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Famed chocolatiers’ mansion up for $5.5M

4 mins read
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Maintaining its original beauty and charm, a mansion owned by the prominent Ghirardelli family in Piedmont hits the real estate market for $5.5 million.

The history-rich mansion was erected in the early 1900s for the family that founded the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, a manufacturer and marketer of premium chocolate products. Ghirardelli has the wealthiest heritage of any American chocolate company and is recognized up to the present time.

The famous family’s mansion stands on Highland Avenue in the heart of the town. Based on the real estate listing published by realtors Debbi DiMaggio and Adam Betta of Highland Partners, the two-story property sits in a 6, 479 square feet land area.

The mansion exudes a welcoming vibe through its intricate wood design on its entrance. The feeling of warmth is extended in its living room which catches natural light and has a fireplace.

The mansion has seven bedrooms, and even some of it has its own fireplace, too.

The dining area has its own drama, with built-ins and exposed beams that were maintained from the original construction.

Any cooking enthusiast will also be satisfied with the mansion’s spacious kitchen that comes with the home’s original intent.

Many features of the mansion also encourage different family activities – from its upper-level place space, media room, tiled patio, and wine cellar that can automatically invite celebrations any time of the day.

Other activities can also be done in lush and huge grounds, evenly landscaped to wow the human eye.

The mansion also includes a two-car garage with a fully stocked separate apartment on top. 

According to the Piedmont Historical Society, the Piedmont Colonial Revival mansion was originally built in Mission Revival style. It was “popular from about 1895 to 1915 and was just starting to go out of style in 1909,” the society states.

The society furthered that the mansion was made for Joseph and Ellen Ghirardelli.

Joseph, who served as Ghirardelli Chocolate Company’s vice president, is the son of Domingo Ghirardelli. Domingo founded the company in 1852 in San Francisco.

News reports said Domingo has died from a shock after the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. He has left behind her wife Ellen, who later remarried and facelifted the mansion in Colonial revival style.

Reports show that Ellen has shifted from her late first husband’s designs for a Mission Revival façade.

She and her second husband have moved into the mansion after the renovations. The two have shelled out $15, 000 on updating the mansion’s exterior. Their amount spent can now be equivalent to roughly $335,000.

While the mansion has received multiple facelifts and renovations over the next century, many of its original details have remained intact, Realtor DiMaggio said.

“The home’s impressive architectural details include box beam ceilings, wood paneling, leaded windows, a library with built-in bookshelves, and French doors opening to the back garden,” she said.

In 2016, the mansion was up in the market for $4.65 million.

Piedmont, a suburban city in Alameda County, is surrounded by the city of Oakland. The city is 30 minutes away from San Francisco International Airport.

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