What Are the Top Haunted Houses in San Francisco?

October is here, and with it my favorite time of year: pumpkins, pan de muerto, and stories told in hushed voices. 🎃This time I wanted to do something different and fun: three historic San Francisco homes with real stories… and others that people swear are real. I'll separate what's documented from what's legend, because here we keep it honest — even with ghosts. 👻1. Queen Anne Hotel — 1590 Sutter StreetThe headmistress who still tucks you in.This grand Victorian was built in 1890 as Miss Mary Lake's School for Girls, and it survived the 1906 earthquake nearly untouched. Today it's a boutique hotel, and guests in Suite 410 — her former office — report the strangest wake-ups: suitcases unpacked, clothes hung up, objects back in their place… and blankets tucked snugly around them in the middle of the night. Cold spots, faint piano music, footsteps in empty hallways. The legend says Miss Mary Lake never left — less horror movie, more hospitality. The rare ghost your real estate agent would call "the original housekeeper." 😄2. Atherton Mansion — 1990 California StreetThe ghost who came home in a rum barrel.Widow Dominga de Goñi Atherton had this mansion built in 1881. In 1887, her son George sailed for Chile to make his fortune — but died of kidney failure mid-voyage. With no way to bring the body home intact, the ship's captain preserved it in a barrel of rum and shipped it to the mansion. The voyage, the death, and the barrel are all documented — that part really happened. The legend begins after: knocking on bedroom doors at night, voices, and cold spots that chased off owner after owner. A haunted house with a happy-hour origin story. 🍹3. Whittier Mansion — 2090 Jackson StreetThe life of the party is still in the wine cellar.Four floors, 30 rooms of red Arizona sandstone, built between 1894 and 1896 — and yes, it also survived the 1906 earthquake. The stories center on the old wine cellar: a shadowy figure gliding through the dark, sudden ice-cold presences, and the feeling of not being alone down there. The prime suspect? Billy Whittier, the family's bon-vivant son, who loved wine, women, and song. Former tour guides joke he's still down there searching for a bottle of claret. No violence in this lore — just a party boy who never wanted the fun to end. 🍷Want more stories like these? 🎬Follow along on my Instagram @northcalagent this October — historic Bay Area homes, local stories, and the legends people swear are true. Tell me which of these three gave you chills.What about here in the East Bay?San Francisco doesn't have a monopoly on architecture with history. Alameda is full of gorgeous Victorians, and Contra Costa has its own hidden historic gems. Living in a home with history has its charm… as long as the ghost is as sweet as Miss Mary Lake. 😄Your turn: would you walk into one of these houses after midnight? Tell me in the comments which one you'd dare to visit — I read every answer. 👻With love,Domi 💛P.S. If you're thinking about buying or selling in Alameda or Contra Costa County — house with or without a ghost — you know where to find me.