The attractiveness of
the Pacific Heights
neighborhood

Other historic properties on the 2500 block of Pacific Avenue

History of ownership
and construction of
the house

The Architect of
2516 Pacific and his
other significant work
in the Bay Area.

Virtual Tour , a Slide Show of photographs and Floor Plans

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Other Properties:

2660 Scott Street

The original house at 2516 Pacific was designed on a 53' x 127' 8" lot by the very prominent 19th century architectural firm of Percy & Hamilton in 1881, for owner Charles E. Heise. Heise sold the house soon after it was built and had Percy & Hamilton design another house for him across the street at 2517 Pacific in 1884. Percy & Hamilton was a San Francisco Bay Area architectural partnership established in 1880 by George W. Percy (1847-1900) and Frederick F. Hamilton (1851-1899). This highly successful collaboration continued through to the death of Hamilton in 1899, whereupon Percy took on Willis Polk as a partner until Percy himself died one year later. In addition to 2516 Pacific and 2517 Pacific, Percy and Hamilton also designed 2513 Pacific in 1890 (for Hamilton to live in) and 2519 Pacific in 1892, all of which remain as testaments to the quality of their work.

Louis and Lydia Monteagle became the third owners of 2516 Pacific when they bought it in 1894. This antique postcard view of the home shows how it looked circa 1910. With a growing family and in need of a larger house, in June 1920 the Monteagles bought the adjoining 32' 3" wide lot to the east from the estate of Virginia Strassburger. They subsequently moved the house that was on that lot east to 2504 Pacific, where it remains today, and lived in it while their house at 2516 Pacific was being dramatically expanded.

The Monteagles commissioned architect Lewis P. Hobart to create the house of their dreams. First they commissioned Hobart to design a house above a garage on the northern half of the lot, now 2421 Broadway, and then they embarked upon the major project of rebuilding 2516 Pacific across the entire 85 ft. Pacific Avenue frontage.

The finished result is a restrained Tudor Revival composition with a brick exterior. Hobart retained the shape of the western portion of the home, as can be seen by comparing the 1910 postcard view with a contemporary photograph taken from the same angle. A hipped roof comes down to a thin cornice which wraps around the bay window, which, at four bays in width, is much wider than would be found on a Tudor-era house in England. Note the ogee arches on the second level of the four bay windows, matching the three ogee arches on the windows of the first level of the eastern side. The arched entry has layered moldings and the columns themselves are layered. With its brick facade, the house imparts a feeling of massiveness, of being rooted to the earth.

After Louis Monteagle died in 1940, the property was left to his sons Paige and Kenneth Monteagle. Paige bought out Kenneth’s interest and lived there with his wife Louise until they sold the house in 1948 to Samuel and Celeste Stewart. The Stewart’s sold the house in 1954 to the present owners, the British Government.

At first the house was used as both Consulate Offices and the Consul-General’s Residence, but the British Consulate business functions were moved downtown by 1962 and the property has been used primarily as a residence ever since, with a secondary role in official entertaining. Queen Elizabeth II attended receptions there when she visited San Francisco in 1983, although she stayed at the St. Francis Hotel at that time, but other Royal visitors have had occasion to stay in the house on private visits to San Francisco over the last 50 years. The guest bedroom suite has direct access to a spacious terrace with a lovely view of the Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.