A Restored Gilded Age Mansion, Carriage House and Historic Home in Missouri Are Up for Auction
Bedrooms: 8 Bathrooms: 6 full + 4 half
Interior: 915 m² / 9,850 ft² Lot: 0.74 ha / 1.83 acres
Amenities: 47 original stained-glass windows, Zuber Eldorado panoramic wallpaper, 8 fireplaces, hand-carved woodwork, ornate plaster ceilings, encaustic tile floors, period chandeliers, wine cellar, commercial kitchen, landscaped gardens, carriage house with 3 apartments, and a pre-Civil War companion house for restoration.
The nearly 2-acre Shakespeare Chateau Inn & Gardens estate in St. Joseph, Missouri, is made up of three historic buildings: the 1885 main residence at 809 Hall Street, a carriage house containing three apartments, and a pre-Civil War brick house at 819 Hall Street that remains largely undeveloped and in need of restoration. Listed with Anthony West of Sage Sotheby’s International Realty, the property is now being offered through an online auction with Instant Gavel by Concierge Auctions running from August 19 through September 16. As of Wednesday, September 9, the current high bid stands at $850,000, while the estimated auction sale price is $1.2 million to $2 million.
St. Joseph sits in northwestern Missouri, about an hour north of Kansas City, in a part of the American Midwest that grew quickly during the 19th century as trade and migration pushed westward. Set on the Missouri River, the city became the eastern terminus of the Pony Express in 1860 and later developed into an important railroad, livestock and wholesale centre. That prosperity left behind a concentration of late-19th-century architecture, particularly along Hall Street, the residential corridor once known as Millionaires’ Row, where some of St. Joseph’s wealthiest families built elaborate houses during the city’s Gilded Age.
The main house was completed in 1885 for Colonel Nathan Phipps Ogden and his wife, Elmarine, to designs by architect Edmund Jacques Eckel. The Chateauesque residence contains approximately 9,850 square feet (915 m²), with 8 bedrooms and 6 full and 4 half bathrooms.
What distinguishes the house is how much of the original interior survives. There are 47 stained-glass windows across the first and second floors, along with hand-carved cherry, mahogany, oak and walnut woodwork, encaustic tile floors, ornate plaster ceilings, period chandeliers and 8 fireplaces. The music room contains Zuber’s Eldorado panoramic wallpaper, installed around 1920. Another installation of the French scenic paper can be found in the White House.
The house was in considerably poorer condition when current owner Isobel McGowan purchased it in May 2012. Years of neglect had resulted in water damage and failures to its building systems. McGowan undertook a long restoration that included repairing plaster, updating services, removing paint from original woodwork, refinishing floors, reproducing damaged oak-and-walnut parquet, adding period-appropriate wallpaper and rebuilding the rear porch using the original design as a reference. A catering kitchen was installed and the upper floors were adapted for hospitality use. The restoration received a Preserve Missouri Award in 2015.
The property has since operated for more than a decade as the Shakespeare Chateau Inn & Gardens, with 6 guest suites in the main house as well as weddings, events and historic tours. The separate carriage house contains three income-producing apartments. The third building, the pre-Civil War Kirkpatrick/Garth House at 819 Hall Street, has approximately 4,000 square feet (372 m²) over three levels. Its interior remains undeveloped, leaving it as a future restoration project rather than another completed residence.
The auction follows a period of conventional marketing at substantially higher prices. The estate was marketed in 2025 at around $3 million before being reduced to $2.795 million. Earlier this year, the real estate was offered at $1.85 million, alongside a $2.35 million commercial offering that included most furnishings, operational assets, the website and brand. Those figures were later reduced to $1.5 million and $2 million respectively before the property was brought to auction.
The current sale changes the pricing structure rather than simply reducing the asking price again. Bidding presently stands at $850,000, but the published estimated sale range remains $1.2 million to $2 million. The auction covers the real estate, including all three buildings, while the hospitality business, furnishings and personal property are available separately. Bidding closes September 16.
All photographs belong to the listing agency. See more on Instant Gavel.