The Sauer Castle: A Tale of Five Generations with an Uncertain Future

Anton Sauer, born in Germany in 1823, moved to New York City in 1858 to join his mother and sisters. However, due to his worsening case of tuberculosis and the death of his wife, Francesca, in 1868, he decided to move his family to Kansas City.

After his business became successful, Anton began courting Mary Einhellig Messerschmidt, a 28-year-old widow with two daughters. They married in 1869 and had five daughters, four of whom survived to maturity. Their mansion, located on the Shawnee Indian trail, was finally fully furnished by 1872 and stood as a landmark of the Santa Fe Trail.

Anton passed away in the second-floor master bedroom in 1879, leaving Mary and their children to continue living in the house. Mary lived there until her death in 1919, after which the Sauers continued to reside in the mansion for five generations. Eve Maria Sauer, Anton's granddaughter, lived there until her death in 1955.

In 1987, Bud Wyman and his family purchased the home with the hope of turning it into a bed and breakfast. However, the property was constantly vandalized due to ghost stories, which attracted trespassers. In 1988, Carl Lopp, Anton's great-great-grandson, bought the house with the intention of restoring it and keeping it in the family.

Unfortunately, Lopp's attempts to fix up the mansion have yielded only minor improvements, such as fixing balconies and putting up a fence. In 1996, the hired caretaker was charged with felony theft for stealing $30,000 worth of artifacts from the house.

The mansion has been subject to several ghost stories that attract vandals, preventing Lopp from receiving insurance money. Despite this, he listed the property for $10 million in January 2022, though its true market value is likely much lower.

The ownership and taxes of the property continue to be a point of contention between Lopp and the Wyandotte County Unified Government. The haunted mansion of Anton Sauer remains a fascinating piece of history, a testament to the endurance of family and the ever-present allure of the paranormal.

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From the National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form in 1976

The Sauer Castle is located near the crest of the bluffs that overlook the Kaw river valley. It is a large, irregularly shaped, two and one-half story brick building with a four story tower. The house was built in the Italian Villa style. Originally it stood on a sixty-three acre site that was landscaped and terraced for Sauer's vineyards. This acreage has dwindled to four and the only remains of the landscaping are the fish pond and fountain in front of the house.

The main facade, which faces north is broken into three receding planes. The central element and dominating feature of this facade is the four story tower. The main entrance has been placed at the base of this tower. The double, three paneled doors are solid walnut and set in an elaborately carved arched stone frame. There are two carved stone lions to either side of the door on the small landing at the top of a short flight of stone steps. To either side of the tower bay on the first story are two large segmental arched double-hung windows which extend to the stone water table.

The windows on the east side open out to a narrow balcony with a delicate metal railing, while the windows to the west are sheltered by an ornate wood veranda. All windows on the north, east and west facades with the exception of those above the entablature in the tower have segmental arches with similarly carved stone lintels. There are two windows each on the east and west bays of the north facade and a window above the main doorway on the central bay. There are narrow metal balconies at the base of the windows on the east and central bays. A round window with a stone frame has been placed above the second story windows on the east bay where the entablature breaks and forms an open gable.

There are two small dodble-hung windows on the third story of the tower with stone segmental arches with keystones joined by a stone string course on three facades of the tower. Long thin round-headed windows with keystones are joined by a stone string course formed by the impost on all the faces of the fourth story of the tower. The tower has a flat roof with an elaborate entablature which matches that of the main house and has coupled brackets on each corner. Originally there was metal cresting around the ridge of the tower.

An L-shaped wood veranda extends around the southeast corner of the east facade. There is a door opening out to this veranda on the south corner of the east facade. A window has been placed above this doorway on the second story, and to the north of the veranda there are two windows on each story. Two single, evenly spaced brick chimneys rise above the entablature. On the west facade there is one centered window on each story. There are two windows with light wells below the water table. Two single, evenly spaced chimneys rise above the entablature with a small gabled dormer centered between them.

The south facade has been treated with less detail than the rest of the building. Stone is limited to the window sills, and the windows have brick segmental arches. There are three one story extensions from this facade; a brick one with a hip roof that appears to be original, and two later wood frame additions. There is a small one story wood veranda on the west end of the facade.