Haunted hotel guide · Santa Paula, California
The Haunted Glen Tavern Inn, Santa Paula: Calvin, Rose and the Third Floor
A 1911 Tudor inn by the old Santa Paula depot, where a cowboy named Calvin and a woman called Rose are said to keep the third floor busy.
The Glen Tavern Inn is a three-story English Tudor and Craftsman hotel in the old town of Santa Paula, the citrus and oil town in the Santa Clara River Valley of Ventura County. It was built in 1911 opposite the train depot, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and it is one of the most searched-for haunted hotels in California.
Its fame comes from the third floor. The inn has been featured on Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures in 2013 and again in 2025, and on The Dead Files in 2014, and it now names its two most haunted rooms after their ghosts: Calvin’s Room (308) and Rose’s Room (307). Add reports of a little girl running through the halls, and the Glen Tavern is one of the easiest haunted hotels in Southern California to plan a ghost night around.
Glen Tavern at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 134 North Mill Street, Santa Paula, CA 93060
- Opened 1911; third floor added around 1920
- Most haunted spots Room 308 (Calvin’s Room), Room 307 (Rose’s Room), the third-floor halls, the lobby
- Best-known ghosts Calvin the cowboy; Rose; a little girl
- Booking the haunted room Call the inn to book Calvin’s Room or Rose’s Room
- Good to know About 35 rooms, some with jacuzzi tubs; Enzo’s Italian restaurant and bar on site
The ghosts of Glen Tavern Inn
Calvin, the cowboy of Room 308
The inn’s best-known ghost is Calvin, a cowboy said to have been shot in the head during an argument over cheating at cards on the third floor. Guests and investigators describe him as tall and thin, with long hair and a goatee, wearing a white shirt. He has been reported in his room, in the corridors and in the lobby, and some say he walks straight through walls.
The inn’s own telling adds a striking detail: during a remodel years ago, workers found an old cowboy hat in a crawlspace with what looked like a bullet hole in it. The hat has since disappeared. Room 308 is now called Calvin’s Room. Earlier versions of this guide, and many websites, placed Calvin in Room 307; we follow the inn’s current naming.
Rose of Room 307
Next door, Room 307 belongs to Rose, a woman the inn’s lore describes as a lady of the night from the brothel era. The darkest version of her story says she was murdered and beheaded and that a maid found her body in the closet. Guests in 307 report a mist forming in the room, voices, knocking and sudden cold drafts.
The little girl in the halls
The apparition of a child is the inn’s third recurring report. Workers during a renovation said they saw a young girl run down a corridor and through a wall. A couple staying in Room 205 said they woke to see what they took for a real little girl walk into their room in the middle of the night. Guests also describe children laughing, footsteps running up and down the stairs and knocking on doors when no children are staying.
How solid are the stories?
The building’s early history is well recorded; its ghost stories are not. The speakeasy, gambling den and brothel said to have run on the third floor during Prohibition are part of the inn’s own lore, but local historian Craig Owens, who studied the inn’s records for his book Haunted by History, argues that they do not match the historical record. Treat Calvin and Rose as legends attached to a genuinely historic hotel, not as documented people.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- Room 308, Calvin's Room: The inn’s premium haunted room, named for the cowboy ghost. Book it by phone.
- Room 307, Rose's Room: Next door, linked to the brothel-era story of Rose. Mist, voices and knocking are the usual reports.
- Room 205: Where a couple reported a little girl walking into their room at night.
- Third-floor corridors and stairs: Footsteps, children laughing and the figure of a girl running through a wall.
- The lobby: Calvin has been reported here as well as upstairs.
History of Glen Tavern Inn
Santa Paula was booming in 1911. Union Oil had its headquarters in town, the valley’s citrus groves were spreading, and the Southern Pacific depot brought a steady stream of newcomers. To give them somewhere to stay, 25 local businessmen each put in $1,000 to build a hotel opposite the depot. Architects Burns and Hunt designed it in a mix of Tudor Revival and Craftsman styles, with half-timbered gables and a big stone fireplace in the lobby.
City leaders sold the hotel in 1919 to Charles Estep, who turned the unused attic into a third floor of guest rooms around 1920. In the early years Hollywood film crews, many from Universal, stayed and dined at the Glen Tavern while shooting Westerns in the hills around town, and guests included William Jennings Bryan, the pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski and Randolph Scott. Local accounts add bigger names such as John Wayne, Carole Lombard, Clark Gable, Steve McQueen and Harry Houdini; some of these visits are hard to confirm.
During World War II the federal government leased the building as a dormitory for women working at Port Hueneme, and it reopened as a hotel in 1946. Over the next half century it changed hands and uses many times. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 and is also a city and county landmark.
