Built as a love nest, later linked to a brothel and wartime officers’ club, San Francisco mansion lists for $25 million

A historic mansion in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighbourhood, once associated with a wealthy businessman’s romantic scandal and later linked to an opium den, a theatre, a reported brothel and a World War II officers’ club, has returned to the property market with an asking price of $25 million. Known as the Verdier Mansion, the six-level residence at 1001 Vallejo Street spans 9,545 square feet and is being offered for sale after two decades under its current owners.According to SFGATE, the mansion was designed in 1906 by architect Houghton Sawyer for Robert G. Hanford, a businessman who made his fortune through mining and railways. The property’s current listing on confirms the $25 million asking price and the home’s 9,545-square-foot area. However, real-estate databases list 1907 as its construction year, while historic-district records date the mansion to 1905-1906.A mansion built around a controversial romanceThe house was commissioned by Hanford for Gabrielle Guittard Cavalsky, a member of the family behind Guittard Chocolate. A 2006 historical feature by SFGATE, drawing on research by an earlier listing agent, recounted the couple’s relationship as a dramatic romance invol...