Peninsula People Sept 2017

The courtyard entry to the Shriver home is flanked by columns. Projected eaves along
the roofline are supported by corbels, common in Italianate architecture.
Steve Shriver with a self portrait in his studio.
paint and muddled graphite over conduit to make the bars in the stable appear
rusted. During the filming of “A Walk in the Clouds,” starring Keanu
Reeves and Debra Messing, Jean said, “The set designers spent 10 days
preparing the property, including installing a pool in the courtyard and only
seven days doing the actual filming. “We were thrilled. Anthony Quinn was
here. He was old and funny.”
Although it was exciting having celebrities on their property, “none of the
movies were any good,” Jean said, candidly.
Both Jean and Charles keep offices by the stables, each with an exterior
entrance. Jean’s office has floor to ceiling shelves, teeming with books of
every genre. Above her desk is a trap door leading to an attic with old, fabric
and leather bound books, some with gold leaf letters.
The family’s furnishings have been passed down from both sides of the
families. Jean said that they have purchased maybe two pieces of furniture.
Everything else is an heirloom with a provenance. A bathroom has the original,
small teal tiles from the 1930s. There is a nod to history everywhere,
including old photographs of the Peninsula, classic automobiles, renaissance
style art of a medallion with the the Virgin Mary and Jesus (original to the
exterior of the house) and even an old crank pencil sharpener affixed to the
wall in Charles’ office.
But not everything evokes the past.
In Steve’s studio there is a large oil on canvas self portrait. “It’s not a typical
self portrait,” he said. The portrait shows him under a freeway overpass,
juggling eggs, naked. PEN
34 Peninsula • September 2017