Hillsborough mansions have a tendency towards grandeur, however this one, designed by the Bay Space’s treasured architect Julia Morgan, was meant to be grander than most.
The “Western White Home,” commissioned by George Hearst to copy America’s presidential White Home, just lately offered for $15 million — $10 million under its authentic asking worth.
The unique mansion at 401 El Cerrito Ave. wasn’t what we see now. The truth is, it wasn’t even positioned in the identical spot. In line with actual property author Bradley Inman, cattle rancher William Henry Howard constructed the house in 1878. The subsequent proprietor was silver baron Charles Frederick Crocker, whose household ultimately offered to Burlingame contractor Charles Lundgren.
As Inman wrote, Lundgren “bodily moved the house 1 / 4 mile away to El Cerrito Road in 1915. The relocation was to make the most of the plush landscaping and the creek on El Cerrito Road. Hailed as an engineering achievement, the home transfer was written up in Well-liked Mechanics journal.”
Within the late Twenties, a fireplace severely broken the mansion. Its subsequent proprietor, George Hearst — the eldest son of William Randolph Hearst — commissioned Julia Morgan to re-envision the house within the type of the presidential White Home in 1930.
George Hearst clearly sought Morgan’s experience in constructing the Western White Home due to her work on the equally opulent Hearst Citadel. Each of those startlingly over-the-top mansions represented a departure from Morgan’s signature type of elevated Craftsman-inspired properties composed of pure supplies like wooden and stone.
An inside shot of the “Western White Home.”
Courtesy of Alex BuljanThese days, the Western White Home is a 25,00-square-foot, 24-room mansion standing on virtually 3 acres of land at 401 El Cerrito Ave. Its Georgian Colonial design echoes Washington’s White Home, as do its cherry timber and its Oval Workplace-like library.
Inside, there’s an abundance of marble and silk. In line with Inman’s 1995 profile, the house’s 4 flooring are served by each dramatic staircases and an elevator. Hanging from the ceilings are three cut-glass chandeliers, a minimum of one in every of which is purportedly a Waterford, Inman wrote. Morgan even reduce a entice door within the third ground above the formal eating room in order that employees may elevate and decrease the chandelier with the intention to clear it. The most recent actual property itemizing exhibits the house has 11 bedrooms, 10 full bogs and 4 half-bathrooms.
One of many bedrooms within the “Western White Home.”
Courtesy of Alex BuljanWhereas the newest itemizing does not element any potential modifications to the inside, it does element a completely trendy exterior life, together with, “the pool, bathhouse, gazebo & photo voltaic array.”
An exterior shot of the “Western White Home.”
Courtesy of Alex Buljan
The poolside space of the “Western White Home.”
Courtesy of Alex BuljanHearst ultimately offered the Western White Home with out ever having lived in it. “In line with an previous newspaper account within the San Mateo Instances, John and Yoko Lennon meant to purchase the home within the early Seventies however they backed out of the deal on the final minute,” wrote Inman.
Although the historical past right here is spectacular, the mansion isn’t any time capsule. The kitchen may be very a lot an up to date affair, as are the luxurious bogs. There’s additionally a photo voltaic heating system.
An inside shot of the “Western White Home” kitchen.
Courtesy of Alex BuljanThe house listed for $25 million in late October of 2021. Whereas ready for its subsequent proprietor, it suffered a number of worth cuts, lastly promoting early this September for $15 million. Compass agent Alex Buljan, who represented the client on this transaction, didn’t discover such an extended stint available on the market uncommon: “The property, due to its measurement and significance, required a purchaser keen to place time, effort and capital into preserving its wealthy historical past.”
Anna Marie Erwert writes from each the renter and new purchaser perspective, having (lastly) achieved each statuses. She focuses on nationwide actual property tendencies, specializing within the San Francisco Bay Space and Pacific Northwest. Observe Anna on Twitter: @AnnaMarieErwert
