What $6,100 rents in San Francisco right now

Welcome 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? Today’s price: $6,100.

The tan exterior of this Diamond Heights house looks a little bit rough—which is to say, nondescript—but it does feature some contemporarily chic interiors. “Perched above the fog on the top of a hill” on Gold Mine Drive, this home features four beds and three baths plus a garage spilling out across 2,500 square feet, along with “spectacular canyon views, refinished hardwood floors [...] gray quartz counters, [and] beautifully tiled backsplash.” The ad also claims the abode is near the Glen Park BART Station, which is only sort of true—said station is a short drive but an almost impassable walk for commuters to the bottom of the hill to catch that ride. The deal is $6,100/month, pets included.

The keyword for this competing Bernal Heights house on College Avenue is “elegant,” claiming “original period details including wood parquet flooring, crown molding, and beautiful wood burning fireplace.” The circa-1941 home comes with three beds and two baths, as well as a separate in-law, apparently a studio. The offer means that the entire house is “leased as a single unit.” It’s 2,000 square feet and $6,000/month, but the ad does not commit to pets, sad to say.

Millennium Tower is leaning into the rental market once again, this time the offer is a two-bed and two-bath condo on the 23rd floor for $5,900/month. The headline even advertises “Transbay Park views,” which right now sounds like a bit of a jinxed combination: One very high-profile SF construction error overlooking another. Still, once the transit center reopens that does have the makings of a potential $5,900/month view, and the tower’s troubles have’t yet sunk the lush amenities listed in the ad, including “20,000 square foot private club level, 5,500-square-foot fitness center, [...] saline swimming pool, hot tub, jacuzzi, steam room.” One perk not included: pets.

Now here’s a bold move: This ad for a Nob Hill apartment invokes the phrase “Paris of the West,” one of San Francisco’s least oft-used monikers these days. Nob Hill is home to some of San Francisco’s most pronounced French architecture influences, but the building at 1380 Taylor isn’t one of them. This two-bed, two-bath apartment in a “trophy building” with “stunning manicured hidden gardens” is $5,995/month—the ad mentions that it’s rent controlled, which is probably the shiniest trophy here. It also comes with what the leasing agent always calls the “tails of the city” package, which is to say pets are a-okay.

Closing out the slate is this Russian Hill flat, a “historic condominium” with two beds and one bath for the price of $6,100/month (odds are that’s a record for the unit, after all). “Hardwood floors throughout, master bedroom large enough for king size bed, vaulted ceilings and working fireplace in living room formal dining room,” but again no mention of whether or not pets are allowed—historicity still doesn’t come with everything included, it seems.