Tag Archives: house

Leland Stanford Mansion

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About the Leland Stanford Mansion

The house known as the Leland Stanford Mansion began as the home of Shelton C. Fogus, a prominent area businessman. Started as a more modest two story house, the mansion was enlarged (and even raised) by its most famous owner Leland Stanford, Sr. It served as the Executive Mansion for the state of California during Leland’s single one year term and for his successor, Frederic Low. In 1871 the Stanford’s began another ambitious expansion project which brought the mansion to its current size.

In 1900 Jane Stanford, widow of Leland Stanford, bequeathed the residence to the Catholic Church of Sacramento to be used as an orphanage. The Stanford and Lathrop Home for Friendless Children was run by the Sisters of Mercy. In the ensuing years the house served many functions. A fire destroyed portions of the 4th floor in the 1940s. In the 1950s the facility was overseen by the Sisters of Social Service. The home was made a State Landmark in 1957 and bought by the state through imminent domain in 1978. The sisters remained on the property until 1987. A major effort to renovate the mansion was begun in the early 90s which has brought the mansion to its current use as a State Park, and as California’s Governor’s protocol receiving building.

Ghost Stories

There is are no current reports of haunting, but it is said that Governor Stanford’s son’s ghost appeared and encourage him to built Stanford University

The lady at the front desk relayed this story to us about the haunting of the Stanford Mansion:

The Stanfords had tried unsuccessfully for 18 years to have a child, then at the age of 39 Mrs. Jane Stanford conceived later gave birth to Leland Stanford, Jr. She and her husband centered their lives around their son. When Leland Jr. was 15 the family went to tour Europe as a celebration before the younger Stanford would move back east to attend college. While in Europe, Leland Jr. contracted Typhoid Fever and died.

Devastated by the loss of their only child, the Stanfords had cried until they could cry no more, and in the sleep that exhaustion brings, Leland Stanford, Sr. believed that he saw his son appear to him. His son told him to give all that he wanted to give to his son to all the children of California instead. Inspired by this, Leland Sr. visited the great colleges of the East Coast, Yale and Harvard, and then founded a university on land in Palo Alto that the younger Leland Stanford had enjoyed as a youth. He named it after his son, and Stanford University was born.

Jane Stanford tried for many years to contact her son through the use of mediums.

The story is interesting and tragic, but we have to give this place only two spiders because the mansion has only one report of any ghostly occurrence.

Our Review

The gift shop and visitors center was nice. They have a video on the history of the building, and a model that helps demonstrate the different phases of the mansions growth.

There is, unfortunately, no photography allowed within the mansion, but pictures of the interior can be purchased in the gift shop on postcards and in books on the history of the mansion (at gift shop prices, of course), which is why our photographs are limited to the exterior. The mansion is beautiful, however, and it is unfortunate that you have to take our word for it or find other photographs online.

Our guided tour was just the three of us. Our guide, Janine, was close to our own age and put up with our joking and was able to joke with us. At the end of the tour she told us that we were the most fun group of her day.

The building still serves official functions for the State of California, and is therefore sometimes not able to be toured.

Official Website for the Leland Stanford Mansion

Old Governor’s Mansion

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About the Old Governor’s Mansion

The house that would become the Executive Mansion of the state of California was built in 1877 for Albert Gallatin. It was purchased by California in 1903 for $32,500, and served as the Governor of California’s residence until Ronald Reagan became the 33rd Governor in 1967. The exterior of the building was being renovated at the time of our visit.

Ghost Stories

Our tour guide, Joe, had worked in the mansion 20 years had experienced some strange phenomena on the staircase between the dining room and the kitchen. He has been alone in the house and heard footsteps on that staircase.

According to the tour guide, Earl Warren Jr, son of California’s 30th Governor, Justice of the Supreme Court, and head of the (in)famous Warren Commission had heard these footsteps during his stay in house during his father’s term. Earl Junior’s bedroom was near the stairs.

Another second hand account from this tour guide was of a female guide who had gone to the second floor to put up the red cords to keep visitors out of certain rooms. She went around the mansion from right to left putting up the cords, but when she turned around from the blue room, the last on her circuit, all of the other cords were undone. She redid them and then something grabbed her rear end. She quit.

