Woman transforms condemned 1888 San Diego mansion into a $4.5 million showpiece

In 1997, artist and preservationist Karen Groebli walked into a boarded-up, condemned Victorian mansion in San Diego’s Bankers Hill neighborhood and saw potential where others saw only ruin. As she later told Homes.com, the plaster was hanging from the walls, original gas lines dangled from the ceiling, broken windows littered the floors and the interior was filled with trash. She bought the 1888 Broderick–Kenny House for $188,500 and spent the next eight years meticulously restoring it, filling the home with more than 30 chandeliers, a hidden speakeasy, and kitchen columns salvaged from the set of James Cameron’s Titanic, according to reporting by Hoodline and local real estate coverage. Now listed for $4.5 million, the house blends historic landmark status with cinematic flair and modern luxury, standing as one of the most unusual entries in San Diego’s current historic home market.From condemned shell to historic landmarkThe Broderick–Kenny House at 2133 2nd Ave. was built during San Diego’s late-19th-century real estate boom and once housed the city’s first music school. It even featured one of the city’s earliest residential water-pressure elevators, which Groebli later restor...