Hot Property: S.F. mansion with tennis court

SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - In 1946, Gladyne K. Mitchell’s father, Mitchel Mitchell, bought a Henry Clay Smith-designed home at 2901 Broadway for $93,000. The 10,000-square-foot Renaissance-style mansion sat on a 135-foot-by-125-foot lot with panoramic views.

Sixty years later, Pacific Union/GMAC agents Dona Crowder, Constance Heldman and Peggy Economos were charged by Mitchell to put the family home on the market. For six months, they stewed over price. Rumors circulated that they’d refused an offer for $25 million, that the home would be priced at a record-setting $75 million.

Finally, in April of 2007, owner and agents agreed on an asking price of $55 million.

It is certainly not easy to sell a home that is priced in the stratosphere. Ask the owners of the unfinished manse at 2845 Broadway, just a block away. It has sat on the market, priced at $65 million, since March of 2006.

Mitchell held several fund-raisers on-site in 2007 and allowed her home to be part of the San Francisco Decorator Showcase’s 30th year celebration. She is a regular in the pages of the Nob Hill Gazette and the San Francisco society scene; her home drew curious onlookers from all over the region.

Still, almost a year has passed and the home is still for sale.

What does a potential buyer get for $55,000,000? The home has seven bedrooms and 7½ bathrooms, a library, a music room, a curio room, two kitchens and a 600-square-foot living room, spread out over four levels. A fifth level contains a two-car garage.

It also has one of the only private outdoor tennis courts in The City, and views of Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge and Marin County.

2901 Broadway promises a lifestyle most of us can only imagine. Somewhere out there is a buyer for whom that life is real.

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