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San Francisco Chronicle (Home & Garden)

Englishman David Parry was a software developer living and working in San Francisco when, in 1983, he was invited to a party at 2516 Pacific Ave.

The stately Tudor Revival-style manor in Pacific Heights was the home of the British consul general at the time, and the site of a formal gathering in honor of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip.

The visiting queen "was quite charming (and) shook hands with everybody," said Parry, a self-taught architectural historian who today runs McGuire Real Estate on Lombard Street.

Over the years, the gracious house overlooking the bay was the site of many such galas for visiting bluebloods (including, most recently, Prince Andrew in 1997 and 2002) and other dignitaries. In the coming weeks, the residence will host an estimated 20,000 visitors as part of the annual San Francisco Decorator Showcase. Every corner of the 11,000-square-foot home -- including the newly renovated kitchen, bedrooms, terraced courtyard and rare front lawn -- has been revamped by Butler Armsden Architects and 25 of the Bay Area's top interior designers, artists and landscape architects.

The home's history dates back to 1881 when Charles E. Heise paid the architectural firm of Percy & Hamilton a modest sum of $5,300 to build a house on Pacific, between Pierce and Steiner streets. Heise sold the house soon after it was constructed and in 1884 had the firm design another house across the street.

Newlyweds Louis and Lydia Monteagle became the home's third owners in 1894. The couple bought the neighboring lot that stretched downhill from Pacific to Broadway, and in 1921 hired architect Lewis P. Hobart (known for his design of Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill) to expand the existing structure into their dream home.

The current incarnation -- an elegant Tudor Revival -- was passed down to the Monteagles' sons, and changed owners several times before the British government purchased it in 1954. An act of Parliament recently put it on the market, allowing a local family to buy the property.

Though fastidiously maintained by its British occupants, many of the rooms, corridors and gardens at 2516 Pacific had, over the years, become decidedly stodgy. Showcase designers gave it a much-needed face-lift, adding a terrace and new plumbing on the second floor, gutting the kitchen and installing new windows to the salon to match original living-room windows. Designers brought their particular tastes and talents to individual rooms, but 2516's deep-seated history (and the homeowner's prohibitions against making many structural changes) held its character intact.

Landscape architect Carlyn Hunter put a New World twist on the home's seemingly prim and proper front yard by planting evergreens native to the western United States, including a procession of 40-year-old Dwarf Alberta Spruce. The England native, who recruited Audon Magana of Green Thumb Landscaping to plant the new garden, salvaged a bed of peach "mystery" roses (at the request of the current owner) that were planted by the British consul.

Just inside the layered columns of the arched entryway, interior designer Kathleen Navarra -- along with Scott Johnson, Kimberly Boyce and Jeff Holt of Navarra Design -- turned what once was a dark, foreboding library into a coral-splashed salon a la boutique hotel. Navarra chose an acrylic chandelier by Ironies to anchor the room from above, and mod elements like Jonathan Adler lamps to flank a plush, aqua-colored sofa.

"We wanted it to be a perching room where you come in and have cocktails before dinner," she said.

Down the hall, the grand dining room is a study in unabashed opulence. Designers with Ann Getty and Associates chose some of the designer's favorite hues for their color scheme: raspberry, rust and burgundy. Rob Corder and other designers took cues from the room's Georgian lines, mixing reproduction period pieces from Getty's new furniture line with those of the Regency era (1810-1837). George Noland installed cream-colored Venetian plaster, while Linda Horning took charge of stenciling the walls.

The house's many powder rooms are equally transformed.

Around the corner, Angela Klauberg Free found her inspiration on the other side of the globe for decorating a tiny powder room in Gustavian style typical of 1700s Sweden. San Francisco muralist Katherine Jacobus layered the walls with a chalky milk paint, lime, wax and glaze. She then adorned them with a motif based on one in Skogaholm Manor, a castle in Sweden. A set of framed, neoclassic intaglios -- 18th century casts made from ancient Greek and Roman seals -- and a sparkling French chandelier in blue opaline glass (circa 1870) topped off the charming room.

