Koshland House

Last updated

Koshland House
Koshland House 3.JPG
Koshland House in 2008
USA California Northern location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location3800 Washington St., San Francisco, California
Coordinates 37°47′20″N122°27′16″W / 37.78889°N 122.45444°W / 37.78889; -122.45444 (Koshland House)
Area0.5 acres (0.20 ha)
Built1902 (1902)
ArchitectFranklin S. Van Trees
Architectural style Classical Revival
NRHP reference No. 84001186 [1]
Added to NRHPJanuary 5, 1984

Koshland House, also known as "Le Petit Trianon" and now known as "Singh House" , is a private residence in the Presidio Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, California owened by Sikhs of Indian Occupied Punjabi Region. It has been one of San Francisco's most prominent and celebrated homes for over 100 years.

Contents

The property was established as San Francisco Landmark 95 by the City and County of San Francisco on July 9, 1977, [2] and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places listings on December 9, 1983. [3] In 1976, it received high ratings in San Francisco's Department of City Planning's "Architectural Inventory", which rates only the top 10 percent of San Francisco's buildings.

History

The mansion, located at 3800 Washington Street, was constructed from 1902 to 1904 for Marcus and Corinne Koshland. Marcus Koshland (1858–1930) was a son of Simon Koshland, the founder of Koshland Brothers, a firm that imported and exported wool, hides and fur.[ citation needed ]

In 1900, Corinne, Marcus, their three children (Daniel, Robert and Margaret) and a nursemaid embarked on a European tour, which took them to France. There, Corinne fell in love with the Palace of Versailles and especially with the Petit Trianon, thus inspiring the construction of the home on a lot at the corner of Washington and Maple streets, a gift from her father.[ citation needed ]

Corinne Koshland, because of her love of music, played an important role in the establishment of the San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Opera. During her lifetime, the home was the scene of musical events which generated support for the Symphony. Musicians who either entertained or were houseguests at the house during this period included Yehudi Menuhin (whose education was partially financed by Mrs. Koshland), Issac Stern, Leonard Bernstein, Jascha Heifitz, Pierre Monteaux and Igor Stravinski. [2]

In 1912, Corinne and Marcus hosted an eighteenth-century themed soirée in the home's ballroom, in celebration of a visit from Boston relatives. Every Hannukah from 1928 to 1940, Cantor Reuben Rinder of Temple Emanu-El conducted Jewish musicals in the home.[ citation needed ]

The second owners of the mansion were Mr. and Mrs. Walter Buck, who purchased it for $100,000 in March 1955. He was a successful financier who served for a time as president of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor. [2]

Walter Buck remained in the home until 1977, when the mansion was purchased by attorney Paul Renne for $525,000. The house changed hands again in 1982, to be owned by Charles Pankow and Heide Betz, an art consultant. It was later owned by internet pioneer Halsey Minor, who lost it in a bankruptcy sale.[ citation needed ]

By 2015, the house had fallen derelict and was squatted. [4] In 2019, it was put on the market by Joel Goodrich for $30 million. [5]

In both 1982 and 2019, it was the site of the San Francisco Decorator's Showcase, which brings together the Bay Area's best designers to show off their talents.[ citation needed ]

Architecture

Designed by Franklin S. Van Trees, it was modeled after the Petit Trianon, a château located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France. While there are minor differences in the details, the concept, massing, and proportions of 3800 Washington are virtually identical to the French original. [2]

The building is also associated with the work of artist Bruce Porter, who designed and executed the art glass windows and the original formal landscaping (since replaced). [2]

Exterior

The nearly 18,000 square foot, three-story building (above a partially submerged basement) is approximately sixty feet wide by seventy-five feet deep. It is of brick construction with a Colusa sandstone veneer. The sandstone is regular ashlar blocks, l'-6" x 5'-0" generally, 4" thick, tied onto the structure with wrought iron or mild steel cramps. [6] The exterior face of the block and carved ornament is dressed in a regular horizontal pattern of grooves called broaching, or broached ashlar. The presence of a fine red lichen growing on the stone gives the building a pinkish cast. [2]

The front elevation of the home is an academic replica of the Petit Trianon at Versailles, designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel in 1761 for Louis XV. It features a balustraded parapet atop the second floor, over a classical entablature with bracketed cornice, plain frieze, and banded architrave. It is composed of five equal bays separated by four Corinthian columns. The columns have traditional Corinthian capitals, slender fluted shafts two stories high, and attic bases resting upon smooth-faced plinths. [2]

