2840 Broadway Aerial

The sale of the late Dodie Rosenkrans’ Pacific Heights mansion at 2840 Broadway, the Willis Polk designed 17,000 square foot home adjacent to Ellison’s modern manse on San Francisco’s Billionaire’s Row, has quietly closed escrow.

While the buyer’s identity was hidden behind an LLC (“2840 Broadway Street”) managed by William McClure down in Menlo Park, according to a plugged-in tipster the buyer wasn’t Ellison, a fact that we’re still trying to confirm along with the official sale price.

UPDATE: We’ve got confirmation on the buyer who is from the ‘hood but isn’t Ellison which shouldn’t catch any plugged-in readers by surprise. We’re still working on the sale price.

Don’t forget those invitations to the housewarming. Cheers.

27 thoughts on “2840 Broadway Quietly Sells On Billionaire’s Row (And Not To Ellison)”
  1. Some panoramic views from that spot for sure. Congrats to the buyer. A little non-traditional sleuthing and I think I’ve figured out the buyer. But not really a fan of publishing that sort of information.

  2. kic00, because they can afford to pay for it (the pass).
    I’m not a real estate agent and I can’t give you a comprehensive list of all the costs of hiding the details of a transaction, but consider this: creating that anonymous LLC is going to cost $820 in LLC taxes & fees paid to the state right out of the box; the attorney’s firm is going to charge you their regular paralegal fees for preparation and filing plus a management fee. The attorney is probably going to charge his regular rate for starting up the process unless you’re already a client, etc.…you get the idea.

  3. Like no one is ever going to find out!
    Whoever bought this house is going to be holding huge fundraisers for their favorite political party and cultural entity just as soon as they renovate and decorate. You don’t buy a house like this to stay under the radar. Why all the secrecy? Seriously!

  4. I agree, this is silly. Anyone who decides to live on Outer Broadway is not going to hide, so why the big secret? Robin Williams had the right idea by tucking in to Sea Cliff which is far less on the tourist agenda. Outer Broadway is all about big parties, big fundraisers, and nonstop parking drama from various valet agencies blocking driveways, as well as the constant tourist vans and bus traffic.

  5. I would just like to know who bought it.
    If no one does, I will find out when we get back in a month and post it then.

  6. @anon: first, i think it rubs people the wrong way because it says that folks with money don’t play by the same rules as everyone else.
    second, everyone hates hypocrisy… the only reason to buy a house this size is to scream “look at me!” (with this kinda money, someone wanting privacy can build their own private skywalker ranch). but here the owner buys on broadway but tries to stay private. to some that seems an odd contradiction.

  7. Since the looky-loos aren’t publicly spilling it, let’s start with the statement that the buyer is, “from the hood” and assume this means the immediate neighborhood, and not from Baker and Post.
    Some speculations:
    * The Gettys have decided to buy the entire North side of Broadway, and now only need to wait for Ellison to sell.
    * The Hearsts want a bigger castle.
    * The Miners want to reunite Team Oracle.
    * The Bebos decided that 11,500 sq ft is too cramped.
    * A hedge funder/VC/PE guy decides that now is a great time for more conspicuous consumption.
    * None of the above…

  8. The very rich and famous have to handle security differently. Being out and about can be an issue, and having one’s name attached to a location invites identity theft and other mischief. Handling transfer and ownership this way isn’t really much different from keeping the door locked. Discretion, please!

  9. The overheated prose at that site (sfluxe.com) made me reach for the nearest spoon. So I could gag myself.

  10. Interesting factoid from the sfluxe article:

    Following Mrs. Welch’s passing, the home was willed to the Archdiocese, and was kept as the Archbishop’s mansion for 40 years, until it was purchased by the Rosekrans family in 1979 for $1.6 million.

    The lesson here is that if you donate a property to a charity it might only benefit the head of that charity for many decades.
    Interesting clues to the new owner in that article. Funny that those who know are exercising discretion though dropping enough hints to give it away.

  11. Oh good grief.. The sfluxe article basically states the Gettys bought it… How totally uninteresting. If you can’t read between the lines, Ann Getty was the interior “decorator” of Trevor Traina’s house across the street, which was featured in Vogue last year.

  12. So does it have a garage or not? There’s a curb cut, but that’s a very narrow driveway (if is one), but that’s nothing compared to the double garages they have now across the street.
    Maybe they’ll keep both and use the second as a guest/staff house plus garage. The current house has a much more family friendly garden as well.

  13. I just saw on Redfin that 2920 Broadway sold for 23,473,000… I wonder if this was an actual sale or some type of property transfer…

  14. Mark Pincus bought 2920 Broadway and then rented it back to Sloane and Roger Barnett for two years until Peter Marino gets done working on their new house, 2840 Broadway…

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