While the buyers of 2950 Broadway were hidden behind the “Bellihouse, LLC,” as a couple of plugged-in readers quickly surmised, it would appear as though Alexis and Trevor Traina are trading up to the most expensive home in San Francisco on Billionaires Row.

Business records for the aptly named Bellihouse limited liability company list 2825 Broadway as its principal place of business, the address of the Trainas’ current home:

2825 Broadway

Purchased for $8,520,000 in 2006 and since remodeled and redecorated, might 2825 Broadway soon hit the market? We’ll keep you posted and plugged-in.

34 thoughts on “The Trainas Appear to Be Trading Up On Billionaires Row”
  1. Gross… I would say something bitchy, but that wouldn’t be productive. At least he’ll have a great spot to park his violet Land Rover. Anyway, great comp and great PPSF for Pac Heights view homes.

  2. A reminder of just how small San Francisco really is. I love San Francisco for its setting, beauty, and history but the fact that we all know who this is, what he drives, and are very familiar with this house shows our true provincial colors.
    The one thing I miss about larger cities is the anonymity of wealth due to the larger inventory of trophy properties and the larger pool of buyers. The musical chairs played mosttly by members of the same families on properties in the same 15 block by 4 block wide area is astonishing in its insular isolation.
    Despite all of their liberal fundraisers, these buyers would never be caught dead living south of Washington Street, and could care less if Noe Valley price psf is higher than parts of this neighborhood which my friends who live within call “the bubble”. Don’t these people EVER get tired of seeing eachother year after year, again and again, at the same Opera openings, charity events, cocktail parties and art gallery receptions?

  3. I find it odd that they’d try to keep it a secret. Even if they were successful at keeping the info on the DL, eventually they’d move in, and it would be pretty obvious who the purchaser is.
    Although I suppose it could be part of the game of keeping up appearances. Pretending you want to keep the price you paid for your home secret, but knowing everyone will find out anyway.
    @ anon94123 Well said.

  4. Don’t these people EVER get tired of seeing eachother year after year, again and again, at the same Opera openings, charity events, cocktail parties and art gallery receptions?
    Apparently not. This is obviously not my life, but I do enjoy bumping into the same circle of people at the park, at school events, along 24th Street, on Muni, even at work. I would imagine the Old Money crowd feels the same way. Life is more fun when are you are part of a tribe of like minded people.

  5. Yes, I should have remembered this from my reading of “The Theory of the Leisure Class” by Veblen. The wealthy are the most tribal group in modern society and their insular isolation from the rest of society is the same as a tribe living in the most remote parts of the world. As an architect, I have come into contact with this group, flown on their G5’s, and been involved in their vacations homes at Hualalai and Bighorn C.C., but I do NOT think my life is nearly as tribal as theirs. NVJ, I would imagine you travel to more different parts of the city, and come into contact with diversity on a daily basis a lot more times in one day than my clients do in one year. The fact is that this part of Pacific Heights is still very white, very old money, and very removed from the modern world. Sure there are new moguls buying up some of the homes on Outer Broadway, but the majority of these residences have been in the hands of the same families and their offspring for many many decades. (They do make good clients however)

  6. How charming, the ‘outing’ of a big purchase. It’s a shame there’s no Michael Musto boldface employed. Though, probably if the guy writes for the Huffington Post, he loves this sort of attention.

  7. Just..anecdotaly, as I’ve had somewhat limited contact with the rich and I guess none with people on this level..
    But in some ways the rich lifestyle seems to bore me, at least from the outside looking in. It’s a little hard to explain, but it seems that every single social of consumer decision had to be a conspicuous statement and something that ‘rich people do’. There was no interest in doing something simple like, say, meeting for a pizza or a drink.
    So yes, in that sense I totally agree with your statement about isolation anon94123 but as mentioned my evidence is more anecdotal and I;ve not done the reading!
    Always found this quote though, from Irvine Welsh, who I’ve had the fortune to meet on a few occasions, interesting
    “In an interview with The Daily Mail on 7 August 2006, he described himself as “not so much middle-class as upper-class. I’m very much a gentleman of leisure. I write. I sit and look out of my window into the garden. I enjoy books. I love the density and complexity of Jane Austen and George Eliot. I listen to music; I travel. I can go off to a film festival whenever I like.””
    as it seems a much better use of the time that the leisure class affords!
    Choose life. Choose a $35m home.

  8. Why someone would call this sale “gross” is beyond me. It just shows pettiness and provincialism in our so called world class city. Oh, and add to that, jealousy. And why do you give a damn that he drives a Land Rover?
    There have been and always will be wealthy people. What’s the problem?
    Would one rather see these amazing, historical homes sit vacant and become run down?
    I’m glad the property sold. I hope the family enjoys it. They are also part of San Francisco, just like all of us.

    1. People might not like the fact that their money was inherited from the Dow Chemical fortune or that they’re always mugging for the cameras at every opportunity. Or that Trevor pretends to be a self-made man. Laney Thronton has an amazing home, but he doesn’t pretend he didn’t inherit his money, nor does he seek out the spotlight.

  9. There are houses as big and wonderful for sale for a miser in less fortunate areas of the country (like Motor City).
    These homes that are worthy of Billionaire Row stay unsold at just a few 100Ks. They are charged with history, are connected to our cultural and industrial heritage. And yet for this small price, who will properly take care of them?
    We should be so lucky to still have a wealthy class that can afford to maintain these houses in their all historical grandeur.

