The Whitney restaurant featured on ‘Ghost Hunters’

Those with knowledge of Detroit’s historic buildings have likely heard tales of the Whitney mansion being haunted. The 122-year-old house-turned-restaurant even named its third floor bar the Ghostbar to play into those rumors.

Last year the paranormal reality show “Ghost Hunters” spent four days filming at the Midtown mansion. The results of that footage will be part of an episode titled “Phantom for the First Course,” airing Aug. 17 at 9 p.m. on the Syfy network, according to the restaurant.

“It was great having the people from Syfy at the Whitney last year,” says David Duey, director of operations at the restaurant. “Working with the Ghost Hunters was easy and they made the entire process seamless. They were very respectful of the history and majesty of the mansion.”

“The hard part is not knowing exactly what they found, and not being able to share the few things that we do know,” says Duey, who adds that he and the restaurant staff are excited to watch the show and see what the paranormal hunters discovered.

This is the third episode in the 11th and final (at least on this network) season of “Ghost Hunters,” which is one of the most popular programs on the Syfy network.

A description of the episode on Syfy’s website says the team suspects “deceased family members could be haunting its halls, stirred to life by renovations and construction around the property.” (Perhaps the M1 Rail construction on Woodward is enough to wake the dead.)

The Whitney mansion was built by lumber baron David Whitney Jr. According to the restaurant, it was later gifted to the Wayne County Medical Society, and in the 1950s was purchased by the Visiting Nurse Association. Entrepreneur Richard Kughn bought it in 1986 and had it restored and re-purposed into a restaurant. Today its owned by former Chrysler executive Bud Liebler.

mbaetens@detroitnews.com

(313) 222-2402

Twitter: @melodybaetens