The Pink Lady

Overlooking the Humboldt Bay and surrounded by a white wooden fence, The Pink Lady is a classic Victorian mansion originally built for William Carson, an infamous lumber baron who also commissioned the world famous Carson Mansion across the street.

The home was a wedding gift for Carson’s son, Milton Carson. Milton and his wife, Mary Bell, and their daughter lived in the house from 1889 until they moved across the street into the Carson Mansion in 1912. The Pink Lady stayed in the family until 1920, after which it saw a succession of owners including two sisters in Germany who operated it as a rooming house. However, the U.S. Government seized the house from the sisters in 1942 as Nazi property and sold it at public auction in 1951.

Samuel and Joseph Newsom of San Francisco designed the mansion in an eclectic mix of styles, primarily Queen Anne. Though the brothers also designed the Carson mansion, their portfolio was not limited to houses. They also produced many styles and types of buildings, including Oakland City Hall, the Alameda County Courthouse, and the Napa County Court house.

With stained glass windows, pocket doors, claw foot tubs, and its striking scallops and gables, the Victorian-era home is a fine example of style from a by-gone era. In recent years, the house has been an office space and a vacation rental. At the time of this writing, The Pink Lady is on the market.