"Wow" is the initial impression upon venturing beyond the unassuming facade of 2820 Scott St. San Francisco... built in 1905. The Italianate-style mansion of 16,000 square feet was elegantly embellished for a 1915 visit from Marie, queen of Romania. A grand entry features exquisitely carved ceilings and a fountain, with just a glimpse of the Tiffany skylight above the grand staircase. Wow, wow, wow...............

But, the mansion was most recently a boarding house - the high-end kind, with a French chef and boarders that at one time included Jerry Brown. Ken Paige, of the Paige Glass Co. family business, undertook a complete renovation beginning when his family bought the house in 2005.

There's extensive restoration under way of moldings, new floors are yet to come throughout, and the kitchen and bathrooms have yet to be installed.

All this, for 38-year-old son Matt, who is single, but, Paige says, "It's a single party person's house." Wow, wow, wow...

Read more>>> "San Francisco Chronicle" by Susan Fornoff 3/8/2008
Photo by Anne Pantelick Photography