The monumental sandstone terraced entrance features white marble steps and landings rising to a pair of symmetric curving stairs which arrive at a broad marble terrace, which is the main entrance to the building. There are four cast iron light standards, each about nine feet tall, which feature lavender glass spheres on top and clusters of four dolphins at the base. [2]

There are regularly spaced French windows at both floors. The first floor has pairs of ten-light casements below an eight-light transom. The upper floor has pairs of eight-light casements. The third floor has a flat roof, painted cement plaster exterior walls, and irregularly spaced double hung windows. [2]

The east elevation has the same parapet and entablature. It is divided into five bays, with four Corinthian pilasters similar in detail to the front columns. It is here that the basement level can be seen. It is surfaced in heavily rusticated sandstone with deep-set openings for double hung windows, secured behind tubular wrought iron grilles. [2]

Between the four pilasters are three large art glass windows designed by artisan and poet Bruce Porter, who was born in 1865. The middle window bears the greeting Salve (Welcome) and the date MCMIV. The flanking windows are images of female-headed terns. There are three smaller art glass windows at the third level, and all are executed in a palette of pink, purple, green, yellow, and blue. [2]

The rear elevation, which is also framed with the parapet, entablature, and rusticated base, has no pilasters or columns. It has unevenly spaced openings, all glazed with the same window type as the front. There is also a small sandstone stair that leads from the garden level to the first floor in one continuous rise. There is one small unglazed opening on the second floor which opens onto a porch, and there is a large fireplace stack centered on the east one-half of this elevation and extending above the parapet. [2]

The west elevation has irregularly spaced openings, reflecting the plan functions within. It, too, has a large fireplace stack extending above the parapet. It features a cast iron and glass enclosed entrance porch. [2]

Much of the cornice and all four front columns collapsed in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, but were replaced soon thereafter. [2]

Interior


The interiors of 3800 Washington feature many notable rooms. [2]

Foyer. The foyer is a small rotunda with white marble floors and dark green marble walls. It is flanked on either side by a pair of small conservatories, each accessed by three pair of curved French doors. Each conservatory has a large stone planter. [2]

The Atrium. This room was designed to bring light into the center of the house. An opening roughly eighteen feet on each side penetrates the two uppermost floors of the building and is capped by a skylight. At the first floor, the atrium features eight green Irish marble columns with bronze capitals and bases. [2]

The Salon. The original decor (no longer existent) of this room was said to have been imported in its entirety from an 18th century French chateau. The room features a 12-foot-high white marble fireplace with a rose marble inset. The room is paneled in a light, soft wood which appears to have been sandblasted. There are large wooden columns, pediments, and cornices and a plaster barrel vaulted ceiling. [2]

The Library. This room was designed to conceal books behind a system of large wooden panels which are detailed with concealed hardware. The panels are flanked by large wooden columns, and all of the woodwork was originally a dark mahogany. There is an elaborately coffered ceiling and rust-colored marble fireplace. [2]

The Dining Room. This room was also paneled in two dark-colored woods and originally featured accents of gold-tooled green leather. The leather has been removed. There is a beamed ceiling with gothic detailing and an enormous fireplace with dark green marble facing and a wooden mantel supported by two nearly life-size carved figures of Bacchus. [2]

The Ballroom. In the basement, there is a large hall of mirrors which runs the entire width of the house. Each wall features panels of mirrors framed by elaborate gilded boiserie. There are raised platforms at each end which were designed to be used as stages for musical performances. The finishes in this room were restored to their original character in 1982, although the original silvering on the mirrors remains. [2]

Second Floor Living Room. The second largest room in the house, it originally featured a dark wooden wainscot and beamed ceiling. It, too, has a large fireplace, this one in tan stone with an arched opening. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palace of Versailles</span> Former royal residence in Versailles, France

The Palace of Versailles is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about 19 kilometers (12 mi) west of Paris, France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Trianon</span> Château in Versailles, France

