filed under: haunted mansion
Rhodes Hall ("the Castle on Peachtree")
A 1904 stone castle built for furniture magnate Amos Rhodes, now a house museum on Peachtree Street. Reported activity centers on the basement and the fourth-floor children's playroom, which is normally kept closed off from the standard daytime tour.
The story
In 1904, furniture magnate Amos Giles Rhodes—the man who built a fortune selling dressers to middle-class Atlantans on installment plans—decided Peachtree Street needed a Rhineland castle. He quarried granite from nearby Stone Mountain, hired architect Willis F. Denny II, and dropped a $50,000 Romanesque Revival fortress named Le Rêve right onto what was then a dirt-road residential colony north of town. As developers leveled nearly every other Gilded Age mansion on Peachtree over the following century, Rhodes Hall stood ground, leaving a medieval-looking stone thumb sticking out among Midtown's glass office towers.
The interior remains eerily intact, framed by heavy mahogany and a grand staircase lit by nine hand-painted glass windows depicting the rise and fall of the Confederacy. But the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, which has run its headquarters here since 1983, isn't just maintaining a Victorian period piece. Staff and visitors have long reported unexplained phenomena within the granite walls—phantom footsteps, disembodied children's laughter, and sightings of Mrs. Amanda Rhodes and a basement shadow figure.
The most mysterious corners of the castle aren't part of the daytime architectural walk. Standard house tours keep you on the primary historic floors, but the mansion's deepest rumors center on two spaces kept strictly under lock and key during the day: the top-floor children's playroom and the unadorned basement.
What it's like
Approaching 1516 Peachtree Street feels absurd: you're looking at a 120-year-old granite castle squeezed between soaring modern glass high-rises. Daytime historic tours offer a relaxed walk through Victorian woodwork and stained glass, but if you want to get into the spaces they normally lock away, you have to snag a ticket for the seasonal after-hours Candlelight Hidden Spaces tour. You'll start with a pre-tour drink on the grand front porch before going inside with flashlight-bearing guides—the only way to unlock the fourth-floor children's playroom and head down into the chilling basement where most paranormal reports originate. Limited free parking sits behind the hall off Spring Street, though it fills up fast on event nights.
The move: Book the Georgia Trust's after-hours Candlelight Hidden Spaces tour, which is the only way to get into the sealed playroom and the basement where most of the reported activity happens.
- 📍 Midtown Atlanta
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 1516 Peachtree St NW, Atlanta, GA 30309
Hours: Added 2026-07-19 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Center for Puppetry Arts — Drive three minutes south down Peachtree to trade a furniture baron's granite castle for hundreds of retired Muppets housed under one roof.
- The Ellis Hotel (former Winecoff Hotel) — Follow Peachtree Street two miles south to pair Midtown's surviving Gilded Age home with Downtown's shell of the tragic 1913 Winecoff Hotel.
- The Goat Farm Arts Center — Head less than two miles west to contrast Amos Rhodes' pristine 1904 residence with a raw, sprawling 19th-century industrial mill ruin filled with modern artist studios.
Good to know
How do you get into the closed children's playroom and basement?
You must book the Georgia Trust's after-hours Candlelight Hidden Spaces tour during seasonal events like Legends and Lore, as those areas are strictly locked during standard daytime tours.
What is the history of Rhodes Hall?
Built in 1904 out of Stone Mountain granite as 'Le Rêve,' it was the private home of Rhodes Furniture founder Amos Rhodes and is one of the last surviving Gilded Age mansions on Peachtree Street.
Is there parking available on site?
Limited free parking is available in the lot behind Rhodes Hall accessible via Spring Street, with overflow paid parking nearby in the Two Peachtree Pointe parking deck.
Who owns and runs the house today?
The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation has owned and operated Rhodes Hall as its headquarters and a public house museum since 1983.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · georgiatrust.org · fox5atlanta.com
last checked: 2026-07-19