April 30, 2016

601-605 Waller St, Hayes Valley


5,098 square foot Queen Anne Victorian triplex condominium built in 1890. No. 605 which occupies the top 2 floors is 4 bedrooms and 3 baths in 2,535 square feet and is currently listed for $2.299 million. Previously sold for $1.735 million in 2013.

Interior Photos HERE

605 Waller St, ca. 1975


2500 Leavenworth St, Russian Hill


2,812 square foot 4 bedroom 3 bath gently renovated junior-size gingerbread villa* built in 1881. Currently listed for $3.25 million. Last sold for $65K in 1970.

Interior Photos HERE

2500 Leavenworth St circa 1975

*As described in Here Today, San Francisco's Architectural Heritage by The Junior League of San Francisco Inc, (1968) p. 45

April 29, 2016

1976 California St, Pacific Heights


Elaborately Stick Italianate in style, built in 1883. This home stands as an example of a style's demise - its super active surface is a precursor to the Queen Anne style. The interior of 1976 California retains its original moldings, paneling and brass and crystal chandeliers. The front reception hall contains a 14 foot plate glass mirror, reputedly shipped from Europe.

7,170 square foot multi-unit Victorian that last sold for $2.25 million in 2003. Previous to that, the property sold for $803K in 1996.

1976 California St circa 1976

1976 California St circa 1976

San Francisco Architectural Survey 1976

April 28, 2016

Your First Look at the 2016 San Francisco Decorator Showcase

2016 San Francisco Decorator Showcase at
Telegraph Hill's Villa de Martini
25 Bay Area designers take this year's showcase to another level.

More HERE (Curbed San Francisco)

PHOTO BY: Patricia Chang

2016 San Francisco Decorator Showcase at Telegraph Hill's Villa de Martini

1430 sanchez St, Noe Valley


3 bedroom 3 bath Victorian built in 1903. This house has been renovated possibly making the original square footage of 1,830 incorrect. Permits indicate the following 2000 renovation: TO REVERT TWO FAMILY DWELLING TO ORIGINAL SINGLE FAMILY REMOVE KITCHEN ON UPPER FLOOR & ADD CLOSETS. Cost was $45,000.

Last sold for $1.43 million in 2011.



April 27, 2016

241 San Fernando Way, Balboa Terrace


2,640 square foot 3 bedroom 2.5 bath Harold Stoner Storybook home built in 1922. Last sold for $1.505 million in 2011 (94K under asking). Stoner designed more than 60% of the homes in the Balboa Terrace neighborhood.

About Storybook Style — 1920 to 1930s
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Storybook or fairytale style often has much in common with the bungalow, English Cottage, Tudor Revival, or Norman/French Revival styles and is often subsumed in those definitions. Its defining characteristic might best be described at the kind of house you'd imagine Seven Dwarves or some happy Hobbits heading home to at the end of a hard day of work.

Whimsical with towers, turrets, columns, and colonnades, the Storybook house often has mullioned casement windows, arched or half-round doors, stucco siding, half-timbering, and ornate hardware or lighting fixtures. This is a style that makes an extremely charming small house, though replicating such unique hand-crafted and irregular spaces today would be very expensive per square foot.

Design elements might be taken from a variety of folkloric sources, not just English fairytales. Moorish tile and arches from the Arabian Nights, or intricately carved woodwork straight out of the Russian fairy tales about Baba Yaga, would not be out of place.

As with the bungalow and ranch, the Storybook style originated in California. It was the child of the returning WWI veteran, who had discovered the charms of French and English residential architecture, and the Hollywood starlet who contributed her imagination and optimism with childlike enthusiasm.

