San Francisco’s Hippie Years: Mayor’s Mansion!

San Francisco’s Hippie Years: Mayor’s Mansion!

San Francisco's Hippie Years: Mayor's Mansion!

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After the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake which destroyed 80% of the city by quake and fire and resulted in more than 3,000 deaths, there were large concerns that the wealthy would move to other cities and that real estate values would plummet. In fact this so worried the government that they reported only 375 deaths and never bothered to count those in the city’s Chinatown section. For as long as two years, the homeless lived in tent communities on the outskirts of the center city, one being the Presidio.

In 1910, in order to encourage the city leaders and other wealthy members of the population to stay, a private gated enclave was developed and named Presidio Terrace. It provided large lots and famed architects to design the lovely mansions to be built there. On the slope of the bluff, it had wonderful views over Presidio Park below and across the bay. But Presidio Terrace had something else: deed restrictions. The advertisement read, "There is only one spot in San Francisco where only Caucasians are permitted to buy or lease real estate or where they may reside. That place is Presidio Terrace." In fact, deeds to the homes required that in the event of resale, the home could only be sold to Caucasians.

The owners of the grand Presidio homes were also quite interesting, as was the case with the mayor’s mansion. The first inhabitants of the home were opera singers who divided their time between San Francisco and New York for series of performances. The most notable owner was Mayor Joseph Alioto.

Originally a lawyer specializing in antitrust law, Alioto represented important clients such as Walt Disney and Samuel Goldwyn. He then went on to be Mayor of San Francisco from 1968 to 1976. His term in office was rife with the Haight-Ashbury hippie years, free love and drug problems, war demonstrations over Vietnam, Black Panther marches and serial killers running rampant known as Zebra and Zodiac. Apparently his wife didn’t understand the gravity of his responsibilities and in order to "punish" him for neglect, decided to disappear for 18 days to get his attention. Needless to say, the marriage didn’t last. Alioto was much admired and is well remembered for promoting the Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART); the Transamerica Pyramid; and the Embarcadero Center along with many other projects which improved the quality of life for the city’s population.

The Mayor’s residence is a stately Beaux Arts mansion of 8,040 square feet designed by the firm MacDonald and Applegarth and built in 1911. Rooms are large, airy and filled with light. Built on three levels, the main level consists of large formal rooms, the upper level has four en-suite bedrooms, some with sitting rooms and fireplaces, and the lower level is devoted to family enjoyment with family room, theatre and children’s playroom. The home has been totally updated with today’s materials and conveniences and also has a guest-au pair suite with kitchenette along with numerous other high end amenities.

Longtime home of San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto now asking $8.98 million. Was $16.5 million. SOLD!

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