Designed in 1928 by superstar architects Julia Morgan and George Kelham, this approximately 8,885-square-foot jewel of a house features period details that harken back to European times of yore. Think Merchant-Ivory productions. Think tea and scones. Think mishmash of classical elements that add up to a sumptuous property across the bay.
For example, this Belvedere pad boasts a Tudor archway with fleur-de-lis plaster, 16th century linenfold wood-paneled walls in the Grand Salon, a carved limestone fireplace imported from a Belgian chateau, and a garden with a stone terrace.
It comes with six bedrooms, seven and a half baths, and everything that an opulent Belvedere pad should emit—prestige, allure, and the glowing fact that Sophia Loren once stayed here as a guest.
The late Thomas Perkins, founder of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and his wife owned this estate. The venture capitalist, who died in June, was recently lampooned on Silicon Valley after making headlines for (in)famously comparing America’s wealthiest elite to the persecuted Jews of World War II.
In a 2014 Wall Street Journal op-ed piece, Perkins penned this golden nugget: "Writing from the epicentre [sic] of progressive thought, San Francisco, I would call attention to the parallels of fascist Nazi Germany to its war on its 'one per cent', namely its Jews, to the progressive war on the American one per cent, namely the rich."
A statement like that can best be described as bonkers—but not as bonkers as his downright spectacular Belvedere house at 345 Golden Gate Boulevard. It is, for lack of a better cliche, exquisite.
Asking is $16,500,000.
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