Mentryville

Charles Mentry's descendants have said he found a way to remain useful after his death. During the 1994 Northridge earthquake, family members reported that his spirit guided them to safety — though the specifics of these accounts vary and no contemporaneous documentation has been located.

More recently, a paranormal investigation team visited the standing structures and captured a range of reported phenomena. In Pico Cottage, team members heard footsteps moving deliberately between upstairs rooms with no visible source. The pattern of movement — traveling from one room to another — was distinctive enough that investigators described the sound as walking rather than building noise.

During an EVP session, a handprint appeared beside one investigator. The print was smaller than the investigator's hand, and it persisted longer than surface moisture would typically allow. Audio review later revealed two recordings: a male voice saying 'yeah' and a female voice speaking an incomplete phrase ending with 'be here.' Neither voice had been audible to the investigators during the session.

In the period barn, investigator Kimberly Demmary described sensing a male presence that seemed hostile to women. While climbing the barn stairs, she experienced pressure on the top of her head, as if being pushed back. The sensation was specific and directional.

The Shadowlands account notes a slightly different emphasis — figures in old western clothing observed among the oak trees, and voices heard in the open air — consistent with Mentryville's 1880s settler aesthetic. The relationship of these accounts to the specific 1928 St. Francis Dam disaster downstream in San Francisquito Canyon (which killed hundreds in a flood) is unclear; the communities are geographically proximate but the historical events are distinct.