The Petit Trianon, San Francisco

The original Petit Trianon was built in the 1760s by Louis XV of France for his chief Mistress, Madame de Pompadour, though she did not live to see its completion.  Upon ascending to the throne, Louis XVI gave it to his chief mistress, Marie Antoinette.

This copy of the Petit Trianon stands in the Presidio Heights neighborhood of San Francisco.  It was built from 1902 to 1904 by a husband and wife who came from merchant families. At their housewarming they dressed as Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

One wonders why they chose to identify with the king and mistress who presided over the collapse of the monarchy and were beheaded, rather than with the king who built the original Petit Trianon and his mistress.

In the fourth Nicole Tang Noonan mystery, now being written, some of the action centers around this house and its fictional occupants.