How local entrepreneur Jeff Borne transformed a 150-year-old building into one of New Orleans’ signature haunted attractions while preserving its historic integrity.
Every year when a crisp, cool scent begins wafting through the humid, late summer air, The Mortuary Haunted Mansion – which lurks at the edge of a vast metropolis of the dead – arises from its lifeless slumber, ready and waiting to terrify and delight. Created by innovator Jeff Borne, the macabre attraction has lured legions of thrill-seekers for nearly 20 years to the imposing Victorian house located at the cemetery end of Canal Street, a bold investment for a seasonal attraction that paid off.
“I didn’t know what I was getting into in the beginning. I had immediately fallen in love with this building and wanted to create something special with it,” says Borne.
The Mortuary began its life in 1872 as a private residence for Mary Slattery, built in the American four-square style Victorian that was popular during that era. Over the next several decades, Mary and her husband John raised six children, one of whom became a stone cutter and sexton servicing the graveyard next door.
Significant changes to the building didn’t occur until PJ McMahon & Sons gained ownership in 1923. The undertaking company renovated with the intent of creating a luxe funeral home, replete with a huge porch and Corinthian columns, a large port cochere, private accommodations and on-site cooks for mourning families, a gentleman’s smoking lounge, and multiple, well-appointed parlors, and viewing rooms. The funeral home was also the first in the area to offer a motorized hearse to ferry the recently deceased to their eternal resting place.
For over sixty years the funeral home remained operational, changing hands to the Alderwoods in 1996, but as time passed amenities were reduced, business slowed and the property fell into disrepair. Several years later, the Neil Corporation purchased the structure and had proceeded to gut it to create an elaborate day spa for its Aveda division, but after Hurricane Katrina they quickly put it back on the market.
For several years the former funeral home stood vacant, playing host to wild animals and vagrants until it caught the eye of Jeff Borne, President and CEO of PSX Inc. “specializing in the design and building of complex multimedia systems for immersive environments.”
“I knew I wanted to do something bigger. We were already doing a lot of work for theme parks, but I wanted to try and create something for myself, so I started looking at properties and came across the PJ McMahon & Sons Funeral Home,” explained Borne. “By summer of 2007 I wound up owning it.”
In about three months, Borne was able to make enough repairs and – with proper safety permits from the city and fire department – had The Mortuary up and running just in time for the upcoming Halloween season. “It did well for what it was in the few weeks we had to throw it together, but it was very much in its infancy.”
With the help of Peter Waring and Emily Flagler from the now defunct firm Waring Architects, LLC, The Mortuary underwent a three-year renovation, resurrecting the PJ McMahon & Sons funeral home inside and out. The building was mostly a “blank slate,” though certain interior features like millwork and stairs remained. An old mural was found on the back wall dating to the 1940s depicting the funeral parlor “back in the day” with Model-T cars, but unfortunately it couldn’t be saved. “We tried to preserve it but the paint just disintegrated,” says Borne.
As with any preservation project applying for historic tax credits with the Historic District Landmarks Commission (HDLC), the renovation was not without its challenges. Bringing everything up to code for the planned event venue while trying to meet conflicting requirements from various agencies was a juggling act.
“A good architect is able to understand the problems of a project and find alternative solutions,” says Flagler, now the founder of her own Uptown architectural firm. “In order to get an appeal granted you have to come up with something new that isn’t required, but offers an additional level of safety.” In one instance, an appeal to the fire marshall benefitted from air and temperature fluctuations taken by the Paranormal Society who were investigating reputed hauntings at the former funeral home.
Other difficulties included a colony of bees that were boring holes in the plaster columns and a problematic winder stair that couldn’t be removed for historic reasons, but didn’t meet today’s safety codes. Though other obstacles paled in comparison to the initial response from the neighborhood. “[The zoning ordinance] was heavily contested because it was misunderstood,” explains Flagler. “It was mainly about parking.”
Many of the neighbors believed Borne planned to open a nightclub and several residents fought the project “tooth and nail,” even creating a website to garner support for their cause. “Jeff wanted to be a good neighbor,” explained Flagler. “But sometimes people have the expectation that you’re not playing by the rules.”
With perseverance, and Borne’s continuous efforts to maintain a clean and safe environment around both the property and the neighborhood, the community has softened their stance against the venue. “Over the past 15 years everybody in the neighborhood has become very supportive once they realized the rumors were nonsense,” says Borne. “In fact, the neighborhood is never safer at any other time of the year.”
Every season while The Mortuary is in operation, police officers from the sheriff’s office and New Orleans Police Department are stationed at the facility and regularly cruise the neighborhood. Borne has even hired pick-up crews to keep litter around the property and neighborhood to a minimum. “We’ve been told that by countless neighbors who really appreciate all of the efforts we’ve made to make it a great, safe event.”
*Article originally published in the 2026 Halloween Issue of Where Y’at Magazine
**For the 2026 season, The Mortuary Haunted Mansion presents “Through the Looking Glass,” exploring the fact that “nursery rhymes aren’t just bedtime stories, but warnings, rooted in something much darker than what is typically seen on the surface.” Borne also recently announced the opening of The Sawmill Haunted House in Covington where “you don’t have to go to Texas for a chainsaw massacre!” Visit themortuary.net or thesaw.net for tickets and more information.
