The Wall Street Journal-20080215-WEEKEND JOURNAL- The Home Front- House of the Week - Sugar Baron by the Bay
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WEEKEND JOURNAL; The Home Front: House of the Week / Sugar Baron by the Bay
Full Text (176 words)What: Renovated 1912 mansion with five bedrooms, five full baths, measuring 7,500 square feet on 0.3-acre double lot
Where: San Francisco
Amenities: Earthquake-resistant; landscaped garden, five wood- burning fireplaces, sewing room, elevator, media room, laundry room, unattached two-car garage
Asking Price: $25 million
Annual Property Taxes: $36,000 last year
Listing agent: Adele Zierler, of Sotheby's International Realty, 415-296-2239; [email protected]
Due Diligence: Sugar baron Adolph Spreckels and his wife, Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, originally built this neoclassical Pacific Heights mansion as their home before they commissioned a massive limestone palace half a mile away. (That's now owned by romance novelist Danielle Steel.) Paul Freiman, former chief executive of drug maker Syntex Corp. and his wife, Anna, bought the house in 1995 and modernized extensively. They replaced all wiring and plumbing and installed double-paned windows and a foundation reinforced against earthquakes. They transformed the garden-level basement into an entertainment space with a dining room, media room and kitchen. The five-level home has French-style windows, views of the Golden Gate Bridge and carved original wood panels, doors and banisters.
