The House - 1661 Octavia
at Bush Street

For decades, Mary’s massive, gray house reigned supreme upon “Holiday’s Hill”. Mary planted rows of some two-dozen eucalyptus trees with her own hands in the early 1870’s, today only a few survive her reign of greatness and terror that enveloped San Francisco for more than half-a-century.

During the 1800’s she tyrannized that inscrutable and somber Bell mansion. The thirty-room house became known as the “House of Mystery” after stories spread of family intrigue, hidden passageways, and secret rituals. Behind those silk-brocade covered walls, a network of hidden stairways and tunnels had been installed. The always tightly shuttered house kept scores of secrets to itself. Small peepholes were entwined among the gold-gilt carvings and friezes. An undetectable sub-basement was constructed which played host to lavish Voodoo Ceremonies.

The people who resided within the house over the years were virtual prisoners, powerless souls …frozen with apprehension and fear.

Today one can pass under the six massive eucalyptus trees still guarding the lot at Octavia and Bush Streets, and in the dead of a fog-filled night, hear the harsh whisper of Mary’s Spirit, spitting and cursing her house …and all who walk there.

Everyone in San Francisco knows ––though the house long ago burned to the ground in the 1920’s––  if you stroll under the line of tall, twisted, eucalyptus trees late in the night, especially when the fog has wound its way through the city, or sit on a stoop at the corner of Octavia and Bush Streets to stare at the moon–– you can still feel the powerful energy and terror left by Mary Pleasant’s eternal curse!