Historic Sausalito Tavern-Turned-Mansion Selling for $28M

A waterfront mansion in Sausalito with a storied 130-year history is up for grabs for $28 million.

The property, located on the boardwalk in Old Town at 201 Bridgeway, spans nearly 10,000 square feet and contains eight bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Oral surgeon Dr. Alex Kashef and his wife Hani are listing the estate after previously failing to sell it and spending two years revamping the place.

In 2012, the Kashefs spent $3.5 million for the Victorian-style estate, built circa 1893, as well as another house in town for guests. At the time, the couple planned to turn the sprawling property into a hotel. Facing neighborhood pushback three years later, the Kashefs opted to instead turn it into their primary home.

Kashef listed the mansion for $11.8 million in 2020 while it was under renovation. The couple sunk about $20 million into the property, on roughly half an acre, and finished remodeling it in 2022.

“I never imagined selling it, but life changes,” Kashef told WSJ, citing a desire to be closer to their daughters’ school. “We built it as a family home, but the problem was that it took so long to build that unfortunately, time goes on.”

Besides the main house, the estate boasts a four-car garage and two-bedroom guest house, complete with a waterfront veranda and a live-work loft. In total, the lot has 90 feet of waterfront along San Francisco Bay.

According to the Sausalito Historical Society, the property originally opened as a tavern called Valhalla which turned into a “soft drink parlor” during Prohibition. Police raided the bar in 1921 for serving alcoholic beverages.

Hani Kashef said the family made it a point to “keep the history” of Valhalla alive even through renovations. The original 1893 bar with a built-in humidor is still intact in the home’s open-plan kitchen and great room.

In the 1930s, the infamous bank robber Lester Joseph Gillis, known as gangster Baby Face Nelson, worked as a bartender at the spot. The building operated as a restaurant from the 1950s until the 2000s.

The original “Valhalla” sign is displayed in the entry courtyard, which is dotted with planters made from the wood ceiling of the original restaurant.

Listing agent Lydia Sarkissian of Golden Gate Sotheby’s International Realty told WSJ about one property in the $20 million to $30 million in the area range sells each year, with finance and tech buyers being the most common buyers.

— Chris Malone Méndez