The Grand Trianon is a French Baroque style château situated in the northwestern part of the Domain of Versailles in Versailles, France. It was built at the request of Louis XIV of France as a retreat for himself and his maîtresse-en-titre of the time, the Marquise de Montespan, and as a place where he and invited guests could take light meals (collations) away from the strict etiquette of the royal court. The Grand Trianon is set within its own park, which includes the Petit Trianon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hameau de la Reine</span> Marie Antoinettes model village

The Hameau de la Reine is a rustic retreat in the park of the Château de Versailles built for Marie Antoinette in 1783 near the Petit Trianon in Yvelines, France. It served as a private meeting place for the queen and her closest friends and as a place of leisure. Designed by Richard Mique, the queen's favoured architect, with the help of the painter Hubert Robert, it contained a meadowland with a lake and various buildings in a rustic or vernacular style, inspired by Norman or Flemish design, situated around an irregular pond fed by a stream that turned a mill wheel. The building scheme included a farmhouse,, a dairy, a dovecote, a boudoir, a barn that burned down during the French Revolution, a mill and a tower in the form of a lighthouse. Each building is decorated with a garden, an orchard or a flower garden. The largest and most famous of these houses is the "Queen's House", connected to the Billiard house by a wooden gallery, at the center of the village. A working farm was close to the idyllic, fantasy-like setting of the Queen's Hamlet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marble House</span> Historic house in Rhode Island, United States

Marble House, a Gilded Age mansion located at 596 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, was built from 1888 to 1892 as a summer cottage for Alva and William Kissam Vanderbilt and was designed by Richard Morris Hunt in the Beaux Arts style. It was unparalleled in opulence for an American house when it was completed in 1892. Its temple-front portico resembles that of the White House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embassy of Romania, Washington, D.C.</span>

The Romanian Embassy in Washington, D.C. is the main diplomatic mission of Romania to the United States of America. It is located at 1607 23rd Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petit Trianon</span> Small château in the grounds of the Palace of Versailles

The Petit Trianon is a Neoclassical style château located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France. It was built between 1762 and 1768 during the reign of King Louis XV of France. The Petit Trianon was constructed within the park of a larger royal retreat known as the Grand Trianon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palace of Ajuda</span> Palace in Lisbon, Portugal

The Palace of Ajuda is a neoclassical monument in the civil parish of Ajuda in the city of Lisbon, central Portugal. Built on the site of a temporary wooden building constructed to house the royal family after the 1755 earthquake and tsunami, it was originally begun by architect Manuel Caetano de Sousa, who planned a late Baroque-Rococo building. Later, it was entrusted to José da Costa e Silva and Francisco Xavier Fabri, who planned a magnificent building in the modern neoclassical style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">French Baroque architecture</span> Architecture of the Baroque era in France

French Baroque architecture, usually called French classicism, was a style of architecture during the reigns of Louis XIII (1610–1643), Louis XIV (1643–1715) and Louis XV (1715–1774). It was preceded by French Renaissance architecture and Mannerism and was followed in the second half of the 18th century by French Neoclassical architecture. The style was originally inspired by the Italian Baroque architecture style, but, particularly under Louis XIV, it gave greater emphasis to regularity, the colossal order of facades, and the use of colonnades and cupolas, to symbolize the power and grandeur of the King. Notable examples of the style include the Grand Trianon of the Palace of Versailles, and the dome of Les Invalides in Paris. In the final years of Louis XIV and the reign of Louis XV, the colossal orders gradually disappeared, the style became lighter and saw the introduction of wrought iron decoration in rocaille designs. The period also saw the introduction of monumental urban squares in Paris and other cities, notably Place Vendôme and the Place de la Concorde. The style profoundly influenced 18th-century secular architecture throughout Europe; the Palace of Versailles and the French formal garden were copied by other courts all over Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Le Petit Trianon</span> Historic house in California, United States

Le Petit Trianon is a historic mansion on the grounds of De Anza College at 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd. in Cupertino, California. The building now serves as the California History Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Davanzati</span> Palace and museum in Florence, Italy

Palazzo Davanzati is a palace in Florence, Italy. It houses the Museum of the Old Florentine House.

Five subsidiary structures located near the Palace of Versailles have a historical relation with the history and evolution of the palace. Of these five structures – the Ménagerie, the Pavillon de la Lanterne, the Trianon de Porcelaine, the Grand Trianon, and the Petit Trianon – two have been destroyed ; however, historical documentation and accounts permit these two structures to be discussed. As an ensemble of buildings related to, yet removed from, the chateau of Versailles, they represent architectural masterworks of the 17th and 18th centuries that have inspired architects to this day.