SALES HISTORY
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1998 $445K
2004 $1.401 million

Interior Photos HERE

More about Harold G. Stoner HERE

April 26, 2016

1735 Franklin St, Pacific Heights

1735 Franklin St circa 1975

1735 Franklin St circa 2013

1735 Franklin St circa 2016

1735 Franklin St  circa 2016

1735 Franklin St, Dining Room

✦✦✦✦MORE INTERIOR PHOTOS HERE✦✦✦✦


1735 Franklin Street Sales Video

1735 Franklin St,  Eastern Facade
Landmarked 7,885 sq ft 6 bedroom 4.5 bath mansion built in 1904. Designed by architect Herman Barth in the Georgian Eclectic style. Beautiful home in a lousy location on a heavily traveled and thus extremely noisy main artery. Known as the “Brandenstein” or “Bransten” House, the mansion was designed by Herman Barth, built for William Haas and given as a present to his daughter Florine when she married Edward Brandenstein(later changed to Bransten). WILLIAM HAAS WAS THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE WHOLESALE FIRM OF HAAS BROTHERS, INC. AND EDWARD BRANDSTEIN'S BROTHER MAX FOUNDED MJB COFFEE.

On the market for $10.25 million in late 2013, the asking price was reduced to $9.7 million in 2014 and then to $8.995 million last year. The property was delisted without a sale in March of this year. Now, with an official 4 days on the market, the price has been reduced another million to $7.998 million. Last sold for $2.25 million in 2003.

San Francisco Architectural Survey 1975

BOTH THE ARCHITECTURAL STYLE AND THE BUILDING MATERIALS ARE UNCOMMON IN SAN FRANCISCO. THE BUILDING REFLECTS THE TURN OF THE CENTURY TREND AWAY FROM THE FORMS AND EXTRAVAGANCES OF THE VICTORIAN ERA IN FAVOR OF MORE RESTRAINED CLASICAL AND COLONIAL REVIVAL FORMS. THE KNOWLEDGEABLE USE OF ARCHITECTURAL MASSING, AND EXPERT PLACEMENT ON THE SITE, ALL COMBINE TO CREATE A DESIGN OF CONSIDERABLE QUALITY. THIS HOUSE IS ONE OF THE GROUP OF FOUR ON CALIFORNIA AND FRANKLIN STREETS WHICH ANNOUNCE PACIFIC HEIGHTS AS AN AREA OF STATELY MANSIONS AS ONE APPROACHES FROM DOWNTOWN.

THE GROUP CONSISTS OF THE FOLLOWING HOMES: (1) LANDMARK NO. 53 THE WORMSER-COLEMAN HOUSE AT 1834 CALIFORNIA ST BETWEEN FRANKLIN AND GOUGH. DESIGNED BY PERCY AND HAMILTON BUILT IN 1876 (2) LANDMARK NO.55 THE LILIENTHAL-PRATT HOUSE AT 1820 CALIFORNIA ST, ARCHITECT UNKOWN. BUILT IN 1876 (3)LANDMARK NO. 54 THE COLEMAN HOUSE AT 1701 FRANKLIN. DESIGNED BY SALFIELD AND KOHLBERG. BUILT IN 1895. (4) LANDMARK NO. 126 THE BRANSTEN HOUSE DESIGNED BY HERMAN BARTH AT 1735 FRANKLIN ST. BUILT IN 1904

2801 Green St, Pacific Heights


4,444 square foot Colonial Revival style residence built in 1910. Last sold in 1982 for $255K. Current estimates value the property at $5.2 million.

2015-2016 ASSESSMENT AND TAXES
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Assessed at $708,382 Property taxes $8,318.53


April 25, 2016

76 Gladys St, Bernal Heights



375 square foot 1 bath cottage on a 2,500 square foot lot. Built in 1907. Last sold for $222K in 1999. Average price per square foot for Bernal Heights is $1,099 making this humble abode worth about $412K.

So how does one define a tiny house? According to the Tiny House Community, it must be 400 square feet or less and can sit on either wheels or a foundation. 76 Gladys has to be among the smallest houses in San Francisco!!

TINYHOUSETALK A blog about tiny house living.

444 14th St, Mission Dolores 363 sq ft studio cottage Mini is all the rage: First there was the Mini Cooper and then Mini Bar on Divisadero, and now the opportunity to decrease your footprint by owning a Mini Mansion in the heart Mission Dolores. This free-standing studio cottage is nestled in an enchanting urban garden behind a stately 3-unit building....Interior Photos HERE

800 Miramar Ave, Westwood Park


800 Miramar circa 1975

1,562 square foot 2 bedroom 2 bath Craftsman style home built in 1918. Last sold for $485K in 1998. Current estimates value the property at $1.5 million.

