“Rising above the hills of Burlingame, the 100 year old Kohl Mansion has stood for more than a century as one of the Peninsula’s most captivating and storied estates. Built during California’s Gilded Age, the mansion is known not only for its architectural grandeur, but also for the air of mystery that has lingered within its walls since its earliest days.

The mansion was commissioned by Charles Frederick “Freddie” Kohl (1863–1921), heir to the fortune of Captain William Kohl, co-founder of the Alaska Commercial Company. Raised amid great wealth and refinement, Freddie moved easily within San Francisco’s most elite social circles. After marrying the accomplished singer Mary Elizabeth “Bessie” Godey in 1904 and traveling extensively throughout Europe, the couple envisioned a home inspired by the great English estates they admired abroad.

Between 1912 and 1914, they constructed their Burlingame residence, naming it “The Oaks.” Designed by prominent local architects Howard & White, the red-brick Tudor Revival mansion was modeled after Somerset House in England. Set on more than forty acres of oak-studded grounds, the estate originally featured formal gardens, greenhouses, tennis courts, a carriage house, and a private reservoir. With more than sixty rooms, every detail of the home reflected craftsmanship, elegance, and careful symbolism.

At the heart of the mansion lies the extraordinary Great Hall, created specifically for Bessie Kohl’s musical performances. With forty-foot ceilings, dark oak paneling, towering mullioned windows, and a monumental Belgian marble fireplace, the hall housed both a pipe organ and a concealed echo organ, allowing music to fill the space in haunting, layered tones. Lavish gatherings and musical evenings made the mansion a centerpiece of Peninsula high society.

Yet the beauty of the estate was shadowed by tragedy. In 1911, a former employee named Adele Verge, whose behavior had grown increasingly erratic and hostile, became obsessively fixated on Freddie Kohl after her dismissal. Following a highly publicized court case she lost, Adele confronted Freddie outside a San Francisco courthouse and shot him at close range. Though he survived, the bullet remained lodged dangerously close to his heart for the rest of his life, leaving him in chronic pain and mounting psychological distress.

Those close to Freddie later described a man deeply affected by fear, paranoia, and the belief that Adele would return to finish what she had started. While the Kohl Mansion continued to stand in silent grandeur, Freddie’s health and peace of mind steadily deteriorated. After his death in 1921, rumors began to circulate that his presence never truly left the estate he had built.

In 1924, the mansion was purchased by the Sisters of Mercy, who used it as their motherhouse before opening Mercy High School within its walls in 1931. Almost immediately, novice nuns began reporting unexplained occurrences: lights flickering on and off, footsteps echoing through empty corridors, doors and elevators moving on their own, and mysterious white powder appearing in places impossible to reach. Though some dismissed the events as imagination or coincidence, the stories persisted.

In the late 1920s, under strict secrecy, the Sisters arranged for the entire estate to be blessed, hoping to quiet the disturbances. While daily life resumed, the legend endured. Over the decades, students, staff, musicians, and visitors have continued to report strange sensations and encounters, often centered around the mansion’s upper floors and billiard room.

Despite its mysteries, the Kohl Mansion has long remained a place of celebration. It has served as a filming location for Little Lord Fauntleroy and Flubber, hosted chamber music concerts since the 1980s, and welcomed generations of students and guests. Designated a State Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is one of the last surviving Tudor-style mansions on the Peninsula.

Today, the Kohl Mansion stands as a rare convergence of beauty, history, and legend, a place where grandeur and quiet intrigue coexist. Whether admired for its architecture, its music-filled halls, or the stories whispered after dusk, the mansion continues to captivate all who pass through its doors.”