Spreckels Mansion

Parthenon of the West

Beautiful Mansion

Description

The Spreckels Mansion is probably the most beautiful of San Francisco's Victorian mansions. Located in Pacific Heights, its tremendous white facade is visible from Lafayette Park, where San Francisco natives try to peer over the well-groomed hedges to get a better view of its signature opulence. Spreckels Mansion was built by sugar magnate Claus Spreckels for his lovely new wife, Alma le Normand de Bretteville. Alma had already created a considerable name for herself; as a struggling artist and famous beauty, she had begun a career as a nude model. Her frame is actually commemorated in Union Square, where she served as the model for the triumphant, torch-hoisting libertine atop the Roman pedestal in the center of the square. Claus Spreckels and Alma Spreckels became San Francisco's de facto royal couple, hosting the elite in their new mansion overlooking the bay.