Thanks to the reader who tipped us off to the choptastic 224 Twin Peaks Boulevard: Purchased in 2007 for $1.36 million, 224 was listed a mere two weeks ago at $1,395,000. Alas, such prices are not meant to be in this market— the PriceChoppers did their thing, slashing almost $150,000 from the initial asking price. New price: $1,249,000. We're guessing there are a few people who aren't too happy about this deal, so someone might as well take advantage of their misfortune, right? Isn't that how this crazy game is played? Was: $1,395,000 Is: $1,249,000 You Save: $146,000
· 224 Twin Beaks Blvd [MLS]
There's a disturbing new trend on the MLS this week: camouflage wallpaper. We've gotta ask: what are Holly Hobbie's flowers really hiding? Says the reader who sent in the above photo, Exhibit A: "[What] you can't tell from the photos is the abundance of nude male body paintings and phallic cartoons in bathroom... But at least the wall treatments in every room (curtain/wall covering in bedroom, dizzying wallpaper in kitchen) are represented well in the photos!" As for the second photo, Exhibit B, we know there's gotta be a bed in there somewhere.
· 16 Allston Way [MLS]
· 494 Kansas St. [MLS]
· That's Rather Hideous: Wallpaper Violation Edition [Curbed SF]
PriceSpotter is Curbed's asking price guessing game. We provide you with some details and pictures from an apartment listing, and you take a crack at the price in the comments. Wednesday. And hey, cheaters never win, and winners never cheat!
Opinions and guesses were split over this week's Rather Hideous (or not) PriceSpotter, and that's just how we like it. Aesthetically speaking, your opinions ranged from "I feel like Cost Plus threw up in here" to "I admire anyone who has the guts and vision to do there [sic] own thing." Pricing guesses were just as diverse with the high guess coming in at $900,000, and the low ball— also this week's winner— of $615,000, along with a request for enough Valium to last through a renovation, came from runner's high.
· 610 Illinois St #201 [MLS]
· PriceSpotter: That's Rather Hideous Edition [Curbed SF]
Back to our "prized Noe Valley" location, 1081 Church Street. Most of you guessed in the low-million range, launching an incredibly fierce bout of Price-or-Righting as an anonymous commenter raised The Robin's guess by a mere $1,000. It's getting ugly out there, kids. In the end, the winner of this week's PriceSpotter, with a guess of $1.4M was— another anonymous poster. Actual listing price: $1,450,000. Congratulations, but damn you anons and your avatar-less ways! Sign up to accept your applause and/or defy your jeers.
· 1081 Church St. [MLS]
· PriceSpotter: Ornate Detailing in Noe Valley [Curbed SF]
PriceSpotter is Curbed's asking price guessing game. We provide you with some details and pictures from an apartment listing, and you take a crack at the price in the comments. Wednesday. And hey, cheaters never win, and winners never cheat!
This week's PriceSpotter subject a single-family home in the "prized Noe Vally location."
· 2 bedroom / 2 bath
· 1,095 sq ft in a 1906 Victorian
· "bonus" room on lower level
· upper level sundeck, lower level patio / garden.
Impress us all with your criticisms and calculations in the comments section. A cookie to whomever gets closest.
That's Rather Hideous is the report filed by Curbed SF's own interior design vice squad. Spot an offender? File a complaint— or a compliment. Witness protection guaranteed. Note: As we don't employ a company sketch artist, digital photos are always appreciated.
You're trying to sell your house. You decide to post it online knowing that hundreds—nay, thousands—of people could potentially see your listing. So...you might want to clean up a bit, no? Even if it is just Daly City. Or yeah, you could just leave out that baby seat and keep your Christmas decorations on the mantle.
· 467 Winchester St [MLS]
PriceSpotter is Curbed's price guessing game— We provide you with some details and pictures from an apartment listing, and you take a crack at the price in the comments. Reveal on Wednesday. And hey— cheaters never win, and winners never cheat!
We're guessing our PriceSpotters were a bit on the, shall we say "hazy" side after last weekend's Bay to Breakers, but some great estimates came in from our most stalwart readers. To recap, 1269 Vallejo Street is a 3 floor, 4 bedroom, 3,480 square foot home in Russian Hill. With a guess of $3.28 million, Sparky takes home the non-prize for this week's round of PriceSpotter. Actual listing price: $3,495,000. Sparky's original guess, before taking into account the nearby renters (gasp!) was a mere $4 per square foot over the actual. Well played, Sparks, but next time go with your gut. Not bad considering guesses were made with with a bevy of floorplans and only 3 photographs. So $3.45? A bit much or right on? Did we mention the 3 car garage? And that roof deck!
