There's a Castle in Pacifica?!

Bay Curious

When Krisi Riccardi was a girl, her father used to take her on leisurely Sunday drives down Highway 1. She'd enjoy the beautiful scenery until they hit Pacifica, where something odd always caught young Krisi’s attention — a stone castle perched high on the hill. Not exactly what you'd expect to find in a laid-back beach town. “As I got older we would walk up to this castle and walk around it. I’ve never been inside, but I looked over the wall. I’m now 68 and I always wondered what the history was of this castle,” Krisi said. She isn’t the only one curious about this place. Her question won a Bay Curious voting round. Today, Katrina Schwartz takes us inside the castle to explore why it was built, and the many lives this place has lived.

Additional Reading:

• Rum Running, Ghosts and Speakeasies: The Many Lives of Pacifica’s Castle
• Sam Mazza Foundation website

Reported by Katrina Schwartz. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz, Sebastian Miño-Bucheli and Brendan Willard. Additional support from Erika Aguilar, Jessica Placzek, Kyana Moghadam, Isabeth Mendoza, Paul Lancour, Suzie Racho, Carly Severn, Lina Blanco, Ethan Lindsey, Vinnee Tong and Jenny Pritchett.