Our Review

The tour itself was more about the people who lived in the mansion than anything else. While the tour guide tried to make it interesting for the kids and adults by asking how people would view the place if they were going to buy the place, or be invited to live there with the governor and his family. I found that his asking for people’s names, cities, ages, and political affiliations a bit too personal. We could only tour the first two floors, so there really wasn’t much area to cover. Perhaps asking people questions and initiating the idea of role-playing imagining yourself invited to live there was his way of getting the crowd involved in a what would otherwise be a very short tour.

Pittock Mansion

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About The Pittock Mansion

The Pittock Mansion was built as the private residence of Henry Pittock, and early resident of Portland and owner of The Oregonian newspaper, and his wife Georgiana. The 20 rooms mansion is located in the hills overlooking Portland. Although Henry Pittock only occupied the house for a few years, the decedants of the Pittock family remained in the house until 1958. Because the building was extensively damaged in a 1962 storm, the family considered demolishing the building. Local residents raised over $75,000 dollars to help buy the property. In 1964 the city of Portland, recogizing the significance of the landmark, purchased the estate for $225,000. After eighteen months of restoration, the mansion and grounds were opened to the public.

Ghost Stories

There are only a few reports we came across mentioning the house as being haunted by the ghosts of Henry and Georgiana Pittock. They are both said to have been seen by guests and employees alike, although we did not get any confirmation of this from the employees that we interviewed.

Our Review

A beautiful example of the many mansions and estates formerly owned by a prominent member of the local communities past. The building was gorgeous, and we definately recomend that anyone visiting Portland take some time to check out this local treasure.

Thompson Roadhouse

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About The Thompson Roadhouse

The Thompson Brewpub and Public House is another establishment in the vast McMenamins empire of old historic buildings in Oregon. the building was built in 1905 by former cival war soldier Franklin Thomspon. The building operated as numerous businesses including a German restaurant, a real estate office, and a day care before it was purchased by the McMenamins and refurbished.

Ghost Stories

The building is said to be haunted by the ghost of Franklin Thompson. We interviewed the employees that were working at the time, but they had no personal stories. John the bartender, who had worked there for years at the time of our visit, has been told that strange things happen in the room at the top of the stairs, but he had no specific examples of what those strange things were.

Our Review

By this point on our trip we were getting a little tired of eating at McMenamins pubs. Not that their food is not very good, but that it gets bit tiring. The food was good, and the staff was very friendly. It was mostly empty when we visited with only two people working the front including the bartender. There were two people at the bar and when we came in we were the only people sitting at a table.

Stokes Adobe Restaurant and Bar

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About Stokes Restaurant and Bar

Originaly built as a single room adobe in 1833 by Benjamin Day, the adobe was purchased in 1837 by James Stokes, a druggist, doctor, and former sailor. He marries Josefa Soto de Cano, a widow with four children, in 1840. They soon have two children of their own, and need for more room. James expands the adobe into a seven room two story house with a wing for the kitchen and storage rooms. A wall and several shacks surround the building. One of these shacks held the printing press for California’s first newspaper. Stokes serves for a time as mayor of Monterey.

The property is sold in 1856 to Honore Escolle. Escolle installs a large oven used for his bakery business and uses it as a kiln. He uses it to bake bread and make pottery. The property goes through several owners until Mortimer Gragg purchases the home in 1890. He lives in the home with his wife Harriet, who is known as Hattie. The property has a bustling social scene until Hattie’s death in 1948.

In 1950 it is converted into the Gallatin Restaurant by Mr. and Mrs. Gallatin Powers. It closes in 1980. Through the mid 80s to the mid nineties several restaurants occupy the space until 1996 when it is opened as Stokes Adobe Restaurant by Kirk and Dorothy Probasco with Brandon Miller as the restaurants chef. After an extensive remodeling, the restaurant is renamed Stokes Restaurant and Bar.

Ghost Stories:

The history of ghostly encounters goes back to the building’s time as Gallatin’s Restaurant when the first reports of the figure of a man in 1800s style clothing and an apparition of a beautiful woman are seen by the employees. It is believed they are the ghosts of James Stokes and his wife Josefa. It is also believed that the ghost of Hattie Gragg also haunts the building.

