The Marin County home of Chara Schreyer, a renowned art collector and philanthropist who died of cancer at age 75, has been listed for sale with an asking price of slightly more than $8.2 million, almost six months after her death. Located in the desirable Belvedere enclave of Tiburon, just across the Golden Gate Bridge, these architecturally sophisticated residences offer breathtaking views of the Tiburon Peninsula, San Francisco Bay, and Sausalito.
In the late 1970s, Schreyer and her then-husband Gary Schreyer purchased the three-story “Art House,” which was later customised to Schreyer’s tastes by interior designer Gary Hutton. The “Art House” features six bedrooms and a matching number of bathrooms in a little more than 8,100 square feet of gallery-like living space with high ceilings and a striking spiral staircase. A freestanding art studio is also whimsically framed by a half-pair of enormous crimson eyeglasses; the other half is on display at her Los Angeles residence.
Highlights include a soaring living room with French doors leading to the verdant grounds and a fireplace-heated family room adjacent to the living room. In addition, there is an office, a lofty game lounge, a wood-clad library with built-in banquette seating, and a window-lined dining room that connects to the gourmet kitchen via a butler’s pantry. The gourmet kitchen features granite countertops, a centre island with dual sinks, Bosch, Dacor, Wolf, and Sub-Zero appliances, and a cosy breakfast nook by the fireplace.
An upstairs master retreat features a fireplace with a marble surround, a private balcony, a walk-in closet, and a luxurious bathroom with a large pivoting steel door shower, while a lower level leading to the attached three-car garage features a recreation/media room, a gym, a full bathroom with a steam shower, and a wine cellar. Outdoors, the sculpture-adorned grounds encompass nearly an acre and feature winding pathways, a spacious terrace ideal for al fresco entertaining with a built-in barbecue setup, and a sunny area ripe for a pool.
Schreyer served on the boards of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, and Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. He was one of the world’s most renowned collectors of modern and contemporary art by artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Mark Bradford, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Andy Warhol. The daughter of Holocaust survivors born in Germany, she was also a devoted supporter of the Contemporary Jewish Museum, where she was instrumental in the 2008 expansion designed by Daniel Libeskind.
In addition to the Tiburon property, which is listed by Shana Rohde-Lynch of Compass, Schreyer’s estate still owns four additional California properties, including the aforementioned Los Angeles estate, which is listed for $13.5 million by Ginger Glass of Compass.