Sound the Alarm! Engine 44 Roars Onto Market, Asks $6.898M

The restored firehouse at 3816 22nd St. has been on the market before, from 2008 to 2010 (back in the economic slump when it was more difficult to sell a property—you know, in the days when falling down shacks weren't bid up). Back then, we wrote about it in pretty laudatory terms, using phrases like "kind of gorgeous" and "definitely tricked out" and even "stunning-ass house." In those dark real estate days, it started at $6.375 million, but after three years the price was slashed to $4.8 million. Now it's back on the market and a lot of things are similar. For one thing, its asking for $6.898 million. For another, this is still a stunning-ass house. Engine 44 started life in 1909 as a fire station that served Noe Valley and the Castro. It was remodeled as a private home in 2007, but it retains some scraps from the old days: the brass fire pole, copper stable doors, and zinc doors. Those old features are surrounded by modern fabulousness.

There's a lot of interesting history behind the Mission Revival firehouse. When it was new, it housed horse-drawn fire wagons. In 1916, it got a motorized truck (a six-cylinder vehicle with a 35-gallon chemical tank). Back in 1959 the place was sold at public auction for less than $15,000 to Mark and Beth Adams, who lived there for 40 years. Then it was remodeled and sat on the market for quite some time.

The two-story home is a big one: 6,045 square feet, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two half-baths. Its newer architectural details include a glass atrium that lets light flood down through the open-tread stairs, a glass catwalk, and a observation deck that lets you look south over the heart of Noe Valley and out to Bernal Hill. In other words, it's a hot one.

· 3816 22nd St. [Redfin]
· PriceChopper: That Firehouse is Rather Lovely [Curbed SF]
· Falling Down Earthquake Shack Gets Six Offers, Goes for $408K [Curbed SF]
· Pricechopper: Historic Fire 44 Takes Another Chop [Curbed SF]
· Vintage Firehouses–Engine Company No. 44 [San Francisco Fire Department Museum]