Russian Hill home once owned by ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ creator’s widow asks $13.8M

Shortly after losing her husband, the noted writer Robert Louis Stevenson, Fanny Osbourne Stevenson, herself a magazine writer, commissioned Willis Polk to design this Mediterranean- and Tudor-style mansion near the top of Russian Hill.

The circa-1900 home, located at 2323 Hyde (any similarity to Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is coincidental), is a whopper of an abode, coming in at five-plus bedrooms, six full and two half bathrooms, and over 8,000 square feet.

Its exterior, melancholic yet graceful, features an arched doorway, one of Polk’s signatures. Inside you’ll find a marble-floored foyer prefacing a sweeping staircase with carved bannisters, punctuated by a towering stained-glass window. The window was designed by Polk himself. It depicts the ship Hispaniola, which was featured in Stevenson’s Treasure Island.

Other highlights include a dining room with glass roof and massive curtain treatment; an octagon-shaped sitting room with a Juliet balcony; a four-car garage, elevator to all floors; and, for better or for worse, a location right at the crest of Lombard Street’s famous curves.

On a historic note: The home was even bigger back in the day, stretching around the corner west down Lombard Street. The property, before being split off at a later date, was once used as a convent after Fanny’s death.

Asking is $13,800,000 listed by Nina Hatvany of Compass.