April 24, 2016

99 Divisadero St, Buena Vista - Ashbury Heights


3,906 sq ft Georgian-Colonial residence built in 1905. Designed by Southern Pacific architect Frank Dakin. Current estimates value the property at $3.8 million.

99 Divisadero St circa 1975

San Francisco Architectural Survey 1975


835 Darien Way, Mount Davidson Manor


2,260 square foot 3 bedroom 2 bath Mediterranean style home built in 1927. Last sold for $999K in 2010. Current estimates value the property at $1.6 million. The exterior entry stairs were replaced in 2012 (see photo below)

PHOTOS CIRCA 2010
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April 23, 2016

943 South Van Ness, Mission District


943 South Van Ness on left side circa 1927

4,675 square foot Italianate built in 1872. Part of the Central Mission Shotwell Street Historic District. Designed by San Francisco architect Peter R. Schmidt (designer of the Haas-Lilianthal House) for John and Wilheminna English.

Last sold for $1.495 million in 1990. Current estimates value the property at $4.3 million.

The property is currently a Bed and Breakfast called the Inn San Francisco (photos)

April 22, 2016

10 San Andreas Way, St Francis Wood


2,140 square foot 4 bedroom 3.5 bath Tudor Revival style home built in 1925. Designed by architect Henry Gutterson Last sold for $1.5 million in 2002 ($100K below asking). Current estimates value the property at $2.3 million.

959 South Van Ness Ave, Mission District


5,240 square foot 6 bedroom 3 bath Queen Anne Victorian along South Van Ness Avenue's "Mansion Row" in the Mission District. Called the John Coop House built in 1889. Coop was manager of the San Francisco Planing Mill at Fifth and Bryant when he built this house, originally numbered 2425 Howard Street, on two lots. Coop used the home as a showpiece for his business, but he only lived there for six years before selling it.

A spectacular example of what was produced at the planing mill is the main staircase, which is said to have cost $3,000, an amount that would have built an entire house at the time. The planing mill was destroyed in 1906, and shortly afterwards, Coop sold his house to a man named Homer Wilson.

Wilson, a "Financier" who was involved in mining activities, sold the house in 1910 to Dr. Frnest Johannson, who sold the south garden a short time later, where flats were built in 1912. The house underwent several changes after the doctor began the process by converting rooms in the house to "housekeeping" units as his children married and left
home.

Current estimates value the property at around $4.8 million.

Interior Photos HERE

THIS IMPOSING HOUSE, A VERY FINE EXAMPLE OF QUEEN ANNE ARCHITECTURE, WAS BUILT IN 1889 FOR JOHN COOP, A PROMINENT CARPENTER, MILL-OWNER, BUILDER AND LATER, LAND DEVELOPER. THE HOUSE IS SET BACK 20 FEET FROM THE SIDEWALK ON AN ELEVATED SITE AND HAS MANY OF THE STYLISTIC INGREDIENTS OF FLAMBOYANT VICTORIANA. A COMPLEX CROSS-GABLED ROOF IS FLANKED BY A TURRET TOWER ON THE RIGHT (SOUTH) SIDE. THE TURRET, OCTAGONAL AT THE BASE AND FIRST FLOOR, BECOMES ROUND AT THE SECOND AND THIRD STORIES, HAS A SLENDER CONICAL ROOF WHICH RISES HIGH ABOVE THE RIDGE LINE WITH A DELICATE METAL FINIAL AT THE TOP.