· 1269 Vallejo Street [MLS]
At some point an accent can become a full-on syllable and we're pretty sure the interior decorator at 3861 19th Street crossed that line. We get it. Blue is the accent color. As much as we love seeing something other than the beige and white Gap-tastic stage sets, it's a little distracting. Assuming your rods and cones are still intact, you'll see a top floor TIC with 2 bedrooms, upgraded fixtures and some pretty great views of downtown SF. The square footage is a mystery, but the asking price is $899,000.
· 3861 19th St. [MLS]
3861 19th Street $899,000 asking Note: Just a quick walk to Dolores Park
for those weekend cookouts! Bonus!
Greener Than Thou is our report on San Francisco’s obsession with all things green, calling bullshit in the poseurs and lavishing praise on those who have secured their place in environmental paradise. Let it mellow longer than most? Holla!
We really should have seen this coming. Despite the Mayor's assurances that solar-rebate funding would be available by, uh...tomorrow, a recently introduced proposal looks to freeze the funding for San Francisco's planned residential solar program. Designed to provide homeowners with up to $5,000 in rebates, the $3M GoSolarSF would have been the largest such program in the US— if only it weren't caught up by additional review courtesy of the fun-loving Board of Supervisors. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission still aims to put solar panels on 15,000 San Francisco rooftops by 2010, and this plan would go a long way in making that happen. If necessary, Mayor Newsom will reintroduce the measure on the upcoming June ballot.
· Shadow falls on San Francisco solar rebates [CNet]
· Greener Than Thou [Curbed SF]
What started out as a tricky Pricespotter this week quickly grew, shall we say, anticlimactic. 299 5th Street quickly popped up around the blogosphere, predictably so given its contemporary "architectural significance." Readers kept their game face on nevertheless— Curbed reader Cake or Death won out with the closest guess of $2.25 million. Well done, Cake.
UPDATE—: That's a good question, Cake. Our champ inquires: "[Would] most Curbed readers think this is under or OVER priced? $2.15 million doesn't buy what it used to, in SF... So compared to what else is out there, is this a value?"
We last checked in on this South Park micro-development last January, and things seem to be trudging forward on the commercial/residential mixed-use buildings. Without the scaffolding and protective films, these contemporary structures are looking a little cold in context with the rest of the area, though we'll hold any further judgment until the big reveal. While we're waiting on the unveiling of what will surely be the star of this building cluster, Ogrydziak/Prillinger Architects's Gallery House (the one covered in black mesh), let's indulge a favorite Curbed hobby — trying to make sense of archi-babble. Courtesy of the OPA website:
The gallery addresses the street through a condensation wall, a vitrine that distends and articulates the physicality of the liminal condition. Above, taxonomy studies exhausted potential code interpretations for a protective shroud that optimizes privacy and transparency on the domestic floors. A scaffold-like structure supports a semi-transparent screen and projects away from the primary glass curtain wall as an parametric illustration of the Planning Code constraints that trigger the typical San Francisco bay window.
So... A glass wall behind some fancy blinds, whose form has been dictated by building codes. Architects, we kid because we love.
· Development Watch: Small Spot on South Park [Curbed SF]
PriceSpotter is Curbed's asking price guessing game. We provide you with some details and pictures from an apartment listing, and you take a crack at the price in the comments. Thursday reveal this week. And hey, cheaters never win, and winners never cheat!
Today's Price Spotter subject is 299 5th Street, a single-family SoMa alternative to loft living:
· 2 bedroom, 2.5 baths
· 3,291 square feet over 2 stories
· "architecturally significant" 1998 building by Axis Architecture
· includes vacant commercial space and/or office area
As always, guesses, wry observations, and mudslinging belong in the comments.
"The ultimate in elegance and grand living," promises the listing for 2221 Baker Street, an address Sherlock Holmes could almost love. The photos aren't overly revealing, but the stats look good: five bedrooms, 3.5 baths, pool, back garden, rec room/gym, and 4,221 sq ft to get crazy, Pacific Heights-style. Or you if you want, put the greenhouse to use and get crazy Haight-Ashbury style. So what can you expect to pay for this three-story Edwardian edifice; this majestic manor? How does $3.795 million sound?
· Listing: 2221 Baker Street [MLS]
Address: 2221 Baker Street Asking: $3,795,000 Note: Good taste most definitely not included
Languishing on the market for over four months, 2170 Pacific Avenue is the perfect home for a good old fashioned murder mystery. The rich interiors are reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes' drawing room or an Agatha Christie dinner party — and it's a good thing too, because you'll have to make a killing to afford this place. The "house-like" three-bedroom condo was reduced by $100,000 last month but still comes in at a "house-like" $3.345 million. Who priced this gorgeous unit so high? We're guessing the butler did it.