According to the employees we talked to there are several manifestations on the property. In the main room if you stand in front of what used to be the front door to the building, you will sometimes get tapped on the shoulder. People sitting in chairs on the left side of the main room will sometimes complain that someone keeps moving their chairs. In the booth to the right cold spots can be felt sometimes. On the staircase to the upstairs parts of the building a ghost in period costume can be seen. The mirrors in the upstairs room that used to be the main bedroom are original and sometimes get nudged to the side. People will also experience a disembodied female voice that will call you name when no one else it around.

Our waiter reported a few personal experiences that he has had on the property. He has been tapped on the shoulder, and heard his name. One night, after closing, he heard a woman’s voice say “Excuse me, cna you help me?” He went to the front of the restaurant, but there was no one there. He and a female coworker heard the voice a seocnd time, this time she went, but also did not see anyone. The heard the voice a third time and they both went to check it out, and again there was no one there.

Our Review:

He Says:

The food was decent, and the waiter was excellent. We did not have a lot of time to explore the building as we were late for the Halloween Party at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but it was a nice restaurant that I would definitely go to again if I was in the Monterey area. Especially because I would like more of a chance to look around.

She Says:

The food was fine but our Waiter was Great! I, for a change, agree with my husband completely!

Bella Saratoga

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About Bella Saratoga

Bella Saratoga is a restaurant in Saratoga California. Converted from a private residence long before its current incarnation. It was the former site of the restaurant Bella Mia (which is now located in downtown San Jose), and before that it was the location of the Saratoga News. There were reports of ghostly activity in the building as far back as its use a news office.

Ghost Stories

The ghost of a woman is said to haunt Bella Saratoga. Most of the supernatural activity happens on the second floor. The woman’s bathroom and second floor office in particular are sites of activity. Doors open and close on their own and an eerie or uneasy presence has been felt.

Our Review

We have been to Bella Saratoga three times in the past year. The morning after the evening of our first visit on Friday the 13th of January, I came down with a case of Transient Global Amnesia. As a result, my recollection of the experience is a cloudy. Luckily I was there with two other people. Our meals have always been very good here, and the service has been excellent. It is not the fanciest or most prestigious restaurant in the area (Saratoga’s little restaurant row), but it is a good meal and on most days you can walk in without needing a reservation.

Winchester Mystery House

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Sarah Winchester was the wife of William Wirt Winchester (3rd president of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. They married in 1862 and a few years later had a baby daughter that they named Anne Pardee. Unfortunately their daughter died only a few days later. They never had another child. Sarah’s tragedy did not end there. Her husband died young in 1881 and inherited a vast fortune and shares of the Winchester company. She sought the advice of a medium who told her that the ghost of her late husband wanted her to know that there was a curse on their family that was responsible for his death and the death of their daughter. The medium told her that in order to appease the spirits of those killed by the Winchester rifle, she sell her home in New Haven, Connecticut, move west, and buy a house that Sarah would have to continually build. Sarah moved to Santa Clara Valley in California (in present day San Jose) and bought an unfinished six room farmhouse and the 162 acre property on which it rested. For the next 38 years she had workers constructing and reconstructing 24 hours a day 365 days a year. When she died and the construction ceased, the house had a grand total of 160 rooms. The house is constructed oddly, with rooms that have no entrances or exits, stairs that lead to the ceiling, windows in the floor, and doors that lead to a one floor drop. The house was state of the art for the time, with many water saving innovations.

Ghost Stories

it is said that Mrs. Winchester held seances in the special “seance room” in her home to consult with the spirits over the design of the home. She either built the odd home as a way to appease the spirits or to confuse them. She was obviously worried about the spirits, she never slept in the same room for two nights in a row. The home was built as a way for Mrs. Winchester to appease the ghosts of people who were killed by Winchester Rifles.

A few groups on tours have been said to have seen ghosts roaming the halls. Footsteps and other noises have also been heard.

There is a story of a tour guide that saw Mrs. Winchester reach out towards her.

The tour only shows you a very small portion of the third floor. It is said that is because the third floor is the most haunted. There is supposedly (and we got this from a tour guide as well as other sources) a room on the third floor with a rocking chair in it that will rock without any one touching it.

There is an odd story from the days when Mrs. Winchester was alive about how she would go down into the wine cellar every night to pick out a bottle of wine, until the night she saw a black hand print on the wall of the wine cellar and had it sealed up. It is said that when it was sealed up there was a vagrant or an employee sleeping in there, and he died. He now wanders the basement searching for the sealed up wine cellar.

