Lyle and the Groveland Hotel

Groveland Hotel in winter.

This charming Bed and Breakfast offers 17 unique rooms for guests that come to stay in the small Sierra Nevada Mountain town of Groveland California near the entrance to Yosemite Park.

Initially built in 1849 this structure was an adobe trading post. It then was used as a gambling house, saloon, hotel, Ranger Station, business offices and even a Greyhound Bus Stop.

This picture was taken in early 1900.

Peggy and Grover Mosley bought this old run-down building in the 1990s. They spent two years and a million dollars to renovate this structure.

One room in this hotel is always in high demand. Number 15 is where Lyle resides. He is the inn’s ghost. Peggy and her employees enjoy sharing stories about Lyle.

During California’s Gold Rush this building was considered the most elegant house on the hill. So when Lyle, a reclusive miner, struck it rich he took up residence in Room 15.

His new living arrangement was also convenient for he worked the Spring Gulch Mine nearby. Lyle stayed in Room 15 for years.

He was found dead in this room in 1927, underneath him, was a box of dynamite one of the tools of his trade.

Lyle haunts Room 15 and the area that surrounds it. He was known to be obsessively neat and tidy while alive and it appears his ghost is the same.

Lyle's Room 15 today.

Female guests that stay in this room find if they place their cosmetics on Lyle’s dresser he does not like this clutter for when they return their makeup is no longer on the table. They often discover their items placed on the sink instead.

One female guest even watched as her makeup flew off the back of the dresser and landed on the floor.

Lyle’s ghost also likes to mess with the water. Taps are often turned on when no one is around--Peggy and Grover experienced this when they were the only two in the hotel.

Lyle also turns on the water in shower stalls in rooms near Room 15 when no one is around.

Another prank he enjoys is messing with the room door locks near Room 15. Guests return to find their room keys temporarily do not work.

There is also a romantic tale told about Lyle. Peggy states that if his ghost has not been active for a while, it means he is visiting The Hotel Charlotte across the street from the Groveland.

While alive, Lyle had a love affair with the original owner of this hotel--Charlotte.

Hotel Charlotte