Historic Albion Hall Sells for $6.5M, Only $100K Shy of Mission Dolores Record

When the beautiful residential conversion of Albion Hall in Mission Dolores listed for $6.5 million last month, it set off a collective swoonfest that we still haven't quite recovered from. The exposed buttressed roof! The high windows! The storybook facade! The ... bedroom barn door? (OK, OK, we'll still take it!) Built as a meeting hall after the 1906 earthquake and fire, Albion Hall later acted as a headquarters for the San Francisco Socialist Party and also, fun fact, as the founding home of the Gay Olympics. More recently it served as a venue for musical and theatrical performances, primarily by lesbian artists. In 2009 it underwent an overhaul that transformed it into a stately four-bedroom home.

The sale price of $6.5 million puts it in second place for the most expensive residential sale ever in Mission Dolores, behind the equally jaw-dropping former church at 601 Dolores, which changed hands in 2011 for $6.6 million. Even though 601 Dolores had also undergone a residential conversion, the buyer turned out to be a school. So in some technical way, Albion Hall has a claim on honorary first place for the neighborhood's priciest sale for a home that remains a residence—assuming the buyers do in fact intend to live there. (A fact we'd like to volunteer ourselves to verify in person at the housewarming!)

· The Mission's Historic Albion Hall Is for Sale, Asking $6.5M [Curbed SF]
· 143 Albion Street [Redfin]
· Guess What's Moving Into 601 Dolores? [Curbed SF]
· 143 Albion Street [Official Site]