Ralston Hall

Ralston Hall Mansion located in Belmont, California, was the country house of William Chapman Ralston, a San Francisco businessman, founder of the Bank of California, and financier of the Comstock Lode. It is an opulent Italian villa, modified with touches of Steamboat Gothic and Victorian details. It is a California Registered Landmark and is designated a National Historic Landmark. It is now part of Notre Dame de Namur University. Ralston Hall ... more

Ralston Hall Mansion located in Belmont, California, was the country house of William Chapman Ralston, a San Francisco businessman, founder of the Bank of California, and financier of the Comstock Lode. It is an opulent Italian villa, modified with touches of Steamboat Gothic and Victorian details. It is a California Registered Landmark and is designated a National Historic Landmark. It is now part of Notre Dame de Namur University. Ralston Hall Mansion is situated on the campus of Notre Dame de Namur University, on the San Francisco Peninsula. The mansion has been built around the villa of Count Leonetto Cipriani, former owner of the Estate. It took three years to build and was completed in 1867, when San Francisco's leaders and first citizens had large summer homes on the Peninsula and was an integral part of San Francisco high society. Architect John Painter Gaynor, who later worked with Ralston on the Palace Hotel in San Francisco is thought to have worked on it. Several of the... less