Bay Area mansion breaks -- no, shatters -- local record

A billionaire's lavishly renovated and restored mansion on Belvedere Island in the San Francisco Bay has broken — no, shattered — the local record with its $47.5 million sale.

The historic Locksley Hall, which underwent a mind-boggling $30 million in updates, had been on the market for as much as $70 million over the years. It even came thisclose to selling at $65 million in 2007. Then the bottom fell out of the housing market and the mansion fell out of escrow. Ouch.

The price that Locksley Hall fetched is nearly twice that of Belvedere's previous record holder, according to Curbed San Francisco. Even its big-city neighbor, San Francisco, has never had a home sell for more than about $35 million.

Locksley Hall was built in 1904 and sits on a promontory that gives it views nearly all the way around the bay, including the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island and the San Francisco skyline. Its three stories comprise 9,200 square feet of living space, with four bedrooms and nine bathrooms — not counting a one-bedroom, one-bath apartment.

The seller, Robert Friedland, is a miner of precious metals. He and his wife bought the Marin County mansion in 1995 for $5.5 million.

Click here or on a photo for a slideshow of the San Francisco Bay's record-breaking Locksley Hall.

Also on Yahoo Homes:

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• The bizarre saga behind L.A.'s last real estate trophy, asking $1 billion
• Billionaire buys Australia's priciest mansion sight unseen (16 photos)

And near the other end of San Francisco's real estate spectrum: