The High & the Low: SF’s most and least expensive homes this week

Presidio Heights lock heir locks up a sale, while Nob Hill rolls downhill

By Adam Brinklow Jan 6, 2017, 4:42pm PST

Friday is time for the High & the Low, a Curbed column chronicling the most and least expensive homes sold in San Francisco in the last seven days. What surprises did the week hold?

The new owners of 3747 Jackson, a grand Presidio Heights number designed by noted architect Charles Whittlesey in 1912, can feel pretty secure about their purchase.

The three-bed, two-and-a-half-bath house sold Wednesday for $4.5 million, the city’s biggest payout of the week. And the previous owner: Robert Kendrick, grandson of one of the original founders of the Schlage lock company.

Judging from where Kendrick has been residing, there’s still good money in keeping things locked tight.

The city has no records online of the most recent sale, although according to Redfin it was all the way back in 1974 for a mere $189,000.

That’s worth $881,000 today, of course. But still, wow. This latest listing originally wanted $5.29 million.

The vine-draped facade of a big house on Jackson Street.

This place also comes with an extra helping of irony, as the house last made news in 2007 when the lock heir was the victim of a bizarre burglary.

Thieves posing as moving men stole millions in art from the Jackson Street residence. Then, for some oddball reason, they showed up at his door to give some of it back, and the heist unraveled from there.

The photos here make it clear that the century-plus old house is a bit dinged up around the edges, and there is a long history of liens on it. Still, the new owner presumably has the cash on hand to fix it up.

The week’s best bargain shows up in a decidedly unexpected place, Nob Hill, where the Lambourne building on Pine hosted the rare San Francisco sale to slide in under half a million dollars.

Yes, someone slid into a place in the city’s original ritzy neighborhood for just $491,000 at 725 Pine #306, right at the base of the hill and a hop and jump from the Chinatown Dragon’s Gate on Grant.

Of course, it’s a studio, only 350 feet or so by city records (the listing didn’t bother with measurements). But it’s a classic building circa 1920. Who’s complaining?

The last sale was in 2008 for $375,000. This time it angled for $520,00, but took several price cuts since October.