Awe-inspiring austerity in Russian Hill asks $10.9M

Sometimes life calls for colorful vibrancy. Other times it demands cool astringency. Today is a day for the latter.

Featuring five bedrooms, seven and half baths, and approximately 5,800 square feet, 1089 Chestnut benefits from an exterior paint job in pupil-narrowing white. Why, look what it used to look like in 2014. Ouch. Although the trend of dousing facades in antiseptic hues has reached its peak in San Francisco, the white really works here. So icy, so severe.

Once behind the gated street entrance, you’ll find new interiors that match the exterior. Bright swaths of white walls and ceilings interrupted with the occasional moment of color or diaphanous drapery.

Each bedroom comes with an en suite bath and two with garden terraces. There’s an elevator to four floors (there’s five in all). And there’s a roof deck and patio perfect for party guests who probably shouldn’t touch a thing lest they muck up the place with their Cheeto dust-covered fingers.

Last sold in 2014 for $7,500,000, it’s back on the market asking $10,900,000.

• 1089 Chestnut [Steven M. Gothelf, Pacific Union International]