Comments by "John Vonundzu" (@johnvonundzu2170) on "What happened to the Borax King's Bay Area Mansion?" video.

Beautiful on the outside, but doomed by 1930 as a relic of another age. By the depression, the best the heirs could have done was to insure the place and hire an arsonist to torch it (contents included). The 1931 auction results must have been pitiful, I wonder what percentage of the lots actually found a buyer, at any price. The architect's brother and sister-in-law were locally known in architecture decoration and fine art- if they had decorated the place, the results would have been memorable instead of the hodgepodge the Smiths put together.. The gardens were gorgeous - but just as doomed as the house.
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