Mudhouse Mansion
A demolished Ohio farmhouse that gathered murder stories and a haunted reputation
A farmhouse east of Lancaster, Ohio, left empty and remembered chiefly for its ghost stories: murdered families, imprisoned enslaved people, and a claim to be Bloody Mary's first home. Locals knew it as the Hartman Place, and the Mast family demolished the building in 2015.
- Stood in Fairfield County, Ohio, east of Lancaster; torn down by the Mast family on 21 September 2015
- One tale: an enslaved man dug free at night and killed the family, though Ohio held no slaves
- Children's lore names the house the original home of Bloody Mary
- Build dates given as 1840s, 1870s or about 1900; the Second Empire style favours the 1870s
- Locals long called it the Hartman Place, after the family who owned it
What it is
Mudhouse Mansion was a big, empty farmhouse in Fairfield County, Ohio, a little east of Lancaster. Its builders and its date are uncertain: accounts put it anywhere from the 1840s to about 1900, and its Second Empire style points to the 1870s. What made it famous was not architecture but the stories attached to it. Like many abandoned buildings, it became known locally as a haunted house, and storytellers supplied it with murdered families, imprisoned enslaved people, and a claim to be the first home of Bloody Mary, a figure of children's lore. Neighbours knew the property for years as the Hartman Place, after its owners. The standing house was torn down by the Mast family on 21 September 2015; the tales are what remain.
Where it comes from
Even the building's date is unsettled: accounts give 1840 to 1850, the 1870s, or around 1900, and the Second Empire style is taken to fit the 1870s best. The ownership record is firmer. Christian and Eleanor Rugh bought the property, in 1839 or 1852, the year is uncertain, from its owners Abraham Kagy and Henry Byler. Henry and Martha Hartman acquired it in 1919. Henry Hartman died in 1930, and his daughter Lulu, by then married to Oren Mast, inherited the place. Her descendants hold the land still. A book on Fairfield County architecture by Ruth W. Drinkle records the same building as the Rugh-Mast house, one more name for a place locals called the Hartman Place.
Mudhouse Mansion, drawn and placed
- Living
- Revived
- Fading
- Historical
- Legendary
- Performed
- Lineage
- American ghostlore
Peoples and places
The mansion stood in Fairfield County, Ohio, just east of Lancaster, and the ghost stories around it are local ones. Neighbours knew the property for years as the Hartman Place, after Henry Hartman's family, whose descendants own the land to this day. The tales passed as local yarns, and some belong to children's lore: the claim that the house was Bloody Mary's first home is told as a children's story. Ownership tied several families to the place: the Rughs bought it in the nineteenth century, the Hartmans took it on in 1919, and Lulu Hartman's marriage to Oren Mast brought in the Mast family, who had the building torn down in 2015.
What people believe
The tales told about the house do not agree with one another. One holds that a government official kept enslaved people there after the Civil War, shutting them up each night, until one man dug his way out and killed the whole family. The story carries its own problem: Ohio was never a slave state. Another version gives the house a more recent family wiped out in a mass killing, or lost to a mass suicide by hanging. Others fill it with a mother said to have killed her children, or with a father who did the killing, or with every party to such a tragedy at once. Children's lore adds a different claim: that this was the original home of Bloody Mary.
Today
The house came down on 21 September 2015, demolished by its owners, the Mast family. The land remains with Lulu Hartman's descendants. Before demolition, the mansion had drawn the attention of photographers and of websites that record abandoned and haunted Ohio places, which documented its state and repeated its stories. With the building gone, the ghostlore is what carries the name of Mudhouse Mansion onward.
Questions people ask about Mudhouse Mansion
What was Mudhouse Mansion?
A large farmhouse in Fairfield County, Ohio, just east of Lancaster, built at some point between the 1840s and about 1900. Left abandoned, it became known as a haunted house. Its owners, the Mast family, demolished the building in September 2015.
Who owned the property?
Christian and Eleanor Rugh bought it in 1839 or 1852 from Abraham Kagy and Henry Byler. The Hartmans acquired it in 1919, and Henry Hartman's daughter Lulu, who married Oren Mast, inherited it in 1930. Her descendants hold the land today.
Is the house actually haunted?
It was known as a haunted house, as many abandoned buildings are, and locals told several ghost stories about it. The tales conflict with one another and with the record: one features a slave-owning official in Ohio, which was never a slave state.
What is the Bloody Mary connection?
Some local yarns claim the mansion was the original home of Bloody Mary, a figure from children's lore. It is one story among many: other versions blame a mother, a father, or a murdered family for the haunting.
Can the mansion still be seen?
No. The building was demolished on 21 September 2015 by the Mast family, who own the land. What remains is the ghostlore: the murder and suicide stories, recorded by photographers and websites while the house still stood.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Mudhouse Mansion", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryJaadu rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. Names and customs differ from one community to the next, and some knowledge is closed to outsiders and left out here. This page describes belief and practice. It does not say that any of it works, it is not a how-to, and it is not medical advice. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-22.
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