  10. Yes, I was just talking the other day to someone about all of the amazing, large, historic houses in Detroit that are completely abandoned and left to crumble into nothing. It’s a sad city that once was great and maybe someday it can come back. I hope so.
    And yes, the wealthy class is here to stay and maintain and preserve these amazing houses. Let’s be real; San Francisco, we hope will never fall into the state that Detroit is in.
    The complainers who moan about the “grossness” of the purchasing of these large homes somehow have a very skewed sense of reality.

  11. Indeed, for anyone complaining about the wealthy in the City, we can point them to other boom towns.
    Very few have had wave after wave of wealth creation like we did. We all profit from it directly or indirectly. Plus the less rich are a rather protected species with rent control and prop 13. We’re doing pretty well.

  12. Totally agree about the fact that there needs to be a class of people that can maintain these homes. I am from the Detroit suburbs and believe me, we do not want San Francisco to turn into another Detroit. There is the desire to save the mansions in Detroit, but the crime is so bad that people are afraid to move there, especially those with families.
    Am a little envious of the people who can afford a $35M home? Sure. But more power to those who can and do. They could easily take their money elsewhere but they choose to spend it here.

  13. Seeing the comments on this board, it seems that San Francisco has about two futures to choose from (1) being the plaything of rich Chinese party bosses (option currently in office) or (2) De-Troit.

  14. Ridiculous comment wrath.
    No one here but you seems to think there are just two futures for SF.
    Your comment is full of negative stereotypes and built-in anger.
    what’s your point?

  15. My comment earlier was wildly misinterpreted and was maybe a little society insider-ish. I own property in D7, so I’m thrilled at the influx of wealthy buyers and the sky high ppsf for these homes. Great for me and SF in general. $410k in annual property taxes for this one place!
    This isn’t a social gossip blog, so I’m not going to elaborate, but if you get it, you get it. Snark aside, I certainly don’t hate the buyers or most of this social class… well, except Alison Pincus… it… it…Flames.. FLAAAAMES on the side of my face…

  16. It appears Trevor has solidified his family’s status at the pinnacle of San Francisco society for another generation.
    Bravo. It takes a lot of hard work, devotion, and generosity (and a dash of cunning) to stay on the top of the social ladder.
    Thank god he has money AND class.
    The lavender Land Rover and the portrait of the queen above his head as he resides on the gorgeous couch in his living room in the Elle spread does encourage some of us as well.

  17. Their current home was featured in Architectural Digest and the interiors are spectacular — the best I’ve seen in SF. Very cutting edge, incredible mordern art collection and very high design — of course people will hate on it though.

  18. @futurist:
    “No one here but you seems to think there are just two future for SF”
    have you taken a poll?
    what negative stereotypes are you talking about? Please enlighten us. Many of comments on this thread are full of vicious “I hate the rich” bile – it seems they would rather have the equality of Detroit than beautiful SF. And the fact that about the only external money now coming in is PRC $ has been well documented elsewhere. The future, if not Detroit, looks to me to be London with its foreign oligarchs and plutocrats who bought up half the city – that is the positive future.

  19. wrath,
    I think you are limiting your view of globalization to very narrow foreign individual investment.
    What do you call AAPL, GOOG, ORCL, FB, etc, etc…?
    These companies make their money all around the world and their shares are owned by investors everywhere.
    This is external money, channeled through local entrepreneurs and employees.
    We are talking about trillions of market valuation, 100s of Bs of local stock ownership and 10s of Bs of quarterly profits.
    In short, the world buys our technological products, and the money flows all around the BA through employment, stock options, investments. Some of it makes it into SF RE. And I repeat, it’s definitely external money.
    Detroit we are not.

  20. I’ll add that if the London theory were true, then there wouldn’t be many buyers in the 700K-2M range (the supposedly squeezed-out middle class). But the market shows that these buyers are very numerous and have depleted the available supply. This is local money, local jobs, working for companies with a global outreach.

  21. glad to cool it off.
    That doesn’t mean we won’t be Detroit one day. Detroit was knocked down by a one-two punch: the oil crisis of the 70s-80s, and some global competitors that started to get their acts together (place your Renault clunker joke here).
    Once tech will have invaded every possible niche in our lives and across all continents, both cheaply and more efficiently, what will be next? The one who can answer that will be the next mega-billionaire I think. I hope it happens in the BA.

  22. I know this is O.T. but all this Detroit discussion is surprising in that I have always thought of San Francisco becoming more like Venice Italy instead of Detroit, while San Jose and environs were more like Detroit if they ever lost control of tech industries.
    While “the city” becomes increasingly the playground for wealthy property owners and tourists, San Jose has swallowed the economic engine of the Bay Area. Like Venice, San Francisco now has many trophy properties owned by people who did not make their millions within the 7 x 7, but brought some of their winnings here to celebrate their success. I remember when my father took me up on the balcony of his rooftop in Cow Hollow and pointed to various houses back up the hill, and named the owners, all from somewhere else, and almost ALL of these large residences now being used sort of like second homes.
    My comparison to Venice is because Venice went from being a financial center to a cultural/wealthy/tourism city. I don’t think San Francisco will ever become a Detroit because it is just too beautiful, but San Jose is another matter.

  23. Yes I agree. This is a pretty valid analogy. The reason I brought up Detroit vs SF: both grew from a single powerful wealth source (Auto / Gold), and both have an architectural heritage to show for it. But the parallel stops there. One can afford to keep and even improve its beauty while the other quickly decays into oblivion.
    I am not sure if the beauty of the cities are the real reasons here. I think we were lucky some tech companies like HP started in the SV. We could have become a post cold-war era shipyard wasteland.

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