Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

First on the market last year and asking $3,000,000, this 5-bed, 6.5-bath house in the woods of Piedmont was re-listed this week at$2,850,000. Properties get re-listed every day of the week- but this one’s a spectacular flashback. Built in 1971, it was the second house designer Val Arnold had done for this family, the first being in Palm Desert; most of his work was done in the Palm Springs area. And apparently his design partner on the job was Arthur Elrod, the Palm Springs decorator who would become more famous for commissioning architect John Lautner to design a futuristic house overlooking the desert than he would for his own career. Arnold was at some point immortalized by Architectural Digest as one of the ten most important designers in America. Whatever- he seems pretty much forgotten today (at least by the Internet) but back in the day he was a favorite of AD’s now-retired editrix Paige Rense. Here, he’s made some sort of mad francophone barn conversion from the ground up- stone walls, wrought iron, huge hearths, velvet.

In brief: three stories with the entrance and three bedrooms on the ground floor, plus a completely insane bar room with walls covered in Moroccan tiles that opens to the pool area. Upstairs, there’s a living room, dining area, kitchen and family room, which sounds simple enough except you have to pass through that immense three-story stair hall with stone walls and a wrought iron and brass railing. These people did not shop at Home Depot. Top floor is a master suite with two baths (sadly, not shown) in onyx with gold fittings. We can’t decide if we love that bar or the skylit family room more. With the exception of the ground floor bedrooms, most of Val Arnold’s furnishings and decor survive, including that beast’s skull on the sideboard. Check out the gallery and revisit the past, plus you can see the house this Sunday, January 28, from 2pm to 4pm.
· 145 Lexford [Heidi Marchesotti/MMcD]
· 145 Lexford [Redfin]
· Lautner’s Elrod House Renting to Private Members Only [Curbed LA Archives]

This morning word hit the Mission that Gus Murad, owner of the love-it-or-hate-it Medjool (you know, with the problematic rooftop bar) was packing up and leaving the neighborhood by selling off his three very high-profile properties on Mission Street: Medjool, the New Mission Theater and the Value Giant Value. Quoting comments from local broker Colleen Meharry, neighborhood blog Mission Local impliedMurad was fed up with the city stunting development and was wiping his hands of the business entirely in order to spend time with his family.

The problem is, that story is only partially true.

Murad has, in fact, put Medjool and the attached Elements Hostel on the Market, but by all accounts he remains fully committed to the restoration project of the New Mission Theater as well as the Giant Value. (More on that in a second.)

In speaking with Meharry, we learned that neither she, nor her current company Urban Group Real Estate, are responsible for the Medjool’s listing at 2522 Mission Street. (That’d be these guys at Vanguard Properties.)

Meharry did mention her group has a listing directly next door to Medjool, and that she received a call from a potential buyer “last week or early this week” asking about the pricetag on the nightclub. She told the buyer she estimated the listing would be around $7.1 million (the price quoted on MissionLocal) before pointing them to Vanguard properties. Vanguard currently has the property listed at $7.25 million - admittedly, not a huge difference, but enough to point out the [ahem] buyer wasn’t serious enough to follow through.

That leaves the issue of the New Mission Theater and the Giant Value next door. In speaking with Murad’s PR guy, PJ Johnston, we learned that neither are actually up for sale. And we’re inclined to believe him, because as far as we can tell there are no listings for either property. As Johnston mentioned on the phone, after spending hundreds of thousands of his own cash to keep the project afloat, Murad is working to enlist other financial investors to join in the restoration efforts at the Theater. Any development projects at the Giant Value are intended to help finance the restoration of the New Mission.

Oh and the bowling alley? As far as anybody can tell, Brooklyn Bowl hasn’t been looking in the Bay Area for a couple months at least, but it wouldn’t have gone in to the New Mission Theater anyway. As a historic site, it could only get the restoration treatment, not a renovation.
Update: It looks like things have changed a day later. This morning P.J. Johnston, a spokesman for Gus Murad, told the Chronicle that Murad has put the building’s up for sale, but only to “test the market.” We’ll report any further developments.
· Medjool Roof-Douches Are Plotting a Return [Curbed SF]
· Owner of Medjool and Roof Top Bar Puts Mission Real Estate Up for Sale [Mission Local]
· 2522 Mission [Vanguard]
· Bowled Over [Curbed SF]

Photo Credit: Sail World

Coffee-break reading: from SF Appeal we have a look at the revised term sheet for the America’s Cup agreement. Hammered out between the Mayor’s office and Team Ellison during the Christmas holiday, up to now details have been vague. Turns out there are no details- the agreement was said to be within the parameters of the agreement put out last fall but the result reads more like an agenda of items that remain to be negotiated. And in a very short time, folks, because this race is like tomorrow in yacht-years. Supervisor Mirkarimi- a friend of the race, not a foe- has called for hearings into what it all means. Stay tuned. Looks like we have many months of land use (pier use?) follies ahead.
· Revised Term Sheet [.pdf via SF Appeal]
· Before the Sailing, the Questioning [SF Appeal]
· America’s Cup Race Coverage [Curbed SF Archives]

[via FoundSF]

The Wall Street Journal today reports that in the Bay Area, sales of homes priced over $2,000,000 were up 20% in 2010 over 2009. In fact, they mention that sales might be even higher because some high priced home are sold in private sales, where the data does not become publicly available for much longer.
One such house is 2600 Pacific, shown in the video from WSJ,designed by William Wurster and built in 1936 for Mortimer Fleishhacker Jr. Our pal Mort was a timberman who’s a past President of the San Francisco Planning Commission, so you can blame him both for creating massive house envy and many, many planning commission blog posts.

2600 Pacific sold for a whopping $15,500,000 last month, for a mind-boggling $2,096 per square foot, almost double the neighborhood average. And this is Pac Heights we’re talking about. Sheesh.
As far as big spenders come in the present day, the WSJ goes on to say that, “The strength of high-end Bay Area home sales last yearunderlines the region’s recovery …, many technology companies have come roaring back, start-ups have started popping up all over Silicon Valley and San Francisco, and hiring wars have broken out.” If you’re in the middle of a hiring war, kudos to you, and let us know where to meet you for champagne wishes and caviar dreams. We can sure think of a few fancy addresses for you to blow your first paycheck on.
· Big Spenders Buoy Housing [WSJ]
· Mortimer Fleishhacker Jr. Lived Here [FoundSF]
· 2600 Pacific Ave [Redfin]

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

Was: $4,500,000

Then: $4,198,000

Then: $3,998,000

Then: $3,800,000

Now: $3,498,000

You Save: $1,002,000

28 Clarendon was built 1959 and then underwent a complete renovation by award-winning architect Simon Kwan in 2010. During that time, two levels were added below the existing 2-story structure. Now it’s a fancypants 3-bed, 3.75-bath 4,537 square foot contemporary abode, complete with floor-to-ceiling carrera marble walls and views galore from every room. Unfortunately none of this has helped with the sale of the house, as it’s been sitting very pretty on the market for 224 days now. Today it took another chop, bringing down the asking price to $3,498,000. Highlights include an elevator that looks like it could double as a sauna, a huge master suite big enough to house a sleeping and sitting area, a glass wall at the entry stair and a four story courtyard.
· 28 Clarendon [Redfin]