Pythian Castle

Everyone leaving horrible reviews took this too seriously. I feel like the owners do a good job with the hand they have been dealt. It’s not accurate in terms of how it has been preserved or even in term of being called a castle, but they review all that. It is a historical site and they tell you what they know.
History Tour: simple, fun, informative, sometimes campy/​silly. It’s good if you want «hands on» history because nothing is off limits. We had a few laughs, enjoyed the provided history, enjoyed the informative video at the beginning, enjoyed the tour guide, and had a nice conversation after the tour was over.
$ 18 for two adults and it was about a 75 minute experience. That was not expensive for learning about some of the history of Springfield or the Pythian society.

Very nice, owners are very attentive to what I’m wanting for my wedding and went out of their way to help us get things done.

Unhelpful people. Tamera was rude and didn’t know what she was talking about, and she’s supposed to be the owner. She answered another call as I was in the middle of talking. I was going to rent out a few rooms but I have decided against this as their customer service is severely lacking. They didn’t answer simple questions and didn’t know pricing. Also for what you get you are spending way to much. This is truly disappointing.

Attended ghost tour (10 – 11:30p). We purchased our tickets online and the check-​in upon arrival was simple. However, everyone for the 10p tour was left waiting in the lobby and front area where there was little to no seating (luck for us it wasn’t too cold outside so we could sit on the porch). We then proceeded to the girl’s dormitory where were watched a video intro giving a brief history of the castle. The you guide was adequate. We toured the basement, main level, and second story. I wish we could have gotten more specific details of the history of the castle, the renovations, and future plans. The ghosty bits were more anecdotal personal stories and talk of mediums without much history to back up the claims. Overall, I would recommend the tour just to have the experience. Our group was maybe 15 people.

From an adult’s perspective, the history tour was a bit dry in terms of both the actual content of the message and its presentation. That said, we booked the experience for our daughter, whose fascination with castles and all things related knows no bounds — and she loved it. I doubt she remembers a thing that was said by the guide, but she still talks about the assorted Halloween décor (animatronic ghosts and golems) to this day. She is a special needs kid, and the staff accommodated and indulged her peculiarities without complaint, which combined with her enjoyment, lifted a two-​star afternoon to three-​star status.

We took the ghost tour at 8:00 p.m. on a freezing cold Feb. night. Our guide, Tim, was very well-​spoken, funny, and theatrical, but the experience ends there. Full disclosure: I think they tend to be kind of hokey, but 2 of the 4 of us are really into them, so we have been on several: Hannibal, MO; Eureka Springs; Atchison, KS. However, I usually enjoy them because most of them include a lot of history of the location, the city, and a tour of the beautiful property. Not this tour: we got about a 6 minute history and for anything else «you have to take the history tour,» and that was the response we got to about 5 questions asked about the property during the tour.
We didn’t get to really see the property properly, as it was extremely dark (probably to enhance to mystique) and very crowded. None of the ground floor rooms are included in the tour and no actual discussion of the house, décor, building, or renovations, are mentioned. I assumed the place was a bed and breakfast or hotel, but it is actually a private residence and special event venue.
Where you buy tickets online clearly states «Buy your tickets early. Groups are kept small.» We don’t consider 70 people a small group. There was a group of 40 college students all in one, included in with the regular tour. It would have been much more effective if they had been given a separate tour of their own.
The room we spent the most time is was the ballroom. Seated at assigned tables, we listened to the intro, then were divided into three groups and led to the freezing cold basement. Since I was told we weren’t leaving the house, I wasn’t dressed adequately for how cold it was, even in my winter coat. The other places we got to see were the gymnasium, the dungeon, and the tunnel. Spoiler: You aren’t going to go anywhere in the tunnel. You get in there, stop, turn around in place and get back out. Since we were in a large group, it took a long time for people at the end to figure out to get the hell out. Being at the front, (and claustrophobic as heck) I was not a fan. I also was not expecting to be trudging through a wet, uneven floor. Should’ve worn boots.
They take you next to the theater where they play EVP (recordings) from previous tours, in which ghostly voices supposedly «say» certain things. I don’t hear it myself, but I am a skeptic. The last location is the boys’ dormitory. We are supposedly there so we can «see» how the place looked prior to renovation, but of course there aren’t any lights on so how you are supposed to see anything, I don’t know.
In the places we went, there are lots of stairs, dim lighting, uneven surfaces, etc. If you have balance issues, vision problems, or cannot maneuver stairs easily, this is not for you. Also, it was FREEZING, so bundle up if it’s winter. The two (unnamed) ladies helping run the tour were… brusque. They frequently were telling us to «hurry up» and «stay with the group» even though there were no gaps in the group and no more room on the stairs to move up further. It made you feel like you were cattle being run through the gate. I am very short and have no desire to have my face pressed into someone else’s back.
In the end, because of our large group, the tour ran 10 minutes longer than it was suppose to, by then we were dying to get out of there (even the ones who are usually really into it.)

