Description

Designed in 1926 by renowned architect Louis Christian Mullgardt, the Charles D. Stevens Estate is a singular, romantic Rose Garden residence. Believed to be Mullgardt's final residential work, 838 Morse carries the intimacy and imagination of late-career work by the architect of the Court of the Ages, de Young Museum & Stanford's Lou Henry Hoover House. Old-growth redwood timbers stand proud of the walls in posts, lintels and diamond cross-bracing, forming an architectural exoskeleton. Inside, pine-clad walls, ceilings and motifs continue that language. French doors recur like a refrain, opening to light, air and garden views. Nearly 3,500 SF on a 20,000 SF parcel offers scale rare in the Rose Garden. At its heart, a 40' x 20' great living and dining room rises beneath 12-foot ceilings, anchored by a substantial fireplace & French doors on 3 sides. Service bells, mechanical call box, skeleton keys, butler's pantry and hidden spiral stair reward closer inspection. In 1969, prominent local architect Pierre Prodis & wife Carol became only its second owners, raising four children here. Nearly 100 years later, 838 Morse feels authored: original, atmospheric and alive with architectural imagination. Not frozen in time. Not asking for reinvention. Ready for its next great love affair.