Once in a lifetime one is able to acquire a true architectural masterpiece. That opportunity has just arrived in Hillsborough, California offered by Keller Williams Realty International. It has just been announced that the this unique and historically significant estate has been offered for sale. Built circa 1930 for Celia Tobin Clark, this Cotswold-influenced home was the masterpiece of Architect David Adler, and was called House-on-Hill. The current owners meticulously restored this magnificent property with a budget of over $19 million. Now offered at $29 million, the regal 35,000 square foot Tudor home has been host to numerous dignitaries, including Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Regan, and George H.W. Bush, as well as King Hussein and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Nestled on 6-acres and surrounded by stately gardens, this secluded Hillsborough, California retreat is the jewel in the crown of San Francisco estates. The estate is close to three international airports and in the midst of the world-class financial, technological, and cultural centers of San Francisco and Silicon Valley. The extensive renovation began shortly after the home was acquired by the current owners in 1992. Original features of design were lovingly preserved while the estate’s infrastructure was extensively modernized. The residence’s 30 rooms comprise a grand ballroom, three kitchens, a library, guest apartment, music room, formal banquet facility, media room, exercise facility, 12 bedrooms, 12 full baths, 3 partial baths, and 12 fireplaces.

In the entrance Gallery, the floor is marble, laid without mortar, point to point, to create a deep pattern of optical illusion. The walls are dowel-joined Jacobean paneling, purchased through Stair and Andrew in London. Eighteenth-Century English oak surrounds the gentleman’s cloak room, where special shallow cupboards were fashioned to hold shaving mugs. For the master sitting room, the owner and architect chose oak paneling, circa 1724, from Royal House Cononley; and the chandelier, constructed a few years later, is Waterford, purchased from a descendant of the actor Edmund Kean. Pine carving attributed to Grinling Gibbons, woodcarver to St. Paul’s Cathedral under Sir Christopher Wren, and matching eighteenth-century pine bookcases grace the library, featured in Helen Comstock’s one 100 Most Beautiful Rooms in America.

It has been written that for several years prior to building the Mansion, Mrs. Clark had been collecting ideas, clippings, photographs and other inspirations for her home. And it is known that during its somewhat lengthy construction, the estate pulled many local laborers and one failing plaining mill right through the Depression. In two years alone, more than one million dollars was poured into the local economy, and at least three area firms were spared from bankruptcy.

Celia Tobin Clark’s family banking background is evident in some of the unique original features such as bank-vault doors which open in the silver vault and 1,700-bottle wine vault. The music room is one of the more opulent spaces, with its 15-foot ceilings, parquet floors, and gold-gilt molding. It opens to one of the three terraces. Secluded from view behind classic wrought iron gates, one enters the grounds of this estate through a dramatic lighted cobblestone drive into a large motor court with a spectacular stone fountain; a truly grand entrance for the most elegant galas. Please have fully qualified Buyers contact Jim Walberg with Keller Williams Realty International. The estate is also represented by Today Sotheby's International Realty, Engel Volker, and Alain Pinel Realty