August 31, 2016
Imagine 400 people on a waiting list to visit 16 condominiums; imagine those condos selling out within months at roughly $1,000 per square foot, or more than $1 million for a 1,000-square-foot condo. That was the scene at the launch of Danville Hotel Town Center, a downtown condo development that took eight years from concept to completion. Built around the historic Danville Hotel, the complex ...more
August 26, 2016
Pacific Heights, the 1990 film starring Michael Keaton and Melanie Griffith, tells the story of a middle class couple who renovate and rent out their dream house in one of San Francisco’s nicest neighbourhoods. Unfortunately, their chosen tenant is a psychopath who destroys the house and tries to kill them. The good news is that, 26 years on, such a scenario is more unlikely than ...more
August 26, 2016
The most expensive home to sell this year in the Bay Area was a four-bedroom, 14,000-square foot home with seven bathrooms in the Oakland Hills that went for $20.5 million — a $500,000 discount on the home’s list price. Of the top 10 most expensive homes to trade hands this year, nine went for under asking. One home in Atherton sold for $16.5 million — ...more
August 23, 2016
Stacey Smith and her husband looked at about three dozen homes in the San Francisco Bay area and lost a bidding war before finally purchasing a four-bedroom house in June for $1.5 million — 40 percent more than the asking price. Their search wasn’t in Silicon Valley or San Francisco. It was just across the bay in Oakland, which has supplanted its pricier and better-known ...more
August 21, 2016
Jeannie Anderson A: The Millennium Tower, completed in 2009 by Millennium Partners, set the standard for luxury. The discovery of a defect in such a landmark has made headline news. Most San Franciscans know that much of downtown and South of Market were once part of the bay. But the fact that one of the city’s tallest buildings has apparently begun to sink is both ...more
August 18, 2016
Twice a week, The Chronicle features a home on the market that caught our eye for its architecture, history or character. Location, prestige and luxury — this freshly built four-bedroom combines it all. Known as the “East Bay Idea House,” the four-story contemporary marries the efforts and influence of Landmark Development Corp., Robert Nebolon Architects, Geremia Design and DFI Properties with Sunset magazine. The ultra-modern ...more
August 14, 2016
Blame It On Rio The spirit of competition is alive on a global stage in Brazil this summer. Along with it come controversy, cohesiveness and commerce as cultures and their respective markets are fused together during this world wide spectacle. What comes after this Olympiad could be anybody’s guess, but one thing is sure to continue – commerce. This event extracts and deposits fortunes throughout ...more
August 12, 2016
Gary Friedman, the CEO of Restoration Hardware, recently listed his Napa Valley mansion for $10.5 million through Pacific Union Real Estate. It comes fully-furnished with the finest decor, all clad in neutrals his company has made their signature. The 5,772-square-foot mansion features six bedrooms, four-and-a-half bathrooms, wine vault, guest house, organic garden, and stunning outdoor pool. This place truly couldn’t be any cooler. Get in ...more
August 12, 2016
Restoration Hardware CEO Gary Friedman is selling his Napa Valley home in St. Helena, CA, but there’s a twist: the six-bedroom property, listed for $10.5 million, was designed entirely by the team at RH. Friedman, 58, reportedly bought the house in 2013 but settled on another abode in the area before he moved in. He then decided to turn Eight Palms, as it’s called, into ...more
August 8, 2016
Gary Friedman, CEO of luxury retailer Restoration Hardware, purveyors of the controversial catalog, has put his St. Helena mansion on the market. As expected, it’s very, very Restoration Hardware, replete with tree trunk tables, oversized urn-esque fountains, varying hues of grey, and an overall stark/dark minimalism throughout. Christened Eight Palms (it’s de rigueur of tony Bay Area ilk to name their wine country estates—e.g., Tara, ...more
