Haunted

by Linette Natividad


Ralston Hall—one of the most important assets of Notre Dame de Namur University, one of the most elegant mansions along the west coast and also one of the most haunted.

Ralston Hall Mansion belonged to William Chapman Ralston, a businessman and founder of the Bank of California. The mansion took three years to build and parts of the mansion were based off of the Palace of Versailles. The mansion consists of four levels with a ballroom, a dining room, a tearoom, bedrooms, and numerous other rooms.

In 1875, the year that Ralston’s financial empire fell, his body was found in the San Francisco Bay. Some say that he died of a stroke while going for his regular swim. Others say it was suicide. Since then, Ralston Mansion has passed hands numerous times and has been turned into a girls’ finishing school and even a sanitarium before it was converted into the Administration building for NDNU.

Ralston Mansion has been the Administration building for well over 80 years. Although the mansion seems peaceful, its past has been known to come back and haunt people.

Students and staff alike have had their own personal encounters with the paranormal. Ironically, none of them involve ghostly sightings of William Ralston himself. Instead, many have the eerie feeling of being watched. People have also seen the occasional light flick on and off by its own accord. Others have heard eerie sounds, such as the floorboards creaking where no one is walking, doors shutting and opening on their own, and other undecipherable noises.

One of the more popular stories of first-hand encounters come from the Administration staff. In the early days of the mansion, Ralston had a bowling alley built into the mansion. Although the mansion no longer contains a bowling alley, mansion staff claim to have heard the unmistakable sound of a bowling ball being thrown and the sound of the bowling pins crashing to the ground.

“It’s unexplainable,” said Matthew Irvine, an administration employee who heard the noise. “I’m a skeptic myself, but once I heard that loud crash, I didn’t know what to think. I have to admit that was creepy.”

Others refuse to believe that the mansion is haunted. “This is stupid,” said Frankie West, a senior at NDNU. “The mansion isn’t haunted. It’s just a bunch of stories to scare the freshmen. These stories circulate every year, and they get more ridiculous. People need to learn to stop being so gullible. A haunted mansion? Really?”

Whether it’s the eerie chills or the mysterious noises, Ralston Mansion, although beautiful, can be quite frightening. Haunted or not, one thing remains certain—no one has ever dared to go into Ralston Mansion alone at night; not even the skeptics.