Went on a night time ghost tour with my wife. There was a crowd of about 40 the night we were there. The tour guide was fantastic. I loved his stories about the place. He had me expecting to see ghosts show up at anytime as we toured the place.

We did the 90 minute haunted tour. In the end we had a lot of fun, we learned a lot and got to tell the tale to friends at home.
My group was pretty disappointed that we only got to see the basement, tunnel, theater, and dormitory. We thought there would be more of the castle to see, hopefully that is in the works for future tours as they get more rooms done.

Okay, if you are ever in Springfield and need something fun to do, this is the place.
We walked in to a smile from the woman at the front desk… turns out she OWNS the castle. It was amazing. Her and her daughter have done so many amazing things to restore this wonderful landmark.
You have to see it for yourself! Only that will do this justice.

I went on a roadtrip to meet a bunch of friends and had a great time! The castel is reportedly haunted so we went to check it out for ourselves. The building served multiple purposes over the years including being an orphanage, retirement home, and an Army owned facility during WWII. The castle has 3 floors with an auditorium and the girls dorm upstairs. Down in the basement you will find POW cells from WWII and the old tunnel/​death chute. The first floor has a meeting room and the boys dorm. There is not restaurant here and it is not a B&B. This place is used as an event hall (i.e. weddings).

We attended Pythian Castle’s «Murder Mystery Dinner» with a group of coworkers. My review is specific to this event (and possibly how they run their other dinner events), and not necessarily reflective of the general tours of the building or the building itself.
The bar was very poorly run, as they were very inefficient with tracking everyone’s tabs. This resulted in a long wait even though there were less than five people in line.
The first part of the show was OK; however, it was a little hard to follow because it was hard to hear the actors since other tables were loud and it echoed throughout the room. The salad and breadsticks they served were fairly good as well.
However, our luck began to change as they served dinner. We were seated at table number 12, so we had to wait for quite a few tables to get served before it was our turn. They were supposed to come by and tell us when we could get up and go to the line; however, no one ever stopped by so we took it upon ourselves to go get into the line once it cleared out. We then had to wait approximately fifteen minutes since it looked like they were refilling the food bar. However, after the wait, it was revealed to us that they had run out of meat for the evening’s meal. In addition, it was also revealed that the food they were serving wasn’t even what was advertised when we bought tickets. We were originally supposed to be served chicken cordon bleu + sides, however, they changed the meal plan to turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and green beans instead. Seriously? We just had Thanksgiving dinner and a week’s worth of leftovers, only to be served it again?
Now back to the fact they ran out of food — because they were unable to serve us a meat, our main course consisted of really salty green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and gravy. This left at least five tables, if not more, without a complete meal.
The lady in charge, when asked about compensation, was very non-​committal although she apologized about the situation. This pretty much spoiled the rest of our experience of the show.
The remainder of the show seemed rushed, hurried, and somewhat weird. In fact, the «mystery» was just revealed without any significant drama — making the experience somewhat of a let down.
It turns out management offered a $ 10 per person refund for those of us who did not receive a complete meal. However, between the quality of the show, the poor quality of the meal, and overall experience, it wasn’t worth the original $ 38 ticket price even with the $ 10 refund.

I took my parents here recently and we had a great time wandering this historic building with the guide. There is a lot of history here and it is really interesting listening to it from someone who lives in the castle. It is a single family residence and although it lacks a certain hunchback to welcome me across the threshold and no there is no lingerie wearing mad scientist making himself a ridiculously attractive Frankenstein, we still found it very nice. I would recommend they focus more on the ghost stories and the oddity of the place. Also might I suggest a sexy cross dressing alien who dabbles in reanimation.

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Pythian Castle for a comedy show. I had never seen the building before, so driving up to the spotlit castle was a pretty impressive sight! Especially since it’s in the middle of an unassuming neighborhood. Inside, it is reasonably well-​kept and quite charming. Parking was convenient and free. The bathrooms were pretty outdated and none of the stall doors locked, but that was a small issue. As a venue, it is smallish and cozy, with tables and a center «theater seating» section. Some patrons opted for dinner, which looked pretty good from the next table over. They had a cash bar which did accept credit cards. The young, cocky emcee was very obnoxious, but the 2 comedians featured were top-​notch and an excellent time was had by all in my party! We felt it was a good value for the price paid and will return in the future, I am sure. The castle has various entertainment options throughout the year (murder mystery dinners seem to be popular there) and historical tours. They also feature «ghost tours» because some claim it is haunted. While I have no interest in the paranormal, it sounds like fun for those who do!