A 1915 Berkeley Hills resort built on the ruins of an 1901 estate fire — Room 422 is tied to a child ghost, and a Victorian-dressed woman believed to be Mrs. Thornburg walks the fourth floor.
41 Tunnel Road, Berkeley, CA 94705
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Ghost tours $40 per ticket (offered Fridays and Saturdays in October). Hotel room rates vary. See Tock for tour booking.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Hotel grounds with paved paths; some hillside areas
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1915 · Historic Hotel of America designation · Built on site of Thornburg estate destroyed in 1901 fire · Bay Area resort operating since 1915 · Fairmont Hotels property
The land beneath the Claremont Hotel has been occupied by the same pattern of ambition, loss, and reconstruction since the mid-19th century. William B. Thornburg, a Kansas native who built wealth during the California Gold Rush, purchased roughly 13,000 acres of Berkeley Hills land and constructed an English-inspired manor that dominated the local skyline. When his daughter married and moved to Europe, Thornburg sold the property to John Ballard, whose family kept the estate for years before a wildfire swept the area in 1901, consuming both the main building and the surrounding structures. Only the horse stables survived.
A consortium of investors — John Hopkins Springs, Francis 'Borax' Smith, and Frank C. Havens — purchased the ruins in 1905 and formed the Claremont Hotel Company. Construction on the current building took a decade. The Claremont Hotel opened to the public in 1915 as a destination resort for the Bay Area's upper class, with tennis courts, grounds, and the kind of architectural ambition the site's previous owners had attempted.
The hotel changed hands repeatedly through the 20th century and operates today as a Fairmont property. It was designated a Historic Hotel of America. The building sits on the Oakland-Berkeley boundary — an unusual feature that became relevant in October 1991, when the Oakland firestorm threatened the hotel from the same hillside direction as the 1901 blaze.
Sources
The Claremont's ghost roster has three distinct figures, each connected to a different phase of the property's history. The oldest is Mrs. Thornburg — the wife of the Gold Rush-era settler whose manor burned in 1901. She reportedly died of grief after her daughter eloped to Europe, and staff have reported seeing a woman in Victorian dress, high-necked collar, moving through the hotel's fourth-floor corridors before disappearing. The description has been consistent enough across multiple years that the hotel's own loyalty concierge now discusses it on the official haunted history tours.
Room 422 is the hotel's designated most-haunted room, associated with a six-year-old girl who reportedly died at the original estate. Unexplained crying sounds in the fourth-floor rooms have been reported by staff and guests since the early years of the hotel's operation. The hotel's ghost tour grants access to Room 422 as part of its behind-the-scenes itinerary.
A third account involves a young woman who drowned in a bathtub after her fiancé abandoned her. This story is less frequently documented than the Victorian woman or child ghost, but appeared in the SF Standard's 2023 coverage of the hotel's official ghost tours. NBA players Tim Duncan and Jeff Ayres, who stayed at the hotel, reportedly described unexplained crying sounds in the fourth-floor hallways — an account the hotel staff have cited in discussions of the building's paranormal reputation.
Notable Entities
The hotel's loyalty concierge runs official Haunted History Tours on Fridays and Saturdays in October, 6:00–7:30 p.m. The behind-the-scenes walk grants access to areas normally closed to guests, including the most reportedly haunted room in the hotel. Tour ends with drinks in the historic Lobby Lounge. Recommended for guests 12 and older. Tickets $40 via Tock.
Guests staying in the hotel year-round report anomalies concentrated on the fourth floor. Room 422 is the most cited location for unexplained activity. Staff accounts have included reports of unexplained crying sounds. The hotel is a Fairmont property and operates year-round.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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