THE WOOD SIDING ON THE FIRST TWO LEVELS IS SHIPLAP; THE UPPER STORY AND THE GABLE END ARE CLAD IN PATTERNED SHINGLES. THE OPEN PORCH HAS TURNED COLUMNS SUPPORTING PEDIMENTED ROOF. THE ENTRY HAS A TWO-PANEL FRENCH DOOR WITH BEVELED GLASS. THE PORCH FORMS A BALCONY FOR THE SECOND STORY. ORNATE WOOD CARVINGS APPEAR IN THE SECOND FLOOR FRIEZE AND CONTINUE AROUND THE TURRET AT THAT LEVEL. THE GABLE END IS PROJECTING, AND IS SUPPORTED BY THREE DELICATE BRACKETS. THE TWIN WINDOWS IN THE GABLE END, WITH RARE THREE-OVER-TWO LIGHTS, HAVE UNUSUAL MOLDED ARCH ORNAMENTS AT THEIR HEADS. THE GABLE TERMINATES WITH AN UNUSUAL, GRACEFUL FINAL AT ITS PEAK. WINDOWS ARE DOUBLE-HUNG SASH WITH MOLDED TRIM SURROUNDS, AND APPEAR TO BE ORIGINAL.

THE CURVED GLASS WINDOWS OF THE ROUND PORTION OF THE TOWER APPEAR TO BE INTACT. THE GROUND LEVEL HAS A GARAGE, A LATER ADDITION, WHICH IS FLUSH WITH THE EDGE OF THE SIDEWALK. THE EXISTING GARAGE DOOR DOES NOT RELATE TO ANY OF THE ORIGINAL COMPONENTS. THE STAIR HAS A STRAIGHT RUN WITH CONCRETE STEPS BECOMING WOODEN STEPS WHEN IT TURNS TO THE SIDE AT THE TOP. THE PROPERTY IS SIGNIFICANT AS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE BEST OF MIDDLE-CLASS HOME BUILDING IN THE MISSION FROM THE 1880's. THE ORIGINAL OWNER, JOHN COOP, WAS A CARPENTER WHO LATER BECAME OWNER OF THE SAN FRANCISCO PLANING MILL. HE BUILT OTHER HOMES IN THE MISSION DISTRICT, AND LATER WAS SECRETARY OF THE BELVEDERE LAND COMPANY. (WALDHORN & WOODBRIDGE;VICTORIAN ALLIANCE; SEC. 106 REV., 2/95)

A permit search revealed that the single garage pictured below was enlarged in 1998. What is that triangular thing above the garage??? Also, notice in the 1975 photo that the witch's hat is crudely penciled in as is mentioned in the field notes below.

The San Francisco Planning Department calls 959 South Van Ness "one of the city's most dramatic Queen Anne-style mansions."

959 South Van Ness Ave circa 1975
Notice the witch's hat is missing and is crudely drawn in.

San Francisco Architectural Survey 1975

2518 Fillmore St, Pacific Heights


3,657 square foot multi-unit Queen Anne Victorian built around 1900. Last sold for $918.5K in 1990.

2518 Fillmore St, circa 1975

San Francisco Architectural Survey 1975

April 21, 2016

63 Santa Marina Street, Bernal Heights BEFORE AND AFTER

63 Santa Marina BEFORE

63 Santa Marina AFTER

Originally a 2 bedroom 2 bath 750 square foot cottage built in 1910. Now 1,622 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.

A flipper purchased the property for $750K in February of 2015. Renovations* ensued over the next few months. Shortly thereafter the property was listed for $1.3 million. Sale pending after 63 days on the market.

*RENOVATIONS 2015: REMODEL 1ST AND 2ND LEVEL OF E SINGLE FAMILY DWELLING. RELOCATE BATHROOMS, REMODEL KITCHEN AT 2NDFL, MODIFY WALLS. CREATE 1 BEDROOM, 1 FAMILY ROOM AT LOWER LEVEL, 1 FULL BATH, NEW STAIR T0 2ND FL. MODIFY FOUNDATION. Cost as per building permits $178K.

After Photos HERE

BEFORE PHOTOS
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More Before Photos HERE

1560-1562 Fulton St, NoPa


2,800 square foot Queen Anne Victorian duplex built around 1900. No sales information. This house has had the same owner for a very long time. Based on the condition, I would venture to say it's a rental property. Current estimates value the property at around $2.6 million. It appears that this property may have some condition issues which may diminish its value, but not by much....

A permit search did not reveal any recent interior renovations. This could be the perfect gem in the rough!!!! The multi-million dollar fixer every "in their dreams" flipper is looking for. Too bad its not for sale.

2015-2016 ASSESSMENT AND TAXES
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Assessed Value $51,444 Property Taxes $604.11