Years ago, while designer/Disney historian, Dave Mumford was researching wrought ironwork in the Disney Company library, he found a photo of a building that resembled Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion (top photo, below). I was working nearby and he showed me the book and we agreed it had an uncanny resemblance to Disney version. I made a couple Xeroxes right there, and Dave checked out the book. (Sadly I never got the name of it. “Frances Lichten’s Catalog of Victorian Artwork.”) It wasn’t until later when I compared the book photo to Ken Andersons’ 1958 sketch (second photo) that I knew this was the source of the mansion’s design – Ken had copied every visible detail in the photo, details that would be realized as the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland (third photo).

Now the second half of the mystery begins, where is this original house? It was previously believed Disneyland’s mansion was based on the Evergreen House in Baltimore (last photo) but clearly that is not the case. The caption beside the b/w photo from the book Dave found does say the house is in Baltimore. Any Baltimore historians recognize the house in that top picture?

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