Home of the Week: Historic Sea Cliff Italianate-Victorian

Before there was a Sea Cliff neighborhood, there was One 25th. Featured in Wall Street Journal, this proud and welcoming Italianate-Victorian home stood alone on the bluffs of the area’s now-famous cliffs offering respite and privacy for the San Francisco family that built it. Grand scale and updated amenities in the home’s many inviting spaces bring modern livability even as the irrepressible charm of countless original Old World details calls to the past. Spectacular Golden Gate Bridge views light up many of the home’s rooms making this a truly one-of-a-kind property with stature and prominence rarely seen on the market.    

Seacliff SF Italianate house with view of golden gate bridge  Brian Kitts photograph
Brian Kitts

The main level’s tall ceilings and ultra-wide towering doors, custom-built fireplaces with massive surrounds, and dark-wood parquet floors and trim bring an inviting elegance that makes any room the perfect place to relax with family or guests. The scale and volume of these spaces is something you don’t often find today and is evident the minute you step from the dramatic foyer into the living room, where large picture windows boasting jaw-dropping Golden Gate Bridge, Marin Headland, and ocean views command your attention.

Ornate victorian-style livingroom with fireplace in Italianate house Sea Cliff SF
Brian Kitts

Any family will find numerous cozy spaces and alcoves to appreciate together and enjoy the modern-day amenities, such as an integrated sound system, keyless entry and video security system for peace of mind, and luxuriously updated kitchen and baths for everyday living.

victorian-style-dining room-Brian-Kitts Sea Cliff Italianate house
Brian Kitts

This level also enjoys a well-maintained, sunlit south-facing courtyard that the U-shaped home embraces, with many rooms offering overlooks or outlets to the private, lush area. On the other side of the property, a generous terrace and deck beckon with more dramatic views, gentle ocean sounds, and a wooden stairway leading to a ground-level deck and secure access to venerable Baker Beach.

Fainting couch in front of window with Pacific ocean view
Brian Kitts

Upstairs, a tasteful primary suite and a thoughtful dressing room/office, with more turn-of-the-century details and hand-crafted moldings, boast epic Golden Gate Bridge views from every window. A walk-in closet and two more primary baths with dramatic ocean views make the suite even more inviting. Three more bedrooms, all with updated en suite baths, two with Juliet balconies, and one with a sunny terrace overlooking the courtyard, complete the level.

Patio with lounge chair view of Golden Gate Bridge, Pacific ocean and beach front
Brian Kitts

A pent-level offers a generous activity room perfect for family night, another guest suite, and two sunny walkout terraces that provide a great place to take in the crisp ocean air and enjoy dramatic unobstructed Golden Gate Bridge views.  

Italian house sea cliff exterior view in yard of palms lit up
Brian Kitts

The 8,495-square-foot residence sits at the end of a cul-de-sac and offers an impossible-to-find presence and legacy in the heart of the enviable Sea Cliff neighborhood. The esteemed family that built this house in 1908 was inspired to do so after the 1906 earthquake and fire, finding the bluffs of Sea Cliff the perfect place to regroup and continue to write their prominent San Francisco legacy. The family’s daughter, Phoebe Hearst Brown, was only 4 years old when the home was built and remembers “nothing else there but sand dunes, lupine, and rabbits.”

One 25th Avenue, San Francisco is listed at $39,000,000 by Compass agent Neal Ward.

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