Out back, Davis Dalbok and Megan Van Linda of Living Green Plantscape Design took a seemingly formal English garden and infused it with unconventional flora and fauna.

"We like to use the crazy stuff," Dalbok said of his choice to use hulls from cacao beans for mulch; and succulents, agave and Chinese Windmill fan palms instead of traditional English roses and hedges. Combined with "carex grasses, acid yellow feverfews and brilliant scotch moss (they) create a woven tapestry of earthly delights." The landscape architects further decked their greenery with rusted metal sculptures by artist Mark Bulwinkle and ceramic bamboo stalks by Marcia Donahue. Dalbok also designed a fountain from casts of giant leaves, and crafted "Gravity Lounge" chairs from copper-plated rolled steel.

Far from neglected, the manor's wide corridors and hallways served as mini-galleries for Steven Platzman and Kay Kimpton.

Platzman, an art dealer and historian, converted the second-floor landing into an eclectic display mixing a series of Mexican color drawings from Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera with a Japanese silk screen by Kishi Chikudo, and other refreshingly unexpected pieces.

"If you get the right elements, there's no reason why you can't mix artists and styles," said Platzman, owner of Addison Associates Fine Arts.

Around the corner, just inside the master suite, William Wick, of Wick Design Group, transformed a cold, sanitarium-like closet into a dressing room worthy of the Great Gatsby's slippers. The designer gave it a '20s makeover by upholstering the walls of "His Dressing Room" with gray flannel suiting fabric, and installing faux burl cabinets. Polished hardware and a white ceiling were the finishing touches -- mimicking the crispness of men's cuff links and collars.

Vernon Applegate and Gioi Tran were allotted a second floor room with an enviable view of the San Francisco Bay and Golden Gate Bridge to fashion a "comfortable chic" family room and terrace. To that end, the designers filled the space with cozy vignettes for chatting or playing table games, including a custom walnut bench designed to mimic the bridge's contours. Copper, rust and clay tones -- including pomegranate silk draperies by Larsen -- were used to reflect the surrounding hills and bridge, while a faux silver- and oceanic- toned finish on the walls (by Gregory Dixon for Corinthian Decorative Painting) was selected to complement the expansive sea and sky.

"It's really about comfortable chic -- about bringing this beautiful outside in," Tran said.

What: The San Francisco Decorator Showcase

Where: 2516 Pacific Ave., a Tudor Revival-style mansion originally built in 1881 by the Percy & Hamilton firm, and later in 1921 by Lewis P. Hobart, a UC Berkeley graduate and architect of Grace Cathedral.

When: Through May 23. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays; and closed Mondays.

Why: To benefit San Francisco University High School's financial aid program, which has raised $7.2 million since 1977.

Cost: General admission is $25; senior admission is $20.

Information: Visit www.decoratorshowcase.org for information on the showcase and links to designers' Web sites, or call (415) 447-5830.

Look for other design spaces in this year's San Francisco Decorator Showcase, including an entry hall by Gretchen Berggruen; a living room by Thomas Bartlett and Michael Burg; a work room, laundry room, pantry and kitchen by Martha Angus and Phillip Parton; "His Room With a View" by Tracey M. Kessler; a daughter's bedroom and bath by Tish Key; a master suite by David Bryce Kensington; a lady's dressing room by Neil Kenk and Kenneth Ford; a master suite gallery and bath by Philip J. Meyer; a master sitting room by Chris Reed and Chris Johnson; a rooftop terrace by Jude Hellewell and Laura White; a guest bedroom by Val Fiscalini; a guest bath by Ashley Jenkins; a "Traveler's Retreat" by Kathy Coomer and Daniel Daniloff; a third-floor loo by Katherine North; a guest sitting room by Shane Reilly; an art collector's studio by Shelley Gordon; a "Gentleman's Retreat" by Grant K. Gibson; a "Celestial Study" by David Harris and Richard Kasten; and an "Equestrian Club Room" by Nan Rosenblatt, John Bradfield, Mark O'Neil and Lindsey Robinson- Gorski.

E-mail Angélica Pence at apence@sfchronicle.com.

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