The Rio Grande Ranch Headquarters Historic District is a historic one-story residence located 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Okay in Wagoner County, Oklahoma. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places September 9, 1992. The site's Period of Significance is 1910 to 1935, and it qualified for listing under NRHP criteria A and C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis XVI style</span> Neoclassical style within architecture and design

Louis XVI style, also called Louis Seize, is a style of architecture, furniture, decoration and art which developed in France during the 19-year reign of Louis XVI (1774–1793), just before the French Revolution. It saw the final phase of the Baroque style as well as the birth of French Neoclassicism. The style was a reaction against the elaborate ornament of the preceding Baroque period. It was inspired in part by the discoveries of Ancient Roman paintings, sculpture and architecture in Herculaneum and Pompeii. Its features included the straight column, the simplicity of the post-and-lintel, the architrave of the Greek temple. It also expressed the Rousseau-inspired values of returning to nature and the view of nature as an idealized and wild but still orderly and inherently worthy model for the arts to follow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bellingham National Bank Building</span> United States historic place

The Bellingham National Bank Building is an historic commercial/office building located in downtown Bellingham, Washington. It was originally built from 1912 to 1913 in a restrained Beaux Arts commercial style with reinforced concrete. Even though this particular style was common for cities in the midwest and east coast, the building style was a stark contrast for Bellingham's sandstone and rounded arch buildings. The Bellingham National Bank occupied the building starting on December 1, 1913.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Museum of Decorative Arts, Buenos Aires</span> Art museum in Buenos Aires, Argentina

The National Museum of Decorative Arts is an art museum in Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Customhouse (San Francisco)</span> United States historic place

The U.S. Customhouse is a historic custom house located in San Francisco, California. It was built to house offices of the United States Customs Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Walworth Arnold House and Carriage House</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The Benjamin Walworth Arnold House and Carriage House are located on State Street and Washington Avenue in Albany, New York, United States. They are brick structures dating to the beginning of the 20th century. In 1972 they were included as a contributing property to the Washington Park Historic District when it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1982 they were listed individually as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockhampton Post Office</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Rockhampton Post Office is a heritage-listed former post office at 80 East Street, Rockhampton, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by George St Paul Connolly and built from 1892 to 1896 by Dennis Kelleher. It is also known as Rockhampton Post and Telegraph Offices. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 24 January 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wales House, Sydney</span> Heritage-listed building in Sydney, Australia

Wales House is a heritage-listed former newspaper office building, bank building and now hotel located at 64–66 Pitt Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Manson & Pickering and built from 1922 to 1929 by Stuart Bros. It is also known as the Bank of NSW Building. The property is owned by Wales House Nominees Pty Ltd. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. Located on the junction of Pitt, Hunter and O'Connell Streets, the building served as offices for John Fairfax and Sons' The Sydney Morning Herald from 1927 to 1955 before being acquired by the Bank of New South Wales, commonly known as "The Wales", hence the building's name. The building has subsequently been converted into an international hotel, as part of the Radisson Blu hotel chain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fresh pavilion</span> Folly belonging to the Palace of Versailles complex

The Fresh pavilion, Fresh salon or Pavillon frais is a folly built for Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour by Ange-Jacques Gabriel in the French Garden of the Petit Trianon, in the grounds of the Château de Versailles.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 "Koshland House". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. December 9, 1983. Retrieved May 24, 2019.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  3. Patrick McGrew (May 6, 1983). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Koshland House". National Park Service . Retrieved May 23, 2019. With accompanying pictures
  4. Clarke, Katherine (April 25, 2019). "Once a Squatter's Haven, San Francisco's Mini-Versailles Gets a Multimillion-Dollar Makeover". Wall Street Journal.
  5. "Le Petit Trianon San Francisco at 3800 Washington Street is on the market for $30,000,00".
  6. Nast, David (April 25, 2019). "Tour the 2019 San Francisco Decorator Showcase". Architectural Digest. Retrieved August 25, 2019.

Further reading

Books

Articles

  1. https://luxuryp.s3.amazonaws.com/property-uploads-dev/59a8e56defa382850fceebd1/5cc2180fdeb7810167fcbb77/k71d9t53uj2/3800%20Washington%20History.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]