Millbrae

Built circa 1865, for Darius Ogden Mills (1825-1910) and his wife, Jane Templeton Cuningham (1832-1888). Covering 44,000-square feet and standing on a 1,500-acre estate just south of San Francisco, for three generations this was a vacation home to the extended Mills family. By the 1930s, they had sold much of the land and the mansion iself was rarely used. During World War II the family allowed the government to house merchant seaman on leave while on active duty. After the war, the Mills heirs sold the mansion and what remained of the land to the Trousdale Construction Company while a protracted battle carried on between the Cities of Burlingame and Millbrae who both claimed the land.Any hope to maintain the mansion literally went up in flames - flames that reached 150-feet - when it caught fire in 1954 and was destroyed. Many believe it was not accidental. All signs of the estate have since vanished without a trace but the Mills name lives on remembered by the City of Millbrae and the Mills-Peninsula Hospital.