A Victorian House With a Ghost Bar
Housed in an 1879 Victorian home on the corner of Hypolita and Cordova streets, Scarlett O'Hara's was for more than forty years one of St. Augustine's best-known bars and restaurants, themed after Gone with the Wind and famous among locals for its upstairs 'Ghost Bar.' The house was built by George A. Colee for his bride, Virginia Register, and in 1979 it was joined with a neighboring old home to create the restaurant. With its staircases and old rooms, the building gathered stories the way old houses do. Staff and guests have told of alarms and thermostats that reset themselves, furniture that moved overnight and candles that lit on their own, and many credit the activity to Mr. Colee himself, who drowned in an upstairs bathtub in 1911. Other legends tell of a Southern belle in a ball gown who drifts through the dining rooms, a stern colonel keeping watch by the staircase, and a party of old soldiers whose reunion dinner ended in tragedy. In the stories, these spirits never stopped celebrating, and the dining rooms filled with phantom music, rustling skirts and laughter long after closing. Scarlett O'Hara's closed in July 2022, but the house still stands in the historic district, and its stories remain part of a city shaped by [centuries of war, disease, and tragedy](/st-augustine/why-is-st-augustine-haunted/).
From the Colee House to Scarlett O'Hara's
The house that became Scarlett O'Hara's was built in 1879 by George A. Colee, on the corner of Hypolita Street and what was then Tolomato Road, today's Cordova Street, as a home for his bride, Virginia Register. It was built in the years when St. Augustine was growing from a quiet old Spanish town into a winter destination for visitors from the North, and the house's Victorian lines reflect that era. In 1911 Mr. Colee drowned while taking a bath in an upstairs bathtub, according to Flagler College's St. Augustine archive, and his death would become the center of the building's ghost lore. Before 1979, the house and its neighbor at the corner were private homes. That year business partners David Finch and Berry Gaines bought the two former homes and merged them into Scarlett O'Hara's, a restaurant and bar named for and themed after Gone with the Wind. The business was sold in 1998 to John Arbizzani, and in 2014 a Jacksonville company leased the building. For decades Scarlett O'Hara's was a fixture of the historic district, with an upstairs room that regulars called the 'Ghost Bar.' Another story told about the building says a man drowned in a bathtub there in the 1970s, and some believe he, rather than Mr. Colee, is the spirit upstairs. Scarlett O'Hara's closed permanently on July 5, 2022, after its operators lost their lease. A successor, the Scarlett House, later opened at the address and has also closed. Over the years the house has also gathered legends of its own, including tales of a Confederate veteran called Colonel Hampton and the parties of his day, and those stories are told below.
Mr. Colee, Miss Magnolia and the Phantom Reunion
The spirit most often connected with Scarlett O'Hara's is George Colee, the man who built the house and drowned in an upstairs bathtub in 1911. Regulars nicknamed the upstairs the 'Ghost Bar,' and staff and guests have told of alarms and thermostats that seemed to be tampered with overnight, furniture found moved and candles that lit themselves, as reported by News4JAX and recorded in Flagler College's archive. Some say the presence upstairs is Mr. Colee; others say it is a man who, according to another story, drowned in a bathtub in the house in the 1970s. Accounts of activity come from the first floor near the bar as well. One story told about the house speaks of a Colonel Benjamin Hampton, a Confederate veteran said to have made his home here after the Civil War. Guests have described a distinguished gentleman in an old uniform standing near the staircase, nodding at diners with good manners and frowning at those without, accompanied by the scent of tobacco and bourbon, most often at dinnertime. Another legend tells of Miss Magnolia Beauregard, a young woman said to have died of consumption after attending a cotillion at the house. She appears, people say, as a woman in an elaborate ball gown gliding through the dining rooms, with the faint sound of a waltz on an unseen piano and the scent of magnolia blossoms in any season, and she is said to stop by the tables of couples out on a date. The house also has a darker tale: according to legend, a reunion dinner of aging Civil War veterans ended when a gas lamp exploded, killing eight men. Those who tell it say the men are still heard in the evening as low voices, the clink of metal against chairs and sudden shouts echoing through the rooms, especially during large private parties.
Rustling Skirts and Spectral Celebrations
The stories told about Scarlett O'Hara's centered on its staircases and upstairs rooms. Guests described hearing the rustle of long skirts on the steps and glimpsing elegantly dressed figures going up and down, as if on their way to a party that ended long ago. The chandeliers were said to sway gently on still nights, throwing small rainbows across the walls. Staff told of temperature changes from room to room, with some tables suddenly cool and others unusually warm. Electronic equipment had its own reputation: alarm systems and thermostats upstairs seemed to reset themselves, and some visitors said their photos came out with a faded, old-fashioned tint, or that recordings picked up music and soft conversation in rooms that were empty. The old mirrors, according to some guests, showed glimpses of dinner parties and figures in period dress who were not in the room. On Civil War anniversaries, those who tell the tales say the house grew especially lively, with the faint sound of an orchestra, glasses raised in phantom toasts and the old soldiers of the reunion legend gathering once more for dinner. Since the restaurant closed in 2022, the stories are told from the sidewalk, but for many St. Augustine ghost hunters the corner of Hypolita and Cordova still belongs to Mr. Colee.
Visiting the Former Scarlett O'Hara's
Scarlett O'Hara's closed permanently on July 5, 2022, after its operators could not agree on a new lease, and a successor at the address, the Scarlett House, has also closed. The building is not open to visitors. The 1879 house built by George A. Colee still stands at the corner of Hypolita and Cordova streets in the historic district and can be seen from the sidewalk; check current listings before you go in case a new business has opened there. It makes a good stop on a walk through the old town's ghost lore: look up at the second floor, where regulars once gathered in the 'Ghost Bar' and where Mr. Colee is said to linger. To explore more of St. Augustine's haunted bars and restaurants, join our [St. Augustine Haunted Pub Crawl](https://ghostcitytours.com/st-augustine/haunted-pub-crawl/). You'll visit historic drinking establishments throughout America's oldest city while hearing the ghost stories and dark history that make St. Augustine one of America's great haunted cities.
A staircase in the Colee House, built in 1879 by George A. Colee
A dining room in the former Scarlett O'Hara's, which closed in 2022
A private dining room in the former Scarlett O'Hara's
