Gutted Victorian may yet be rescued

SOMETIMES IT PAYS to complain. And now there is hope that further destruction of a classic Victorian in the Webster Street Historic District — the city’s first — has been stopped and may even result in something better.

The Italianate Victorian at 2229 Webster, like most of its neighbors, was built in the late 1870s. For decades it was the home of Anne Bloomfield, a beloved preservationist who led the drive to create historic districts throughout San Francisco, starting with her own.

For many years she wrote “Great Old Houses,” a monthly column in the New Fillmore that her husband, the music critic Arthur Bloomfield, later amended and published as the book Gables and Fables. Anne died in 1999; Arthur died in 2025, but had moved out of the house several years earlier.

The house sat empty for those years, in deteriorating condition. Finally a new owner began construction last summer, and neighbors quickly realized something was awry. Behind a construction fence, they could see that the house was being entirely gutted, with only its exterior walls left precariously standing. Complaints to the city resulted in a stop work order in October 2024.

A building permit had been issued over the counter, but the work already far exceeded the permit. And there had been no review, as required in a historic district, by preservationists.

When the house finally came before the city’s Historic Preservation Commission in August 2025, owner Jeneane Gesualdo asked the commission to approve the work that had been done and let construction continue. “I would love,” she said, “with your help, to move forward with our plans to make this a livable, beautiful home.”

Instead of approval, she got an earful.

• From many who live nearby, one of whom told the commission: “It tells neighbors that rules don’t matter.”
• In a letter from Alison Bloomfield Meyer, Anne and Arthur Bloomfield’s daughter, who grew up in the house.
• From the head of San Francisco Heritage, Woody LaBounty, who told the commission: “Make sure this doesn’t happen again. Do not be forgiving of these people. Do not cut them a break. Use the authority you have as a preservation commission to make sure that they feel this and that this does not happen again.”
• From the zoning administrator, Corey Teague, who pointed out that a new ordinance adopted two years added punishment for destruction of historic resources of up to $500,000.
• And from members of the commission: “This is one of the biggest examples of asking for forgiveness, rather than permission, that I’ve ever seen,” said historian Robert Vergara, “and I’ve been teaching high school for 40 years.” 

Finally the owner’s father and co-owner, Ralph Gesualdo, arrived and was called to speak. “We didn’t know it was a historic district,” he said. But he acknowledged: “Lots of mistakes have been made. This has been a nightmare for my daughter.” He conceded: “We need to pay for our mistakes.”

The commission voted unanimously to require that detailed plans be presented at their September meeting. The issue finally returned to the commission’s agenda at its November 19 meeting.

“Since our last meeting, I have replaced my team entirely,” owner Jeneane Gesualdo testified. “We are doing archival research on the history of the house and the neighborhood.” She added that a plaque would be added to honor Anne Bloomfield. “We just need more time,” she said.

“We’re very happy about your decision,” commission chair Diane Matsuda told her. She was directed to return in January.

And she did, with her new architect, Ahlam Reiley, who will be advised by the preservationists at the respected Page & Turnbull firm.

“We want to make sure that things are done right this time,” Gesualdo said. Commission members still had questions, reluctantly approving the plans with instructions to come back with more details and someone from Page & Turnbull before building permits are issued. Any penalty is still to be determined.

It’s not nearly over yet, but there is reason for hope.