Villa Lauriston, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jul 12th 2010 at 1:02PM

Today's estate is one of California's most historic homes. The land for Villa Lauriston in Portola Valley was acquired in 1911 by San Francisco capitalist Herbert Edward Law. Law was a British immigrant who borrowed the name Lauriston from an ancient Scottish manor. Building began in 1922 and took around four years. The design captured the feel of a Florentine Villa. A listing with Olivia Hsu Decker says that Law made frequent trips to Italy and bought art as well as Italian architectural artifacts including the marble floor and staircase and the onyx and breccia marble columns. He also collected wrought iron gates and grille work, marble fountains and statuary. The leaded and stained glass windows were purchased in England, France and Italy and the brass hardware, bronze and crystal light fixtures were purchased in France. Law and his architect George Scastey also used materials a lot closer to home. The buildings and the walls of the Lauriston estate were built using native sandstone dug from a quarry located on the property itself and other pieces were taken from a local mansion.

The 13,000-square-foot, 20-room villa is surrounded by 28.4 acres of formal gardens, ponds and pools. The current owner has restored the home adding features like a new kitchen and cutting garden. The villa is positioned at an elevation of 1,350 feet and has countryside views. The home opens with a grand marble foyer. The great room has a wood chandelier, windows from an early Christian church in Rome and a floor of polished black and white marble. The drawing room has a secret panel to a stair leading to private rooms above as well as to one of the three walk-in vaults in the villa. Other rooms include the formal dining room, breakfast room, library and a total of seven bedrooms. This home is listed at $20 million.

Gallery: Villa Lauriston

Today's estate is one of California's most historic. The land for Villa Lauriston in Portola Valley was acquired in 1911 by San Francisco capitalist Herbert Edward Law. Law was a British immigrant who borrowed the name Lauriston from an ancient Scottish manor. Building began in 1922 and took around four years. The design captured the feel of a Florentine Villa. A listing with Olivia Hsu Decker says that Law made frequent trips to Italy and bought art as well as Italian architectural artifacts including the marble floor and staircase and the onyx and breccia marble columns. He also collected wrought iron gates and grille work, marble fountains and statuary. The leaded and stained glass windows were purchased in England, France and Italy and the brass hardware, bronze and crystal light fixtures were purchased in France.Law and his architect George Scastey also used materials a lot closer to home. The buildings and the walls of the Lauriston estate were built using native sandstone dug from a quarry located on the property itself and other pieces were taken from a local mansion.

The 13,000-square-foot, 20-room villa is surrounded by 28.4 acres of formal gardens, ponds and pools. The current owner has restored the home adding features like a new kitchen and cutting garden. The villa is positioned at an elevation of 1,350 feet and has countryside views. The home opens with a grand marble foyer. The great room has a wood chandelier, windows from an early Christian church in Rome and a floor of polished black and white marble. The drawing room has a secret panel to a stair leading to private rooms above as well as to one of the three walk-in vaults in the villa. Other rooms include the formal dining room, breakfast room, library and a total of seven bedrooms. This home is listed at $20 million.

Tags: california real estate, estate of the day, portola valley, villa lauriston