· 2170 Pacific Ave [MLS]
[All images via MLS]
Address: 2170 Pacific Avenue Asking: $3,345,000 Note: Professor Plumb, in the study, with the wrench
PriceSpotter is Curbed's asking price guessing game. We provide you with some details and pictures from an apartment listing, and you take a crack at the price in the comments. Wednesday Reveal. And hey, cheaters never win, and winners never cheat!
Today's Pricespotter subject is 1631 Grove Street. The relevant facts for this single-family NoPa home:
· 3 bedroom, 2.5 baths
· 3,008 sq ft 1910 Victorian
· coffered dining room ceiling and large rear yard
· unwarranted 1 bedroom apt.
Guesses in the comments. Cheaters will find there's a price to pay, someday. Someday.
As construction continues throughout San Francisco and demographics shift into new areas, when does a neighborhood actually become a neighborhood? When a downtrodden block is revived? When a Whole Foods appears? Or perhaps when a neighborhood association forms and begins to successfully block all future developments? (Yes, yes, and yes, of course).
Which brings us to the curious case of SoMa and its burgeoning new microneighborhoods. New residential towers such as the SoMa Grand do not create insta-nabes, but they sure as hell help. An increasing number of young professionals and empty-nesters are moving into these towers, and as they do so, commercial outlets will follow and additional residential units won't be far behind. This is essentially the Chron's definition of "building a neighborhood," but it seems eerily similar to gentrification. After all, weren't these areas already neighborhoods with their own distinct characteristics and friendly local drug dealers? Seems like SoMa's "new" neighborhoods—Mid-Market, Transbay, Rincon Hill, and Mission Bay—are likely to end up eerily identical to one another when all's said and done. But at least we'll have a bunch of new neighborhood names to bandy about.
· Shifting demographics hint at SoMa's future [SF Gate]
Then: $2,995,000 Now: $2,649,000 You Save!: $346,000 Deets: Number 73 Miguel was chopped last week, and now it's little brother's turn. On the market since November, the oh-so-modern 2,890 square foot Glen Park home made it's debut at just under $3 million. Offering an impressive 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, and 5 — count 'em 5 — decks, 71 Miguel also comes with astounding views of the city...BUT it's located in the middle of Section 8 turf, so you might want to put your wallet in your sock when walking home. Might this just be a contributing factor to the chop?
A couple more buildings are rising next to OPA Design and Architecture's gallery house on South Park. Cool and contemporary, each ambiguously-addressed edifice will host a commercial space on the ground floor with residential units above. Such goodies as radiant heating and residential elevators (cold floors and 4-story walk-ups be damned!) await the proud owners of these new homes. With it's great restaurants and cafes, dot-com and design offices, new developments, considerable homeless population, and unobstructed views of One Rincon, South Park is truly becoming a microcosm of our fair city.
About Curbed SF
From the Golden Gate to The Mission, in San Francisco, it all comes back to our neighborhoods: where we live, where we work, where we eat, and where we play. Covering real estate sales, rental prices, and news-making deals and much more, it's all on Curbed SF. More about Curbed SF...
Comments
Opinions and guesses were split over this week's Rather Hideous (or not) PriceSpotter, and that's just how we like it. Aesthetically speaking, your opinions ranged from 
Back to our "prized Noe Valley" location, 1081 Church Street. Most of you guessed in the low-million range, launching an incredibly fierce bout of Price-or-Righting as an anonymous commenter raised 
We're guessing our PriceSpotters were a bit on the, shall we say "hazy" side after last weekend's Bay to Breakers, but some great estimates came in from our most stalwart readers. To recap, 1269 Vallejo Street is a 3 floor, 4 bedroom, 3,480 square foot home in Russian Hill. With a guess of $3.28 million, Sparky takes home the non-prize for this week's round of PriceSpotter. Actual listing price: $3,495,000. Sparky's original guess, before taking into account the nearby renters (gasp!) was a mere $4 per square foot over the actual. Well played, Sparks, but next time go with your gut. Not bad considering guesses were made with with a bevy of floorplans and only 3 photographs. So $3.45? A bit much or right on? Did we mention the 3 car garage? And that 
We really should have seen this coming. Despite the Mayor's 
What started out as a tricky Pricespotter this week quickly grew, shall we say, anticlimactic. 299 5th Street quickly 
As construction continues throughout San Francisco and demographics shift into new areas, when does a neighborhood actually become a neighborhood? When a downtrodden block is revived? When a Whole Foods appears? Or perhaps when a neighborhood association forms and begins to successfully block all future developments? (Yes, yes, and yes, of course). 
