LOCATION

Situated on the highly coveted Western slope of Belvedere Island, this world-class property is an exceptional example of Modern Architecture, a true work of art, which has a soothing power. Dramatic water views unify the expansive 4-level floor plan, evoking the romance of luxury ocean liners. Floor-to-ceiling windows & sliding doors connect the interior to its serene surroundings and generate superb light in every room. A unique design by a renowned architect in a dramatic setting and at a prestigious address makes this truly a rare offering.

The present owner acquired the property in 1996 and within one year commissioned architect Charles Gwathmey of the New York-based firm Gwathmey Siegel and Associates to design a new 8,131 square foot (per tax) residence which was completed in 2003. Included in the sale of the house is the furniture either designed or selected by the architect’s interior designers who created “warm, understated, somewhat traditional furnishings for a very contemporary house,” using “a neo-modernist template.” The property was published in GA Houses, Japan; Architectural Digest, March 2005; and Marin Magazine.

GARAGE & GUEST SUITE STRUCTURE
_

The under-stated street façade does not give away anything of the building’s dramatic architecture. A secure entry gate adjacent to the three car garage with storage cabinets leads to a balcony with water views seen over the barrel-vaulted roof of the main residence building. Access to a limestone-paved entrance court is granted via staircase or by elevator. A guest suite with bedroom, sitting area and en-suite bathroom occupies the entry structure. Adjacent to the guest suite is a nearly three thousand bottle wine cellar equipped with temperature and humidity control system.

Across the courtyard, the main residence offers spectacular views of the Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco and Sausalito from every room.

MAIN RESIDENCE
_

ENTRY LEVEL

Reception Foyer: A wide swath of flamed beige-grey buxy limestone delimits the entry foyer, featuring two coat closets, an under-counter closet with honed buxy limestone counter and recessed lighting.

Sitting Room/Dining Room: The formal panoramic view living room/dining room presents a wood burning fireplace with a soap stone mantel and gas log lighter, a vaulted ceiling edged by a glass-block clerestory, covered with stretched fabric hiding the audio equipment, and bubinga hardwood floors. The dining area has a built-in side board for china, which also houses a music cabinet with disc storage. A wet bar with Subzero under counter refrigerator, Aqua-Pure filtration for instant hot and cold water, under counter sub-zero wine storage, and a overhung glass cabinet facilitate entertainment. The width of the room consists of floor-to-ceiling sliding doors opening onto a large teak floored view deck covered with a brise soleil. A Creston smart color touch screen remote control box commands audio, video, room lighting and the motorized shades for this level.

Kitchen: The epicurean kitchen showcases a breakfast area with a picture perfect view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Appliances include Viking Professional thermal-convection ovens, a Viking four burner gas stove top with griddle and char-grill, a Panasonic built-in microwave oven, a Miele dishwasher, a garbage compactor, prep sinks, honed buxy limestone and maple counter tops, a center island with double-sink, instant hot and chilled water tap, Leby of New Brunswick cabinets with pull out shelves.

Pantry/mudroom: A large adjacent pantry/mudroom features a Miele built-in espresso maker, a sub zero refrigerator, and ample shelves for storage. A cabinet houses the Weather Maker Carrier heating and air conditioning unit for this floor.

Guest Powder Room: laundry chute. Dorn Bracht faucets, nautical lanterns.

Staircase & Elevator: The sweeping bubinga staircase circles around the elevator in a cylinder structure abutting the front door.

AMENITIES

The villa is exquisitely arranged for both gracious entertaining and consummate everyday comfort. Detailed craftsmanship and timeless finishes are found throughout the house.
Clear Western red cedar was used for the exterior siding on the house and garage structure.
Exterior doors and windows frames are made of solid teak, whereas most of the interior frames are made of rock maple. All windows have shades built in their frames with the vast majority being motorized.

Flooring: Flamed limestone from Buxy in the Burgundy region of France, personally selected from a certain corner of the quarry by Charles Gwathmeny for its limited veining and its consistency in color; the same stone, in a honed finish was used for countertops and the floors of stall showers. Bubinga, cherry-like wood from Africa. Thassos, a pure white marble from Greece was used for the walls of the showers and bath tub recesses as well as bathroom counters. Wool carpet in the bedrooms and family room.

Each floor has its own Audio/Video cabinet holding the amplifiers, tuners and numerous other devices. The AV controls by Creston are distributed throughout the house. An Audioquest digital player allows close to 9000 songs to be digitally recorded on the hard disc and played from any space in the home. There are nine plasma televisions. The AV system includes DVD, VCR, Tivo, Satellite, Cable, the centralized audio library and tuner and video games as its output options.

The lighting control system by Homeworks is a fully programmable system allowing any switch to control any light or group of lights and to be set at specific brightness. It also makes it possible for any light to be programmed to automatically turn on or off at any specific time.

A commercial Avaya multi-line phone system with IP telephone modules has extensive voicemail programming options. Each level has a wireless Avaya phone. The house has a DSL data connection and has WiFi wireless antennas on all floors.

Central vacuum system.

Digitally controlled safe secured to the concrete floor.

Full electric generator to support the entire electricity use of the house.

The furniture design motif is French Art Deco with both original and reproduction pieces throughout. The family room sectional sofa was designed specifically for the size and shape of the room.

Offered at $18,000,000
Furniture Included*

*None of the decorative items, such as photographs, posters, paintings, sculptures, vases, books, china, glass ware, flatware, cookware, linens, wines or personal effects are included in the sale. The piano and the two single chairs in the living room are excluded.