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San Francisco

Beaux Arts mansion in“Princess Diaries” seeks nearly $9M

Four-bedroom Cow Hollow home stood in for high school in the 2001 movie

Anne Hathaway; 2601 Lyon Street (Getty, Open Homes Photography)
Anne Hathaway; 2601 Lyon Street (Getty, Open Homes Photography)
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Mar 7, 2023, 2:00 PM

UPDATED MARCH 8 at 4:15 p.m.:

A century-old Cow Hollow home used for the exterior of a high school in the 2001 film “The Princess Diaries” came to market this week asking just under $9 million. At more than 4,500 square feet, that’s nearly $2,000 per square foot for the four-bedroom, 3.5-bath residence. 

The 1923 neoclassical home with a distinctive lion motif on its two curved front staircases is located on — where else? — Lyon Street, at the bottom of the Lyon Street steps. The property at 2601 Lyon Street last traded in June 2009 for $6.4 million, when it was purchased by Michael and Wendy Berry Mendes, according to public record. 

Michael Mendes is a food industry executive who was the CEO of nationwide baked-goods distributor Just Desserts until he sold it in 2021. Wendy Berry Mendes is a professor of psychiatry at the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. The Mendes are moving to the East Coast for “new work opportunities,” according to Steven Mavromihalis of Compass, who is co-listing agent along with Jessica Grimes.

The home was also owned by former San Francisco Giants owner Bob Lurie, according to public record and confirmed by Mavromihalis. He sold in the early 1990s to Bruce Portner. Portner owned the minor league team the Sacramento Steelheads, and made headlines in 1999 when he tried to hire Pete Rose as the team’s manager. 

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Portner sold the home in March 2000 for $5.75 million, and just a few months later the Garry Marshall-directed fish-out-of-water film used the 1923 home as the exterior of Grove High School, where Anne Hathaway’s character Mia is a student. A nearby private school, Town School for Boys, was used for its basketball court and bleacher shots, and the interior of the school, like most of the set-in-S.F. film, was shot in L.A.

Mavromihalis said via email that the home’s Beaux Arts architecture by August Headman, as well as its bay, city and Presidio views make it a stand out. Then there’s the added bonus of the connection to the Giants and its place in Millennial teen movie history.

“Its acclaimed occupants (both real and imagined) certainly make it among the most beloved homes in our city,” Mavromihalis added.

Correction: Previous story had incorrect price for 2009 sale.

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