Our Review

If you are ever in San Jose and can only do one thing:
Go to the Winchester! It is my Dream Home. If it were possible, I would live here. Spiderweb themes, the number 13 is incorporated throughout the home. However, I am biased towards most anything spooky.

On a more objective note: The story of the house is wonderfully entertaining. Finding out the -reasons- behind why certain things are made the way they were and what her motivations were. At one point in the tour, you see a picture of the home as it stood before 1906 earthquake. It is a reminder of the true age and mutability of the place. It is truly spectacular.

Our Winchester Mystery House Gallery

Olivas Adobe

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About Olivas Adobe

Don Raymundo Olivas was granted 4,670 acres by the Mexican governor of California in 1847. Don Raymundo Olivas named his ranch Rancho San Miguel and built a house on the property for his large family. This house was later expanded to be two stories, and is the structure seen today. Don Raymundo raised cattle on the land and profited greatly from the gold rush. Don Raymundo died in 1879 and his land was parceled off to his heirs. The house was sold outside the family in 1899 but some portion of the Rancho remained in family hands until 1968. The adobe was purchased and restored by Max Fleischman in 1927 and gifted to the city of Ventura upon his death and opened as a museum in 1972.

Ghost Stories

The most famous supernatural inhabitant of the Olivas Adobe is the Woman in Black. She has been seen wandering the grounds and passing from room to room at all times of day by numerous people. The most common theory as to her identity is that of Teodora Olivas, Don Raymundo’s wife.

A man’s face has been seen looking in to a second story bedroom window. The window is to the room known as the “children’s room.” The face is said to resemble that of Nicolas Olivas, Don Raymundo’s eldest son. The Lady in Black has been seen looking out of the window onto the courtyard below.

Our Review

Unfortunately the Adobe was closed when we stopped by to visit, so we were unable to conduct a thorough investigation and review of the site.

Landmark No. 78

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About Landmark No. 78

The building that now houses the restaurant Landmark No. 78 was built between 1912 and 1914 by Carlo Hahn on land given to him by his brother-in-law, Giovanni Ferro. Ferro lived next door in the Schiappapietra Mansion. The Hahn house was built to compliment the mansion, and was therefore built in the same architectural style as its more impressive neighbor despite that style, Italianate, being 30 years out of date. The Schiappapietra Mansion was demolished in the 1950s, but the Hahn house remained in use as a private residence until 1971 when it was sold and converted into a restaurant. It was during its conversion that the front porch was enclosed and the addition on the eastern side of the building was constructed. The building is named after the landmark number assigned to it by the city of Ventura.

Ghost Stories

Landmark No. 78 is said to be haunted by the ghost of Rosa, the ghost of an Italian who immigrated to Ventura in the late 1800s with her family. It is said that she was forced into marriage by her father to a man whom she did not love nor loved her. In an attempt to find some happiness in her life, she had an affair. When she became pregnant as a result of this affair, she hanged herself in desperation. It is unclear where she was hanged, but it could not have been in the Carlo Hahn house as it was not yet built. People claim to have seen her staring longingly out of the round window on the second floor, walking down the staircase in a long elegant dress, in the banquet room, and the woman’s restroom.

Our Review

Casa de Estudillo

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About La Casa de Estudillo

The Casa de Estudillo was completed in 1829 by commander of the Presidio of San Diego, Captain Jose Maria de Estudillo. He only lived in the house for a year before he died, and the house passed on to his son, Jose Antonio Estudillo. He served in many positions under Mexican and then Spanish rule. His family lived there until 1887. It was restored in 1910 and donated to the state. The house is currently operated as a museum.

Ghost Stories

Employees have reported seeing faces appear in mirrors when there was no one else in the room. There are reports of shadow apparitions, cold spots, and flashing red lights in some of the rooms, and the apparition of a monk has been seen near the room which served as a chapel. The ghosts of La Casa de Estudillo have also played music with no discernible source.

Our Review

He Says: A fairly well done museum of its type. Seems to have a lot more going on and more accessibility than the similar Olivas Adobe in Ventura, Ca. We were unable to interview any of the employees of the museum on our visit as their was a school group touring the house while we were there. Although, there are a fair amount of mirrors in the house as well as numerous pianos (although I do not know if they are functional) which could account for the stories of the ghosts playing music.