2020 Jackson (www.SocketSite.com)
Designed by Julius Kraft and built in 1902 by Wells Fargo Bank President Isaias Hellman as a wedding gift for his daughter, 2020 Jackson Street served as the makeshift headquarters of Wells Fargo following San Francisco’s great quake and fire in 1906.
A 1991 Decorator Showcase home, details from which remain in the formal dining room and throughout, in 2004 the 10,900 square foot property was purchased for $22,500,000 by the Catherine Schwab Revocable Trust.
Recently emptied, it’s a plugged-in tipster that catches the Arthur McLaughlin trucks coming and going as the property quietly prepares to publicly hit the market with a splash, most likely in a week or two.
UPDATE: It’s a plugged-in reader that gets the credit for discovering a treasure trove of photos from when the property was last on the market. Get ’em while you can.
2020 Jackson: Stairs
2020 Jackson: Dining
Isaias W. Hellman [wikipedia.org]

15 thoughts on “2020 Jackson’s Storied Past (And Currently Staging)”
  1. I’m sure the schwab trust will be able to withstand the loss on this one. Me thinks the sale price on this home will not begin with a “2”. Hard to project price on such a unique / storied property but I’m not sure this can fetch over $15 maybe 18 if the right buyer or if it’s more improved that I suspect it is.
    Found a cool pic from 1906. No driveway and a pitched roof. See name link.

  2. You can see the interior photos by clicking on name/link
    I’ve always found this place a little bit gothic for my taste. It’s a stellar home, obviously… My immediate thought was also 15 million. It could sell for more though simply because it’s a one of kind home.

  3. It’s almost the perfect bubble property, if only for Mr. Hellman’s unnamed son-in-law: Emmanuel Heller, who gave his name to the great San Francisco law firm, Heller Ehrman, which died a painful death in late 2008.
    Click the link in the name for more details.

  4. Actually, it’s even more incestuous than that, and there were more banksters involved.
    Emanuel S. Heller married Clara Hellman, and that’s why Wells Fargo was briefly based at their house, 2020 Jackson — its lawyer was Heller.
    Heller’s law partner Sidney Ehrman married Clara’s sister, Florence Hellman.
    Incidentally, Sidney and Florence’s daughter, Esther Ehrman, married Claude Lazard. I.W. Hellman was a regent of UC, as were Sidney Ehrman and Emanuel Heller’s son Edward Hellman Heller (as well as Edward’s wife). In addition, F. Warren Hellman worked for Lehman Bros. (and is still on the board of Haas I believe), and so did Frederick (brother of Sidney) Ehrman, his uncle, both of whom were famous for working on Philip Morris financing.
    RIP Heller — it was a venerable SF institution before things went bad.

  5. sfrenegade wrote:
    > Actually, it’s even more incestuous than
    > that, and there were more banksters involved.
    > Emanuel S. Heller married Clara Hellman, and
    > that’s why Wells Fargo was briefly based at
    > their house, 2020 Jackson — its lawyer was
    > Heller. Heller’s law partner Sidney Ehrman
    > married Clara’s sister, Florence Hellman…
    If you want to read more about this I recommend Towers of Gold by Hellman’s Great Great Great Grandaughter Frances Dinkelspiel (who I last saw at a Big Game tailgate party back around 1980).
    http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=dinkelspiel&tag=googhydr-20&index=stripbooks&hvadid=9246189481&ref=pd_sl_41stiutrsc_b

  6. I’m not sure those are old pics from the old listing that Denis posted. The Mercedes in shot 137 of 199 looks to be a current model year.
    http://cdn.dom.us/vpqb9/dom.us/stills/43.jpg
    http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicles/model/class-S/model-S400HV
    I suspect this is a staging site for http://www.2020jackson.com that was registered by CB in May of this year.
    Besides, it would take a LOT more furniture than that little red truck to stage this place.

  7. Totally off topic – but the wikipedia article Mr. E linked to shows a picture of 333 bush. Any news on those condos?
    I checked out the 2/2 on the 44th (I think) floor years ago. The unit was nice with killer views and two monster corner decks, location was meh and had high HOAs though. Any news on that building?

  8. The firm I work for just moved from One Market Plaza to 333 Bush into the old Heller Ehrman space. Everyone hates it, partly because the space is cramped compared what we were used to, but mostly because the neighborhood is so crappy. The residential entrance to 333 is a dirty eyesore on a dirty, busy, run-down street. I can’t imagine anyone with money wanting to live there.

  9. Oh, and the reason we moved there – apparently we got a great deal on the rent. The neighborhood makes what would be an A-class building somewhere else into a B-class.

  10. while working at Heller I would occasionally run into residents in the parking garage (the commercial and residential used the same lifts). My recollection is that most were foreign, had kids, and were strictly drive-in/drive-out.
    It’s a strange block, what with the abandoned neoclassical building across the street and the big vacant lot next to it. Pine and California feel equally bleak on those blocks.

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