Mystery Location No. 247: April 4, 2021

This, I believe, is the Rust Mansion, 1001 North I Street, Tacoma, Washington. Built in 1905 by William Ross Rust, the house is huge, with 11,000 square feet of living space, marble fireplaces and mahogany staircases. On April 8, 1911, while Rust and his wife Helen were in Europe, their son, Howard L. Rust, died, possibly of a "ruptured artery of the heart" at a ranch in the eastern part of the state. He would have turned 25 two days later on April 10. There was very little mention of Howard's death in the local papers, or anywhere else, and there were/are rumors that he was homosexual and either committed suicide or was murdered. If he was a homo, this would have been an "embarrassing secret" the family wouldn't have wanted publicized. Helen Rust was too heartbroken to continue living in the house, so the Rusts built another huge mansion a few blocks away at 521 N. Yakima Avenue. Some believe Howard Rust haunts the house.

Ted Bundy, an "infamous individual," once called Tacoma, Washington, home, and the city is known for its putrid rotten egg smell called the Tacoma Aroma.