A six-story Russian Hill home known as the Verdier Mansion is listed for $25 million. Its past includes use as an opium den, a brothel and a World War II officers’ club. John Skeen, a former San Francisco securities executive, and his wife, Donna, are selling after two decades in the home as they retire to Southern California.
The property has not changed hands in 20 years, according to SFGATE. Listing agent Gregg Lynn, who represents the home through Sotheby’s International Realty, told the outlet that the Skeens preserved and updated it. Lynn also said buyers from the emerging AI industry have shown interest, and described the mansion as the largest home near downtown and Mission Bay.
Other outlets have separately confirmed the sale price and scale of the home. According to bizjournals.com, the Russian Hill mansion lists for $25 million and features six bedrooms spread across multiple levels. California Home + Design describes it as a Tudor Revival survivor rising six stories, with six full bathrooms, two half-bathrooms and a six-car garage, all connected by an elevator serving every level.
A Home Recast Across Generations
Architect Houghton Sawyer designed the mansion, which was completed in 1906 for Robert G. Hanford as a gift to Gabrielle Guittard Cavalsky. Her family had opened the Guittard Chocolate Company on San Francisco’s Sansome Street in 1868; it is now the country’s oldest continuously family-owned chocolate company. SFGATE’s account says Cavalsky held concerts at the home, that Hanford left the property to her and her family around 1909, and that the couple divorced in 1914…