The Jennett Investment Group restored the inn between 2005 and 2007, rebuilding the part damaged by a fire in April 2006, and reopened it as a full-service hotel with a restaurant and lounge. Today it has about 35 rooms and suites, including jacuzzi rooms, and Enzo’s Italian restaurant and bar downstairs.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Call the inn to book Calvin’s Room (308) or Rose’s Room (307). They are the inn’s named haunted rooms and are booked by phone.
- Ask for any room on the third floor if 307 and 308 are taken; most reports come from that floor.
- Eat at Enzo’s downstairs and linger in the lobby by the fireplace, where Calvin has also been reported.
- Walk across to the old depot and the California Oil Museum on Main Street to see the boomtown the inn was built for.
- Combine your stay with the Pierpont Inn in Ventura, about 20 minutes away, for a Ventura County ghost weekend.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Pierpont Inn, Ventura: a historic Ventura inn about 20 minutes west
- Santa Maria Inn: Rudolph Valentino’s room on the Central Coast
- The Queen Mary: the haunted liner in Long Beach
- Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel: Old Hollywood ghosts in Los Angeles
- Haunted hotels in California
Guest stories from the Glen Tavern Inn
First-hand accounts sent in by guests who have stayed at the inn. We read every story before it goes on the site.
Room 304: “It felt like I wasn’t allowed”
I booked the Glen Tavern Inn for a work trip, October 25 to 30, without knowing anything about its history. A wedding had filled most of the rooms that first night, so the front desk put me on the third floor in Room 304 and offered to move me down once the wedding guests checked out. I said I didn’t mind the stairs and stayed put all week.
The inn was decorated for Halloween, so I put the heavy, creepy feeling down to the decorations. I was wrong. I was exhausted, uneasy and short-tempered the whole time, and I kept telling my co-workers that something was off about the place.
Every evening when I got back to my room and called my husband, the banging would start on the wall next door (I believe Room 306) and out in the hallway. One night I was woken by what sounded like kids running through the halls. I nearly complained to the front desk, but assumed they were families on vacation for Halloween.
On the third or fourth night a loud bang woke me, and I couldn’t tell if it was in the room or the hall. I went cold and felt an incredible fear. I turned the light on, sat up in bed and didn’t sleep for the rest of the night.
Every time I showered, I could swear I saw a man’s hand pushing the shower curtain in towards me. There was never anyone there, and the bathroom door was shut with no window. I couldn’t bring myself to close my eyes under the water. It wasn’t fear exactly. It felt like I wasn’t allowed.
I even walked past the poster by Room 308 at the top of the stairs, listing what happens in each room, and took it for a Halloween decoration. Only when I got home to San Francisco did my husband look the inn up and read about the children and the third floor. I went cold. I had experienced so much of what that floor is known for: kids running in the halls, banging, and something in my bathroom.
My stay was great and the service was incredible. But I won’t be going back.
Dylan · Stayed October 2026 · Room 304
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Frequently asked questions
Is the Glen Tavern Inn haunted?
The Glen Tavern Inn is one of the best-known haunted hotels in Southern California. Guests report a cowboy called Calvin, a woman called Rose and a little girl on the third floor, and the inn has been featured on Ghost Adventures and The Dead Files.
What is the most haunted room at the Glen Tavern Inn?
Room 308, which the inn calls Calvin’s Room, and Room 307, Rose’s Room, both on the third floor.
Can you book Calvin's Room at the Glen Tavern Inn?
Yes. The inn names Calvin’s Room (308) and Rose’s Room (307) on its website and books them by phone.
Was the Glen Tavern Inn on Ghost Adventures?
Yes. Ghost Adventures investigated the inn in 2013 and again in 2025, and The Dead Files visited in 2014.
When was the Glen Tavern Inn built?
In 1911, opposite the Santa Paula train depot, funded by 25 local businessmen. The third floor was added around 1920.
Was there really a brothel at the Glen Tavern Inn?
It is part of the inn’s lore, but local historian Craig Owens argues the third-floor speakeasy and brothel stories do not match the historical record.
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.
- Glen Tavern Inn: A National Historic Treasure in Santa Paula
- Glen Tavern Inn: official site
- Wikipedia: Glen Tavern Inn (citing Craig Owens, Haunted by History Vol. 1)
- 805 Diary: Santa Paula 101, The Glen Tavern Inn
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About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every hotel in our guides using hotel histories, local archives, news coverage and the accounts of guests and staff, and we review each guide regularly so you are not booking a hotel that has closed or changed its name. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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