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Payne Jailhouse Bed and Breakfast is an owner-run inn at 426 Concourse Avenue in downtown Excelsior Springs, Missouri, opened in 2016 by Mark and Anna Sue Spohn in the fire-damaged former home of Bill Payne, the city’s police chief from the mid-1920s to 1953, who built a jail onto the back of his own house so he could hold prisoners overnight without leaving home. The Spohns bought the vacant property after a 2014 fire, restored the house and its 1945 garage annex with municipal tax relief, and let guests sleep in the cells.

Description

Payne Jailhouse Bed and Breakfast is a four-suite inn in downtown Excelsior Springs, occupying the former home and municipal lockup of Bill Payne, the city’s long-serving police chief. Payne built a jail onto the back of his own house so that shackled prisoners could be held overnight while he stayed in his own residence; the original jail section survives with exposed brick, and guests stay in it.1

The inn is run by Mark and Anna Sue Spohn, who own the property and opened it in 2016.23 It sells four themed suites — Caribbean, Pacific, European, and the Warden’s Suite — and can be booked room by room, as a three-room Guest House block, or as a whole property.14 Breakfast is served in full at weekends and left in the rooms on weekdays.4

The building sits in the downtown historic core of Excelsior Springs, the mineral-springs resort town in Clay County, and the city’s own historic preservation programme documents the house as a landmark in its own right.2

Goods and services

  • Lodging — four themed suites (Caribbean, Pacific, European, Warden’s Suite)14
  • Guest House block booking — three rooms taken together4
  • Whole-property rental4
  • Breakfast — full service at weekends, in-room items on weekdays4

History

The building. The structure at 426 Concourse Avenue began as a one-story square brick building around 1900 and was rebuilt in 1912 as a two-story combination of brick and wood, under a pyramidal roof.2 Bill Payne bought the home in 1940 and added a detached garage in 1945; the inn’s own account says that garage was built to house Payne’s 1945 Plymouth police car, and it is now the Guest House.42 Payne served as chief of police from 1925 to 1953 by the city’s account, and considered the job to include keeping the town clean and acting as an ambassador to visitors; he started the town’s Halloween celebration in the late 1920s to give local youth something to do, and it continues.2 The jail addition on the back of the house was his own construction, built so he could hold prisoners without leaving his residence.1

The property was left vacant after a fire in the summer of 2014.23

The business. The inn is a 2016 business in a building of roughly 1900. Mark and Anna Sue Spohn, a local couple, bought the fire-damaged property after 2014; Mark Spohn spent months gutting and restoring it, and the city supported the work with municipal tax relief.23 They opened as the Payne Jailhouse Bed and Breakfast in 2016, having wanted to own a bed-and-breakfast for twenty years.3 Anna Sue Spohn told the Excelsior Springs Standard the motive was partly civic: “We wanted to move to the downtown area and make a difference in the landscape.”3

In September 2021 the Spohns announced an expansion — converting their own master suite into further guest accommodation and adding a guest common area, with the couple moving off-site to make room.3 Whether that expansion was completed, and what the resulting room count is, is not established here; the four-suite figure comes from the current first-party and city tourism listings.14

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Payne Jailhouse Bed and Breakfast — official site, Our Story — asserts: owners Mark and Anna Sue; the property was formerly a jailhouse and the residence of Police Chief Bill Payne, who built onto the back of his own home in order to have a place to transport shackled prisoners; exposed brick survives in the original jailhouse section; four themed rooms — Caribbean, Pacific, European, Warden’s Suite; Payne served as chief of police (the site gives 1926–1953; see the conflict note below). Site root: paynejailhousebandb.com ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  2. City of Excelsior Springs — Historic Preservation, “Bill Payne Home” (posted 2018-10-01) — asserts: 426 Concourse Avenue was the town’s first jail and the residence of longtime Police Chief Bill Payne; began as a one-story square brick building around 1900 and was rebuilt in 1912 as a two-story brick and wood building with a pyramidal roof; Payne bought the home in 1940 and added a detached garage in 1945; Payne was chief of police from 1925 to 1953; he started the town’s Halloween celebration in the late 1920s; the property was left vacant by a 2014 fire; local couple Mark and Anna Sue Spohn acquired it and, with municipal tax relief, renovated the home and adjacent annex, reopening it as the Payne Jailhouse Bed & Breakfast serving the historic downtown district. Primary independent source for the building history. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  3. Excelsior Springs Standard — “Payne Jailhouse expanding,” by Samantha Zelaya, 2021-09-24 — asserts: the Spohns opened the Payne Jailhouse Bed and Breakfast in 2016; owning a bed-and-breakfast had been a twenty-year ambition; the former home of Chief Bill Payne suffered a fire in the summer of 2014 and Mark and Anna Sue Spohn purchased the property afterward; Mark Spohn spent months gutting and restoring it; 2021 plans to convert their master suite into four more guest rooms plus a guest common area, with the couple relocating off-site; quotes from Anna Sue Spohn on wanting to move downtown and make a difference in the landscape, and on guests wanting a more intimate stay than a hotel. Primary independent press source. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  4. Visit Excelsior Springs (city tourism) — Payne Jailhouse Bed and Breakfast listing — asserts: owners Mark and Anna Sue Spohn; address 426 Concourse Ave., Excelsior Springs, MO 64024; phone 816-582-6798; four separate suites, three of them in the Guest House; nightly, Guest House (3 rooms) or whole-property rental; full-service breakfast at weekends and breakfast items in rooms on weekdays; the Guest House was originally built in 1945 to house Chief Payne’s 1945 Plymouth police car; published rates from $89 weekday and $129 weekend, business-traveller rate from $79 without breakfast. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

Categories

On the record — ks.city/registry/payne-jailhouse-bed-and-breakfast · record updated 2026-08-14