Sauer Castle with a future - September 2024 For decades, the Sauer Castle in Kansas City, Kansas was a decaying 19th century Italian villa style mansion which sat vacant and was reputedly haunted. The Sauer Castle was erected around 1871, at an estimated cost of $20,000, for Anton Philllip Sauer, a German immigrant who first came to Kansas City in the 1860s. The house originally stood on a 63 acre site that was landscaped and terraced for Sauer's vineyards. Only 4 acres remain today. Anton Sauer lived in the home until his death in 1879. His widow continued to live there until her death in 1921 and the property remained in the family until 1950. The husband of one of Sauer's daughters committed suicide in 1930 and over the years there were rumors that the home was haunted. In the 1980s, the Sauer Castle was acquired by Anton Sauer's great-great-grandson, Carl Lopp. The absentee property owner did relatively little to maintain the property. The city wanted to see the property sold and restored or developed, but the owner refused to sell. In recent years, various web sites told more expansive ghost stories about the empty house, that may have encouraged break ins and vandalization. But the story gets better. In 2023, Mike Heitmann, an engineer who loves historic homes, purchased the Sauer Castle. The home is finally receiving extensive work to stabilize and preserve the home and we look forward to seeing it restored to an earlier glory. The Castle can only be viewed from the street, beyond a high fence.
copyright 2017-2024 by Keith Stokes |
