San Francisco’s own Le Petit Trianon, this year’s showcase home at 3800 Washington Street in Presidio Heights is a massive mansion consisting of nine bedrooms and eight baths over four stories and occupying 18,000-plus square feet. A San Francisco Landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the mansion was previously featured as a showcase home in 1982.
Also known as the Koshland House, the opulent, marbled home was built in 1904 by society architect Franklin S. Van Trees (2300 Vallejo Street, 1901 Jackson Street) for Marcus Koshland, an importer-exporter of wool, hide, and fur, and his wife, Corinne. The couple built the home after visiting Louis XVI’s Palace of Versailles in Paris, and the home is a near-perfect replica of Le Petit Trianon chateaux on the palace grounds, which the king gave to his wife, Marie Antoinette. Upon completion of their home, the Koshlands hosted a Marie Antoinette-themed ball, appropriately held in the mansion’s ballroom.
Over 30 spaces in the mansion have been transformed by over 40 designers who have impressively incorporated original architectural details while creating spaces with contemporary styling, many inspired by historic French spaces, design, or architectural periods. Standouts include L’Appartement; Fleurs et Orangerie Atrium and Butler’s Pantry; Petit Kitchen, Haute Hideaway: A Tribute to Connoisseurship; Public Secrets: In the Garden of Good and Naughty; Recital, Haughton Hall Reimagined; the Master Bathroom Spa; Le salon d’écritoire (writer’s den); and the Master Bedroom. Also notable is the extensive use of exquisite wallpapers, many hand-painted and by de Gournay, and others, like the Main Catering Kitchen vestibule with stemware on a shelf in a trompe l’œil design, and the modern interpretation of toile in the Rooftop Rendezvous, which features custom-created scenes of San Francisco.
Proceeds from the Decorator Showcase supports University High School’s financial aid program, which has raised over $16 million for deserving students over 40 years.
San Francisco Decorator Showcase: Tue.–Sun. through May 26 & Monday, May 27, 3800 Washington St. (btw. Maple & Cherry Sts.), $40, 415-447-5830,
decoratorshowcase.org.
— L. Majer
