Eichler-designed George Shultz penthouses go into contract at record last ask

A pair of Russian Hill penthouses owned by the late Bechtel executive and one-time Secretary of State George Shultz and his socialite wife Charlotte Mailliard Shultz went into contract this week, just over a month after they came to market at a combined $29 million.

If the condos in the Eichler-designed Summit highrise sell anywhere near that ask, the deal will be by far the most expensive residential deal in San Francisco so far this year. A Pacific Heights mansion that traded for $17.6 million currently holds that distinction for 2022.

Both penthouses went into contract on June 29, indicating that they sold to the same buyer, even though they were listed separately at $17 million for the over-5,000 square foot three-bedroom, 4.5-bath north penthouse and $12 million for the three-bedroom, four-bath south unit. They each are on two levels on the top of the approximately 25-story building, which has several floors of deeded parking and just over 100 condos in total.

The Shultzes, who both died last year, used the north penthouse as their main residence, while the south penthouse, with its large wraparound terrace, was a guest quarters and entertaining space, friend and interior designer Richard Bohonsky told the Wall Street Journal when the penthouses came to market in May. They connect via two hallways. He also said that Mailliard Schultz, who served as San Francisco’s unpaid “Chief of Protocol” for over 50 years and welcomed Queen Elizabeth to the city in 1983, had a “gown room” off the kitchen to house her many formal looks.

Karen Mendelsohn Gould and Max Armour of Compass have the listings and said the penthouses have come to market only twice before. They did not respond immediately to comment on the sale or confirm the single buyer.

Mailliard Shultz bought the north penthouse in 1989 with her then-husband, real-estate developer Melvin Swig, for $3.3 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. He died in 1993 and, after she married Shultz in 1997, they bought the south penthouse together for around $5 million. The only previous owner of both units was Al Wilsey, who developed the property in the 1960s and lived in both penthouses with his wife, TV host and author Pat Montandon, starting in the early 1970s, according to SFGate.

The high-profile sale comes amid a slowdown in the San Francisco market, with inventory and price reductions up. Despite the overall slowdown, the city has still notched several deals above $15 million this year, though this is the first $20-million-plus residential deal to go into contract.

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