California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom Sells in The City

SELLER: Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel Newsom
LOCATION: San Francisco, CA
PRICE: $2,750,000
SIZE: 3,051 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: This may be old news to all the Bay Area real estate crazies but those who don't regularly peruse the San Francisco, CA property blogs may not already know that Gavin Newsom, the slick former mayor of San Fran and current Lieutenant Governor of California, has done sold his house in the Ashbury Heights 'hood and decamped to Marin County where he and the missus–actress Jennifer Siebel–have temporarily moved into her wealthy parents' mansion in the leafy and upscale community of Ross.

Young, rich and extraordinarily well-connected Mister Newsom–his family is all knotted up with the oil rich and scandal-plagued Getty family–was a millionaire vintner, restaurateur and hotelier before 2004 when he ascended with great fanfare and social media buzz to the mayorship of San Francisco. Much to the chagrin of the seven social conservatives in San Francisco, Mister Newsom single-handedly launched gay marriage into the national mainstream media in 2004 when he legalized gay marriage within the city limits. That gay party didn't last long thanks to various legal actions and Proposition 8 and neither did Mister Newsom's first marriage to boob-toob hostess Kimberly Guilfoyle. That toothy pair went kaput in 2006 amid rumors (and later revelations) of an extra-marital affair with the wife of a close associate.

He went to rehab and, in early 2006, Mister Newsom coughed up $2,350,000 for a 1 bedroom and 1.5 pooper penthouse bachelor pad at the Bellair Tower, a swank and soo-blime 1930s Art Deco-style building on Russian Hill. A little over two years later he hitched his romantic wagon to actress Jennifer Siebel's love train and together they settled into the Mister Newsom's Bellair Tower penthouse. Seven months later the missus turned up with a bun in an oven and in April 2009 they couple put their baby-unfriendly 1 bedroom aerie on the market with a price tag of $2,995,000. According to the peeps at Property Shark the lucky Newsoms sold the penthouse four short weeks later for $2,935,000.

It was also about this time that Mister Newsom announced his bid to be Governor of California, a candidacy endorsed by fellow philanderer Bill Clinton. He bailed out of that race in the fall of 2009–later won by old-school lefty-lib Jerry Brown–but succeeded in his subsequent run for his current job as Lieutenant Governor.

Property records show that Mister and Missus Newsom purchased their house in the Ashbury Heights neighborhood in June 2009 for $2,738,000. Shortly after that he put another shorty in his lady-wife's belly and they decided their Ashbury Heights home was not longer suitable for their growing family. When we chit-chatted with out S.F.-based b.f.f. Fiona Trambeau about Mister Newsom's house she hissed and cooed and stomped her Lucite-heeled feet about how close it is to Buena Vista Park, one of San Francisco's most notorious gay cruising parks. You should have heard her go on. Your Mama had to hang up the damn phone on that madwoman from Chaillot. (No matter what Fiona says–and beehawtcha says plenty–Your Mama is not making any implications of any kind about Mister Newsom's naughty bizness proclivities.) Anyhoo, the completely renovated but child unfriendly residence appeared on the open market on the 7th of July (2011) for $2,750,000. Four days later the property went into escrow and, according to the good folks at Redfin, the house sold on July 13 for its full asking price.

Listing information shows the fully detached residence measures 3,051 square feet over three floors and includes a total of 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. The residence, originally built in 1915, has a new-fangled and pukey stucco exterior but the some of the Edwardian architectural elements such as the bowed window make Your Mama think this house might have once been much more attractive in its original state.

A stone staircase to the right of the front-facing two-car attached garage (with desirable direct entry to the house) climbs to a small front porch where the front door opens into the entrance hall with old-timey architectural details smoothed out with gleaming white paint, blond herringbone patterned wood floors and built-in built-in bock cases filled mostly with the sort of stuffy leather-bound books that nobody actually reads. The main staircase winds around to the second floor with an aggressive, eye poking star burst-pattern wrought iron banister that Your Mama rather likes for its overt but pretty anger.
The formal living room, dining room and kitchen all pinwheel around the entrance hall that includes, as per the floor plan included with marketing materials (above), a windowed powder pooper tucked up under the stairs. The living room, done up with a Hollywood Regency sort of glam, includes a carved wood fireplace flanked by a pair of funky hooded bergeres and a bowed bay with four sets of French doors that lead to a small planted terrace. The recently remodeled and light-flooded kitchen–a little too open to the entrance hall for our particular taste–has bone colored granite counter tops, high-grade stainless steel appliances–natch–a center work island/snack counter, and dark gray cabinetry that reaches blessedly all the way to the ceiling and includes a bank of wonderfully tall glass fronted cabinets perfect for displaying kitchenware and booze bottles.

A staircase descends from the kitchen to the lower level where two potential bedrooms share an awkwardly split bathroom that has the sink and terlit on one side of the hall and a shower cubby on the other. We gleaned from listing photos that Mister and Missus Newsom used one room for guests and the other as a family room area that includes a double-sided gas fireplace flanked by French doors that open the room to a partially covered terrace.

The uppermost floor contains two craftily laid out bedroom suites, each with private facility, that share a small sitting/sun room. The smaller suite at the front of the house has a entrance hall with closets, luxe bathroom with lots of windows and a pair of French doors to open to a small semi-circular terrace. The master suite also has a proper foyer–how much do we l.o.v.e. a bedroom with a foyer?–two terraces, a pair of walk-in closets and a bathroom with a shower room that could easily accommodate 3 or 4 people.

While in the heart of the city, the property has surprisingly generous outdoor space. In addition to the five terraces and patios there's a fenced patch of grass that runs alongside the house. Perhaps it's only just large enough to accommodate the sort of jungle gym multi-millionaires buys for their off-spring, there's certainly plenty of room for a couple of long-bodied bitches to scramble around and do their dirty business.

Some of the home's top-notch systems include dual on-demand water heaters, seismic upgrades, wiring for surround sound and a security system that includes closed-circuit cameras mounted around the house.

Mister and Missus Newsom, it seems, have some serious real estate good luck when it comes to selling their homes pronto.

Although it's not clear why Mister and Missus Newsom moved to Marin–into her parents' house no less–and didn't just lease or buy a larger home in the city. Perhaps they don't care to raise their kids in the city. Or maybe, as suggested by at least one Bay Area gossip, he plans to vie for the congressional seat that Marin County Rep. Lynn Woolsey may (or may not) soon relinquish. Whatever the reason(s) Your Mama highly doubts it has a damn thing to do with their finances so all you people who want to speculate he moved in with his in-laws because he can't make his mortgage will most certainly be barking up the wrong tree. Nor do we see the family packing their bags for Sacramento. If we were the betting type–and we're not–we'd wager half a donkey and two scoops of beans that the Siedel-Newsom clan will settle down in a big house with a big yard in a fancy community not too far from her parents residence in Ross. Just a hunch. We shall see.

listing photos: McGuire Real Estate