Welcome back to Curbed Comparisons, a regular column exploring what you can rent for a set dollar amount in different neighborhoods. Is one person's studio another person's townhouse? Let's find out. Our price: $4,300/month.
↑ Do you like brick? Then you'll love Jackson Square and this two-level, 1,000-square-foot apartment situated immediately next to the Transamerica Pyramid, in little Hotaling Place. The ad calls it a one-bed, two-bath unit, but that doesn't make much sense. Whatever the room count, it comes to $4,300/month, with more brick walls than you can chuck a, well, brick at. The walls supposedly date to the Gold Rush era, and the ad also boasts "Brazilian teak floors." No pets allowed, though; possibly they're worried about scuffing up the circa 1849 walls.
↑ This loft is South Beach for $4,300/month is a bit of a mess, but we can't look away from it. At 1,300 square feet it features only a single bed and bath, and it's almost all concrete, with very few of the rough edges taken off. You'll also find exposed beams and pipes throughout, along with some of those nice, tall, warehouse-style ceilings. None of that is particularly unusual, but there seems to be little rhyme or reason to the arrangement here. The Fourth Street address is less than two blocks from Caltrain at the Heublein building, which has exercised a strange allure on us for some time, if only as an antidote for the more commercial buildings in the neighborhood. Dogs and cats both considered, since it's not like they could break anything in this place anyway.
↑ As we noted last week, rentals in Chinatown don't advertise very often or very widely. July must be a lucky month, though, because here's the second one in five days: a two-bed, one-and-a-half bath apartment on Stockton Street, perched in the eaves of Mandarin Tower. The building is intrusive and the unit lacks a holistic touch, but the views are solid and it's a rare chance to get a foothold in the neighborhood. It's $4,300/month for 700 feet. No pets allowed.
↑ If you think this kind of money should lasso a full house, trek to Bernal Heights, where a two-bed, one-bath, 710-square-foot home at Cortland and Gates runs $4,300/month. It's advertised as two beds, but that means turning the dining room into an extra bedroom. Actually, the tidy two rooms by two room floor plan and unassuming exterior of this little place are rather charming. Notice the '30s-era Wedgewood stove in the kitchen. The house is a few blocks from Bernal Heights Park (although that's true of most of the neighborhood), but there's no pets here, either. Tough crowd.
↑ And bringing up the rear is a house in the Richmond, offering two beds and one bath spread out over 1,450 feet for a relative discount of $4,295/month. (Hey, every little bit counts these days.) The house dates back to 1922, and still has some of the moldings, trim, and tile fireplace in it. On Clement and Second Avenue, it's right around the meeting point of the Richmond, Jordan Park, and Presidio Terrace, and pet are "considered," which is at least half a step more than most place seem to be doing these days.