Notre Dame College - Belmont, California - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

The former rambling white mansion of William C. Ralston is now one of the buildings of NOTRE DAME COLLEGE, Ralston Ave. In 1854 Count Leonetto Cipriani, an Italian political refugee, acquired the site, Canada del Diablo (Devil's Valley), and built a small villa, which in 1866 he sold to Ralston. The financier began transforming it into an extravagant show place, adorned with parquetry floors, mirror-panelled walls, and chandeliers. He built greenhouses, a gymnasium with a Turkish bath, stables panelled in carved mahogany, a gas-works to provide gas for illumination and a dam and reservoir to provide water. After Ralston's death in 1875 the big house was successively a private school and a hospital. In 1923 it was occupied by the Sisters of Notre Dame, who removed their convent and college here from San Jose. The mansion is now called Berchman's Hall, honoring one of the founding sisters. Ralston's famous ballroom is the school chapel.

Wikipedia tells the following history:

Notre Dame de Namur University was founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur as College of Notre Dame in 1851 on 10 acres in San Jose, California. The college was chartered in 1868 as the first college in the state of California authorized to grant the baccalaureate degree to women. In 1922, the Sisters purchased Ralston Hall, the county estate of William Chapman Ralston, founder of the Bank of California. The college opened its doors in Belmont in 1923.

In 1953 the College of Notre Dame became a four-year college with 23 Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur involved in the school. The college introduced evening classes in 1955, and in 1965, started the teaching credential programs. Originally a women’s institution, College of Notre Dame became coeducational in 1967; three men graduated as part of the class of 1970. The college expanded its offerings to include master's degrees in 1972 and added evening undergraduate programs in 1987.