Carolands center of PBS documentary: Hillsborough mansion was home to heiress and rich local historical significance

“The Heiress and Her Chateau: Carolands of California” touches on the changes the house has endured since its inception. Gary Weimberg and Catherine Ryan of Berkeley’s Luna Productions produced, directed, edited and wrote the film after being approached by the Jenny Johnson, who thought it would be a great story to tell. Jenny is the daughter of the Ann Johnson who undertook a multi-million dollar restoration of the home in the late 1990s.

“When we did research, we found the stories of this building were so rich,” Ryan said. “What a beautiful location to film at and we found some treasures. Doing research was really fun. We were able to access letters between Harriett and her mother.”

She noted it was a historic time when people came to Hillsborough to create a grand social lifestyle for those in the San Francisco area. Pullman Carolan brought on the well-known French architect Ernest Sanson to design the home, which ultimately included a grand staircase, three antique rooms that had been carefully measured in Paris so the architect could incorporate them into his design without altering their historic proportions and a kitchen with white glass tiling. There is also a large wood library, which holds 10,000 volumes. The yellow salon is Louis XVI style with a view of the large outside garden.

The 56-minute movie, filmed in 19 days, also documents how the French-style chateau wasn’t always so grand at times. The home suffered through years of decline as owners couldn’t keep up with the maintenance costs and nearly bankrupted the heiress and subsequent owners. The heiress closed the house in 1918 after only living in the chateau for two years. Next, the home became dilapidated until a countess purchased it in 1950 to save it from demolition by promoters. It deteriorated once again when the countess was unable to maintain it. During the next decline, a pornographic film was made on the premises. Then, in 1985, a caretaker sexually assaulted and stabbed two teenage girls he had given a tour of the house to while he was on duty. One ultimately died from her wounds. In 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck the home. After the home was used as a designer showcase home, the Johnson family took it upon themselves to restore the mansion.

“It was a sleeping beauty,” said Carolands historian Paul Price. “It’s as if the Titanic were refloated in perfect condition. The house was her (Pullman Carolan’s) pride and joy. There is a great deal of misinformation about this house partly because she only lived here from 1916-18.”

On Jan. 1, the home officially became preserved as a public nonprofit foundation. There have been very few times for the public to access the home and since it is now a public nonprofit, there is a chance there could be public docent led tours. There also needs to be logistics for security, said historian Allen Deering.

“They wouldn’t want to open it up to a bus,” he said. “Why wouldn’t you want to show people such a jewel though?”

One other film has been made about the mansion called “Three Women and a Chateau.”

The new film premiers 7 p.m. Jan. 19 on KQED 9. The film was made in association with the San Mateo County Historical Association. The foundation’s website is coming soon at carolands.org.

angela@smdailyjournal.com

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