A masterpiece of understatement by Bernard Maybeck in Ashbury Heights. Four-plus bedrooms, 3 baths, and soon-to-be two-car parking.

Designed in 1910 for Mr. & Mrs. Erastus B. Power, then Assistant Attorney General for the State of California. The exterior is shingled; balance is achieved in the design composition by a substantial Japanese Tori gate which serves as a counterpoint to the house. The house occupies a double lot with 50-foot frontage and a park-like garden in the rear.

Formal entry leads into dining room which has walls of clear redwood, plate racks and a very special fireplace designed for and around a Chinese hanging firebox. Incorporated into the fireplace design is a plaque originating from the first wooden house built in California, containing the text "Polly put the kettle on, we'll all take tea." A band of windows bathes this room in afternoon light.

A hand-painted dragon on the door leading to the kitchen adds yet another subtle and exotic touch.

There is a pair of unique “yin yang” shutters from an early San Francisco Chinese laundry, provided by Minerva Power for Mr. Maybeck to incorporate into this room.

In the Great Room, there are powerful beams that meet to create a dramatic composition. This room was inspired by a Gold Rush era church in Nevada City, California, where Minerva Power sang as a child. The massive fireplace is adorned by the coat of arms of Mrs. Power’s revolutionary war hero ancestor, General Nathaniel Green.

French doors open to a balcony with views west to Sutro Forest and north to the Golden Gate Headlands and Point Reyes.A sitting room/office on the third floor opens onto an interior balcony overlooking the lofty Great Room. From it, string quartets and harpsichords have serenaded guests below in the Great Room.

Both bathrooms on this level were remodeled in the 1970’s by Jack Hilmer, who has also done similar work for Maybeck's Church of Christ Scientist in Oakland. The first has a redwood-lined shower enclosure, and a commode and sink; the second, shower over tub, double sink and commode.Third bedroom has windows that face south and east, and has a closet. The master suite has a generous wall of closets to the south, a band of windows overlooking the lush garden to the east, a sun room, and aforementioned full bath.

Large kitchen has a comfortable breakfast area, numerous cabinets and a wall of windows that face east to capture the morning sun.

Dutch door leads out to deep, park-like garden serviced by sprinkler system. There is a small room off the back deck plumbed with a wooden sink, last used as a dark room by Welland Lathrop.

The house was designed by Bernard Maybeck in 1910 for Erastus B. Power, then Assistant Attorney General of California, and his wife Minerva.

Minerva Power (seated right, smiling) entertaining in the garden, ca. 1915

In 1960 it was sold to Nina Lathrop, one of the first women to practice psychotherapy in San Francisco, and her husband, Welland Lathrop, the celebrated dancer and choreographer.