Ralston Hall Mansion is situated on the campus of Notre Dame de Namur University, on the San Francisco Peninsula.

Its walls were mirrored, and from the frescoed ceiling hung a great crystal chandelier whose reflected lights and sparkle filled the room.

"[citation needed] The Hall is a four-floor, 55,000-square-foot (5,100 m2) mansion, with a stately dining room, a mirrored ballroom in the Versailles tradition, an opera box modelled after the Opéra Garnier in Paris, a grand staircase, 23 crystal chandeliers, and inlaid wood floors.

After Ralston's death, the estate passed to his former business partner, United States Senator from Nevada William Sharon, whose family lived in the house.

Sharon's daughter Flora's wedding to Englishman Sir Thomas George Fermor-Hesketh, 7th Baronet, of Rufford was one of the last elaborate social events of the time, taking place in the mansion's ballroom.

It was also used for some of the university's  events, such as “drama productions, concerts, recitals, guest lectures, student, faculty and staff meetings and forums”.

[6] A few of the notable persons who have been entertained at Ralston Hall include: Originally, the mansion was built for Count Leonetto Cipriani in 1853.

After Ralston finished expanding the mansion, it “resembled a hotel with extensive High Victorian architectural interiors; grand entertainment spaces on the main floor; European Renaissance designed pilasters, moldings, columns, interior arches, staircases, and furnishings; a remodeled ballroom, reception hall, and dining room; state-of-the-art ventilation system; imported embossed glass in skylights, doors, and windows; and decoratively painted rooms”.

Outside of the mansion, the estate had a “ stone carriage house, barns, a bowling alley, greenhouses, servants’ quarters, and a gymnasium with Turkish baths”.

[7][8][13] In 2012 an engineering firm advised Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) that in spite of the home's relatively good condition “it could not guarantee the safety of the building’s occupants in the event of an earthquake on the San Andreas Fault”.

[6] As of February 2019, NDNU has decided to place the Ralston Hall renovation project “on hold” to focus on fundraising for the school.

In order to help assure its preservation, the City of Belmont commissioned an architectural historian in 2016 to conduct an assessment of the Ralston Hall's historical significance.

Among his findings were that the mansion “retains its historic integrity, location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association” (with William Chapman Ralston from 1864 to 1875).