Built for a Colgate heir in 1903, this Alamo Square mansion at 924 Grove St. in San Francisco pairs a preserved Edwardian facade with a striking modern remodel.
Courtesy of Open Homes Photography
Among the many spectacular and storied homes lining San Francisco’s Grove Street near Alamo Square, 924 Grove St. stands proudly. Originally built in 1903, this historic home once belonged to an heir to the Colgate toothpaste fortune. It’s on the market now for the first time in almost 20 years and, after a substantial remodel, asking $6.8 million.
The exterior of 924 Grove St. looks just as it would have at the turn of the 20th century, its Edwardian facade offering a glimpse of old SF and the grand homes commissioned by turn-of-the-century elite. In this case, Joseph Colgate-McQueen, a member of the famous Colgate family, commissioned the mansion.
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Built for a Colgate heir in 1903, this Alamo Square mansion at 924 Grove St. in San Francisco pairs a preserved Edwardian facade with a striking modern remodel.
Courtesy of Open Homes Photography
Built for a Colgate heir in 1903, this Alamo Square mansion at 924 Grove St. in San Francisco pairs a preserved Edwardian facade with a striking modern remodel.
Courtesy of Open Homes Photography
Built for a Colgate heir in 1903, this Alamo Square mansion at 924 Grove St. in San Francisco pairs a preserved Edwardian facade with a striking modern remodel.
Courtesy of Open Homes Photography
The Colgate brand name is most often associated with toothpaste, but in fact began as a soap company in the early 1800s. Eventually, the company branched out to perfumes and then in the late 1800s to “aromatic toothpaste in jars,” per the official Colgate-Palmolive website. In 1896, Colgate introduced toothpaste in a “collapsible tube”; a couple of years later, an entrepreneur named B.J. Johnson was introducing Palmolive Soap to the United States through his company. Both companies enjoyed stratospheric success over the next several decades and in 1928, they merged. Today, 220 years later, Colgate-Palmolive is still a global leader in personal care products, with worldwide reach and billions of customers.
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In 1903, the Colgate Co. was riding high after winning top honors at the World’s Fair in Paris. Joseph Colgate-McQueen, who had recently arrived in SF from the East Coast, chose architect Frank Van Trees to design his home. Van Trees was a well established turn-of-the-century architect, involved in the grandeur of SF’s pre-earthquake boom. While working on the Colgate Mansion, Van Trees was also designing an opulent French-royalty inspired mansion in Presidio Heights for the wealthy Koshland family, which he finished in 1904.
Built for a Colgate heir in 1903, this Alamo Square mansion at 924 Grove St. in San Francisco pairs a preserved Edwardian facade with a striking modern remodel.
Courtesy of Open Homes Photography
Built for a Colgate heir in 1903, this Alamo Square mansion at 924 Grove St. in San Francisco pairs a preserved Edwardian facade with a striking modern remodel.
Courtesy of Open Homes Photography
Built for a Colgate heir in 1903, this Alamo Square mansion at 924 Grove St. in San Francisco pairs a preserved Edwardian facade with a striking modern remodel.
Courtesy of Open Homes Photography
For the Colgate abode, Van Trees chose a stately Edwardian style, creating a four-story mansion as well as a carriage house of complementary style on the 3,371-square-foot lot.
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Over 100 years later, the mansion’s Edwardian facade has been painstakingly preserved. But inside, the home has been strikingly modernized, its white walls embellished only by huge glass panels. On the main floor, the floor plan is an open one, the living room — made bright by copious natural light — flows into the formal dining room, which leads to a contemporary kitchen and casual sitting area. Retractable doors straddle the corner of this room so that both sides open fully to a cozy deck and barbeque.
Built for a Colgate heir in 1903, this Alamo Square mansion at 924 Grove St. in San Francisco pairs a preserved Edwardian facade with a striking modern remodel.
Courtesy of Open Homes Photography
Built for a Colgate heir in 1903, this Alamo Square mansion at 924 Grove St. in San Francisco pairs a preserved Edwardian facade with a striking modern remodel.
Courtesy of Open Homes Photography
Built for a Colgate heir in 1903, this Alamo Square mansion at 924 Grove St. in San Francisco pairs a preserved Edwardian facade with a striking modern remodel.
Courtesy of Open Homes Photography
On the upper levels, bedrooms offer amenities such as gas fireplaces, private balconies, office nooks and classic city views; bathrooms feature artistic tile work, oversized vanities, walk-in showers and a soaking tub set under a skylight. There’s also a theater, complete with popcorn machine. Other new innovations include radiant heat flooring and a striking dark wood stairway lightened by an inset glass-floored bridge, plus a garage-to-kitchen dumbwaiter and EV chargers.
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Outside, the original carriage house has also been updated. With its own access off Grove Street, this building offers an additional bedroom and bathroom and could be used as a studio, home office or guest quarters.
Built for a Colgate heir in 1903, this Alamo Square mansion at 924 Grove St. in San Francisco pairs a preserved Edwardian facade with a striking modern remodel.
Courtesy of Open Homes Photography
Built for a Colgate heir in 1903, this Alamo Square mansion at 924 Grove St. in San Francisco pairs a preserved Edwardian facade with a striking modern remodel.
Courtesy of Open Homes Photography
Built for a Colgate heir in 1903, this Alamo Square mansion at 924 Grove St. in San Francisco pairs a preserved Edwardian facade with a striking modern remodel.
Courtesy of Open Homes Photography
The substantial interior remodel we see here was more than just a matter of taste. According to a 2009 feature on the property, when new owners (Alan Sagatelyn and Maryam Monsef) took possession of 924 Grove St. in 2005, the home’s insides were in alarming disrepair. “There were a number of illegal apartments, five kitchens, a strange platform stage in one area and lots of staircases,” said Sagatelyan. “The one thing the interiors lacked completely was architectural details.” Sagatelyn and Monsef decided to take the house down to the studs inside, but to preserve the “original facade, with its baby blue paint, intricate stucco and ornate cast iron work,” to quote the San Francisco Chronicle article.
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All this historic and contemporary splendor rests in one of SF’s most iconic neighborhoods, just steps from the famous Painted Ladies.
Built for a Colgate heir in 1903, this Alamo Square mansion at 924 Grove St. in San Francisco pairs a preserved Edwardian facade with a striking modern remodel.
Courtesy of Open Homes Photography
Built for a Colgate heir in 1903, this Alamo Square mansion at 924 Grove St. in San Francisco pairs a preserved Edwardian facade with a striking modern remodel.
Courtesy of Open Homes Photography
Built for a Colgate heir in 1903, this Alamo Square mansion at 924 Grove St. in San Francisco pairs a preserved Edwardian facade with a striking modern remodel.
Courtesy of Open Homes Photography
Compass agents Mollie Poe and Declan Hickey are representing this listing. “Among the many homes that Declan and I have had the privilege of representing around Alamo Square over the past three decades, 924 [Grove] holds a place that’s truly special to us,” Poe wrote in an email May 19. “Its grand exterior makes a striking first impression, but what unfolds inside is something entirely unexpected — an openness and flow that feels welcoming rather than formal, filled with light, warmth, and an easy sense of connection.”
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Apparently, buyers made that connection with this home. The Colgate Mansion was listed this April — and in just three weeks, it went pending.