Haunted places guide · Victoria, British Columbia

Craigdarroch Castle: The Haunted Dunsmuir Mansion in Victoria, BC

A coal baron who died before his castle was finished, a widow who ruled it for nearly two decades, and a museum that will not say it is haunted while its staff and visitors keep describing a woman on the stairs.

By The Haunted Rooms Team · Updated November 2026 · How we rate places

4.2/5Haunted Rooms Score
1890Castle completed
87Steps to the tower

Visit / toursMeet the ghosts

Craigdarroch Castle sits on a hill in Victoria’s Rockland neighborhood, a 25,000-square-foot sandstone mansion of turrets, steep roofs and stained glass built with Vancouver Island coal money. It is one of the best-preserved Victorian houses in Canada, a National Historic Site since 1992, and by most accounts the most haunted house in British Columbia.

The museum that runs it is careful on that last point: it tells the history of the Dunsmuir family and the castle’s later lives, and it does not promote ghost stories. Those stories come instead from staff, volunteers and visitors, retold for decades in local lore, Tourism Victoria’s haunted list and national news coverage. This guide sets out what the records say, what people report, and how to see it for yourself.

Craigdarroch Castle at a glance

4.2/5
Haunted Rooms Score
Haunted reputation5
History5
Ghost hunter access2
Open to the public
  • Address 1050 Joan Crescent, Victoria, BC V8S 3L5
  • Built 1887 to 1890 for Robert and Joan Dunsmuir
  • Architects Warren Heywood Williams and Arthur Lorenzo Smith of Portland, Oregon
  • Size About 25,000 square feet, 37 rooms, 17 fireplaces
  • Status Museum run by the Craigdarroch Castle Historical Museum Society; National Historic Site (1992)
  • Reported ghosts A woman in a ball gown or white dress on the main staircase, a little girl, a maid, running feet, music
  • Ghost tours None run by the museum; the castle does not promote its ghost stories

Visit / tours

History of Craigdarroch Castle

Robert Dunsmuir, a Scottish immigrant, made his fortune in Vancouver Island coal and became one of the richest men in British Columbia. In 1887 he began building a mansion for his wife Joan on high ground above Victoria, hiring the Portland architects Warren Heywood Williams and Arthur Lorenzo Smith. Robert died in 1889, before the house was finished, and his sons Alexander and James completed it.

Joan Dunsmuir moved in and lived at Craigdarroch until her death in 1908, presiding over a household of daughters and grandchildren in a house of 37 rooms, 17 fireplaces and a tower reached by 87 steps. Its stained and leaded glass, attributed to the Pacific Art Glass Works of San Francisco, is among the finest Victorian glass in Canada.

After Joan’s death the estate was broken up and the castle began a run of public lives. It was a military hospital from 1919 to 1921, then Victoria College from 1921 to 1946, offices for the Victoria School Board from 1946 to 1968, and the Victoria Conservatory of Music from 1969 to 1979. Each use brought new partitions, new people and new memories into the house.

Since 1979 it has been a museum owned by the Craigdarroch Castle Historical Museum Society, a private non-profit that has spent decades restoring the rooms to their 1890s appearance. In 1992 it was designated a National Historic Site of Canada.

The ghosts of Craigdarroch Castle

The lady on the main staircase

The best-known sighting is a woman on the grand main staircase, described sometimes in a ball gown and sometimes in a white dress. HuffPost and CTV both relay reports of her, and To Do Canada and Culture Trip say many people take her to be Joan Dunsmuir, the widow who lived out her life in the house. CBC Kids describes a woman in white looking out of the windows.

There is no record of anyone dying on the staircase, and nothing in the castle’s history links a particular event to the sightings. The identification with Joan is a guess that has become part of the story.

The little girl and the maid

Tourism Victoria and the Oak Bay News report that staff have seen the apparition of a little girl and the figure of a maid. HuffPost places the girl in the basement. Writer Shanon Sinn, who collected Victoria’s ghost stories, notes that these reports come from volunteer staff and that the castle does not officially acknowledge them.

Running feet and music

One of the strangest reports, repeated in Tourism Victoria’s list, is of a woman’s feet seen running down the stairs with no body above them. Visitors and staff also describe music with no source, piano playing in the halls, whispers and the sound of children crying. Investigator Corine Carey told CTV that every room she walked into felt like it held something.

Why so many stories?

Craigdarroch has had more lives than most houses: a family home, a hospital for soldiers back from the First World War, a college full of students, offices and a music school. Ghost writers often point to that crowded history. The museum’s position is simply that it tells the history, and the history is remarkable enough on its own.

Where to look

  • The main staircase: The heart of the stories, where the woman in the gown is seen and the running feet are described. Stand at the foot of it and look up.
  • The ballroom: The top-floor ballroom, where music without a source is most often described.
  • The tower: Eighty-seven steps up to views over Victoria and the Olympic Mountains. The climb is narrow and steep.
  • The basement: Where HuffPost places the little girl. Parts are used for exhibits.
  • The drawing room windows: Look for the stained glass, including the replica of the woman with a swan window, and for the windows where a woman in white is said to look out.

Visiting Craigdarroch Castle

Craigdarroch is open Wednesday to Sunday from 10 am to 4:30 pm, closed on Mondays, Tuesdays and on December 25 and 26 and January 1. Tickets can be bought online or on arrival, and visits are self-guided. Allow at least an hour and a half.

The upper floors and the tower are reached only by stairs, so check accessibility with the museum before you go. The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria and the Government House gardens are each under ten minutes’ walk away.

The museum does not run ghost tours. If you want the ghost stories told, pair your visit with one of the evening ghost walks that run downtown, through Bastion Square and Chinatown.

  • Visiting Museum with admission; self-guided visits
  • Hours and season Wednesday to Sunday, 10 am to 4:30 pm

Tips for your visit

  • Come on a weekday morning, when the house is quiet enough to hear it creak.
  • Climb to the tower for the best view in Victoria.
  • Ask staff about the castle’s college and hospital years.
  • Combine it with Hatley Castle, built by Robert’s son James, for a full Dunsmuir day.

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Frequently asked questions

Is Craigdarroch Castle haunted?

The museum does not say so, but staff, volunteers and visitors have reported a woman on the main staircase, a little girl, a maid, running feet and music for decades, and Tourism Victoria lists it among the city’s most haunted places.

Who is the ghost at Craigdarroch Castle?

The woman on the staircase is often said to be Joan Dunsmuir, who lived in the castle from 1890 until her death in 1908. There is no record that links her to the sightings.

Did Robert Dunsmuir live in Craigdarroch Castle?

No. He died in 1889 before the castle was finished, and his sons completed it for his widow Joan.

Does Craigdarroch Castle do ghost tours?

No. The museum tells the history of the house and does not run ghost tours. Evening ghost walks run in downtown Victoria.

How long does a visit take?

Most people spend about an hour and a half, including the climb to the tower.

When is Craigdarroch Castle open?

Wednesday to Sunday, 10 am to 4:30 pm. Check the museum’s website before you go.

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the official website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as staff, visitors and investigators tell them, and we say where records contradict a story.

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About the authors

The Haunted Rooms Team are paranormal researchers who write about historic haunted places across the United States. We research every place in our guides using official sites, historic registers, local archives and news coverage, and we report ghost stories as the stories they are. We review each guide regularly so you are not sent to a place that has closed, changed hands or banned visitors. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.