Post by Joanna on Mar 30, 2015 1:15:19 GMT -5
The Haunted House Restaurant to Be Auctioned April 16
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Tucked inside the register, Marian Thibault keeps a handwritten list of the famous people who have dined at The Haunted House restaurant over the 51 years she has run the place. “Bob Hope, Liberace, ‘Hoss’ from Bonanza, Sarah Ferguson, Lauren Bacall,” Thibault reads in a German-accented deadpan from the list, scribbled in faded ballpoint pen. “And the Bee Gees, whoever they are. ... Foreigner, I guess that’s a rock and roll band or something.”
At 89-years-old, Thibault’s health is failing, and she’s ready to leave her perch not far from the bar, but she would like to see the restaurant continue to serve customers. Thibault hopes to sell The Haunted House to a new proprietor at auction April 16, 2015, at Dakil Auctioneers Inc., 200 N.W. 114th Street. “I hope to sell it to someone who loves the restaurant business,” Thibault said. “This place has been my life for more than 50 years.”
Thibault and her late husband, Arthur Thibault, opened The Haunted House restaurant in 1964, which then sat not far off the old Route 66 highway. There were no credit cards when the restaurant debuted and for decades, the Thibaults mailed bills to many patrons. “It was a restaurant that really catered to the legislators at the Capitol,” said Thibault’s son, Pete Holcomb. “It was all charge accounts and they would just send out statements to people every month.”
Pete and his sister, Karen Holcomb, began working in the back of the restaurant when they were still children and still help their mother run the place. “I remember all of the people who would come and it was like they were visiting our house,” Karen related. “It was a fun place, and work should be fun.”
The Thibaults almost never advertised the restaurant, relying mostly on word of mouth and repeat customers for their business, Pete added. “It’s one of the best unknown landmarks in Oklahoma City – if you ask 10 people, most have never heard of it.”
The Haunted House, which specializes in steak, sits at the end of a narrow road on 2.45-acres of wooded land at 7101 Miramar, near N.E. 63rd Street and N. Eastern. Tacked to a tree on a sharp curve in the road, a piece of metal no bigger than an envelope is the only directional signage.
The gabled, flagstone restaurant, built in 1935 by automobile dealer Martin Carriker, featured flashy amenities for its time that included a wet bar in the basement, gas fireplace and three-car garage. On June 1, 1963, 74-year-old Carriker was shot in the head, allegedly by his stepdaughter and two handymen. Before his stepdaughter was tried for the murder, her mother died and then she, after her acquittal, died of an apparent drug overdose in January 1964.
The restaurant has always celebrated its spooky atmosphere. A stack of pamphlets at the register tells the story of the Carriker deaths. And yet Thibault does not believe in ghosts. “If there are spirits here, they are happy because there’s a big bar,” Thibault said.
Source: Brianna Bailey, NewsOK, March 28, 2015.