Spreckels Mansion (San Francisco) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Spreckels Mansion |
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(1960)
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| General information | |
| Type | Mansion |
| Location | 2080 Washington Street San Francisco, California |
| Coordinates | 37°47′37″N 122°25′47″W / 37.7937042°N 122.429842°W |
| Completed | c.1912–1913 |
| Owner | Adolph B. Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, Danielle Steel |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 3 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | George A. Applegarth, Kenneth A. MacDonald Jr. |
| Designated: | June 9, 1990 |
| Reference #: | 197 |
The Spreckels Mansion is a grand house built around 1912 to 1913. It is a French Classical style mansion. You can find it in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, California. This three-story home looks like a French Chateau.
George Adrian Applegarth and Kenneth A. MacDonald Jr. designed the mansion. A famous businessman named Adolph B. Spreckels had it built. Today, the Spreckels Mansion is an important city landmark, known as No. 197.
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Mansion History
The Spreckels Mansion has a rich and interesting past. It was once home to a very wealthy family and later a famous writer.
Building the Mansion
Adolph B. Spreckels was the son of Claus Spreckels, a very rich sugar businessman. Adolph helped his family's sugar business grow in places like Hawaii. He married Alma de Bretteville in 1908. She was much younger than him.
Adolph bought the land for the mansion as a Christmas gift for Alma. They used to live in Sausalito, California. To build the mansion, they combined several large plots of land. Eight older Victorian homes had to be moved to nearby streets.
Mansion Cost and Views
It is believed the house cost about $1,000,000 to build in 1913. That was a huge amount of money back then! It took two years to finish the construction. When it was first built, you could see six different counties from the mansion's round observatory. These included San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, and Marin counties. Even today, you can still see amazing views of the San Francisco Bay from the mansion. It is also located right across from Lafayette Park.
Furnishing the Grand Home
After the Spreckels Mansion was built, Alma traveled to Europe. She wanted to fill their new home with beautiful 18th-century antique furniture. During this trip, Alma met a famous artist named Auguste Rodin. She brought 13 of his bronze sculptures back to San Francisco. These sculptures were shown at the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition. This event later inspired the creation of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor museum.
Alma's own bedroom suite in the mansion had fancy Louis XIV furniture. Adolph's suite featured Colonial Georgian style furniture. The mansion is said to have 55 rooms in total. It even has a special ballroom designed in the Louis XVI style.
Later Owners
Adolph Spreckels passed away in 1924. Alma then took over his large business and inherited the mansion. Alma lived in the house until she died in 1968. After her death, the mansion was divided into four separate living spaces.
Later, a famous writer named Danielle Steel bought the property. She worked to restore it back to a single-family home. To have more privacy, Steel added a very tall hedge in front of the mansion. This hedge now blocks some of the view of the building's architecture.
