The largest estate in San Francisco seems to still be having no luck selling even after its market price was slashed from $12.5million in September 2017 to $5.5million.
Number 47 Chenery Street – also known as The Pritkin Museum – is owned by former ad exec and bon vivant Bob Pritikin.
The mansion sits on a full city block in Glen Park and the stand-out features of the five-bedroom five-bath home include a neomodern staircase that splits to the left and right at the top, and a living room comparable to the size of a tennis court, SF Gate reported.
San Francisco’s Chenery House is now available for purchase for $5.5million, more than 50 per cent less than its original $12.5million asking price when the mansion was first put on the marketing in September 2017
The 9,966-square-foot mansion is owned by former ad exec, author and bon vivant Bob Pritikin, who banked major cash after writing the famous Rice-a-Roni jingle in the 1950s. He currently lives in the home and is in his 80s
The home’s foyer can easily hold five dinner tables of 10 people and it has a living room the size of a tennis court. On the far right is the original clock that once hung above San Francisco’s F.A.O. Schwarz
Hinting that it’s more a case of finding the right buyer, listing agent Joel Goodrich of Coldwell Banker said: ‘Since we’ve reduced the price we’ve gotten tremendous interest and it’s going to be a great opportunity for someone to buy a unique San Francisco property with great potential.’
The California city is famed for its overpriced and often tiny properties so the 9,966-square-foot mansion is a steal.
‘It’s definitely one of the largest living rooms in the city,’ Goodrich said, adding that the home’s foyer ‘can comfortably hold five dinner tables of 10.’
Pritikin has hosted plenty of fundraisers and parties at the home over the years, including his annual Labor Day party attended by up to 850 people, including luminaries like Carol Channing, Mickey Rooney, Liberace and Bob Weir
The three-unit building’s main house, which Pritikin lives in, has five bedrooms and five bathrooms
Other astonishing features of the home include an indoor-outdoor swimming pool with a retractable glass roof, a carport that houses four cars and a driveway capable of handling up to 15 cars.
The discreet home is hidden among trees that line the half-acre of statue-laden gardens.
Guests must enter through a three-unit facade among liquor stores and apartment buildings before they even see the main home that looks as though ‘it’s straight out of Paris’, according to Goodrich.
It was originally built by Pritikin in 1989. He banked major cash after writing the famous Rice-a-Roni jingle in the 1950s.
The home features a wall-size replica of Rembrandt’s ‘Night Watch,’ commissioned by the Lord Mayor of Amsterdam
One of the home’s astonishing features is an indoor-outdoor swimming pool with a retractable glass roof on the second floor
He was inspired to build the house after attempting to purchase Le Petit Trianon, the famed Presidio Heights estate modeled after Versailles.
‘But he wasn’t able to get it,’ Goodrich said. ‘Someone else snatched it up. He decided to buy a big lot and build an estate with the same French neoclassical inspiration.’
Pritikin, now in his 80s, has taken full advantage of all that space, hosting a bevvy of parties and fundraisers at the home over the years, including his annual Labor Day party attended by up to 850 people.
The Chenery House sits on an entire city block in San Francisco’s Glen Park neighborhood
The property’s main house is fronted by a French neoclassical facade, which its broker has said is ‘straight out of Paris’
To get to the house, visitors need to walk through a three-unit building and into an English country-style garden
A view of the mansion’s retractable glass roof. The home also features a carport that houses four cars and a driveway capable of handling up to 15 cars — perfect for the hundreds of guests the home is capable of entertaining
Pritikin currently lives in the main residence and will move into ‘some other glamorous place’ once the mansion sells, Goodrich said.
Currently he uses the property to house his weird and wonderful collection of unique items.
They include the original clock hung in San Francisco’s F.A.O. Schwarz toy store, a needlepoint tapestry of George Washington surrounded by $1 bills and a replica of Rembrandt’s The Night Watch painting which was commissioned by the Lord Mayor of Amsterdam and stretches across an entire wall.
He was forced to cut the asking price even further after listing it as $8.5million in June this year which was a 32 per cent reduction from its original price tag.
The three-unit home is discreet from the outside and is hidden among the trees, liquor stores and apartment buildings
Pritikin (left in his younger years) is now in his 80s and currently lives in the main house but will move elsewhere