After more than two years on and off the market, one of Pacific Heights’ most recognizable historic mansions has finally found a buyer – the government of Algeria.
Public records show that the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria finalized a deal Tuesday to purchase 2800 Pacific Ave. for just under $10 million. The deal marks one of the rare occasions in recent years that a foreign government has stepped into San Francisco’s luxury housing market – and closes the chapter on the property’s prolonged sale that involved a series of price cuts.
The 127-year-old, 8,200-per-square-foot mansion by architect Ernest Coxhead, often referred to as both the “Coxhead Mansion” and “Herbst Manor” – a hat tip to one-time owners Adrian and Lee Guthrie Herbst, who are also the namesakes of the city’s Herbst Theater – is renowned for its stately architecture and commanding views of the city. Its original owner, wealthy art collector Sarah Spooner, assembled the lots and commissioned Coxhead at a time when women were not allowed to own property within San Francisco, Sotheby realtor Pattie Lawton, who handled the mansion’s recent sale, told SFGate in February. Spooner was able to build the home thanks to a loophole: Women were allowed to serve as property owners within San Francisco county limits and, at the time, Divisadero Street served as the divider between the county and the city, Lawton told the publication.
A hand sketched drawing of the Palace of Fine Arts at the top of the front stairwell in the Herbst Manor in 2012. (Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle)
Years ago, the home won the admiration of famed Chronicle columnist Herb Caen, who described 2800 Pacific as the city’s “most iconic” mansion.
But the property struggled to sell since it was first listed for sale in late 2023 by its most recent owners, Ken McNeely and Inder Dhillon, for roughly $15 million. That pricing was lowered multiple times in subsequent months, landing at $11.9 million in the summer of 2024. The home was withdrawn from the market in December of that year, and re-listed in March 2025 for $11.9 million.
What the government of Algeria’s plans for the mansion are not entirely clear. Lawton, the realtor, did not respond to an inquiry from the Chronicle.
The Versailles room at Herbst Manor, in 2012. (Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle)
Charles McCabe, a San Francisco commercial real estate broker familiar with the area who has been tracking 2800 Pacific’s sale, said that the property could potentially serve as a consulate. If used in that manner, the property would enjoy sovereign immunity, meaning it would likely be protected from most lawsuits or access by local law enforcement, he said.
Notably, the Embassy of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria opened an Algerian Consulate in San Francisco in December, in a space it leases at 465 California St. A representative of the consulate did not immediately respond to questions about 2800 Pacific from the Chronicle.
This article originally published at Exclusive: Foreign government buys San Francisco’s ‘most iconic’ mansion.