Adolph B. Spreckels was the son of sugar tycoon Claus Spreckels; he had helped expand the sugar business to Hawaii and Salinas.[6] Adolph married Alma de Bretteville on May 11, 1908; she was many years younger than he was.[7] The property for the Spreckels Mansion was bought by Adolph as a Christmas gift for his wife Alma; they had been living in Sausalito.[2] To build the mansion they combined several prime lots, and eight Victorian homes were moved to Jackson and Washington Streets.[2][6] The house was speculated to have cost around $1,000,000 to build in 1913 (equivalent to $34 million in 2023) and took two years to complete.[8][9] At the time it was built, six counties were visible from the mansion's circular observatory: (San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Alameda County, Contra Costa County and Marin County).[9] There are still views of the San Francisco Bay from the mansion, and it is located across the street from Lafayette Park.[6]
Adolph Spreckels died on June 28, 1924, and Alma inherited his empire and the mansion. Alma died in 1968, leaving the house to her two daughters.[2] After 1968, the mansion was divided into four units.[2]Danielle Steel purchased the property and restored it to a single family residence.[11] Steel added a very tall hedge in front of the mansion blocking the architecture, for the sake of privacy.[10][11]
The exteriors have been used for a few movies set in San Francisco; most extensively as the eponymous nightclub for the 1957 musical Pal Joey.
