I went to see two open houses this weekend. Neither of them were the Sunset-style homes that I typically write about, but I like touring old homes and looking at their unique features, so it was fun. For this post, I won't show a comprehensive set of photos; instead, I would like to highlight particular house features that I found particularly cool.
The first house I saw was in St. Francis Wood, at 110 Santa Clara Avenue, built in 1925:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Francisco/110-Santa-Clara-Ave-94127/home/1949827
Homes that need a lot of updating may be the bane of home buyers looking for a home ready to move in. On the other hand, if there are cool historic features in the home, fixing up the home while saving these unique features can be a joy. Hopefully, this home is one of those houses where they'll fix it up but keep the cool stuff.
The house from the outside:
The kitchen has a fascinating original feature (beyond just the beautiful countertop tiling) - if you notice the countertop's level compared to the subway tile backsplash, the countertop is actually slanted. At first I thought it looked like the counter had sunken down from age, but then I realized, what a handy feature! When you make a mess on the counter, the slope helps you easily get that mess into the sink!
I liked the old floor tiling too:
Gorgeous staircase and arched doors:
Beautiful original bathroom with cool subway tiles and floor tiling:
Last little neat thing I noticed was that in the well-ordered garage, there was a page from a magazine from 1969 just lying on the table, talking about the miracle of Singapore's transformation under then young prime minister Lee Kuan Yew:
The other house that I saw was an old Victorian home at 169 Beulah Street, in Cole Valley.
http://www.redfin.com/CA/SAN-FRANCISCO/1690-BEULAH-ST-94117/home/902797
It was built in 1897. Cole Valley is actually home to a lot of grand, gorgeous Victorian houses. The realtor, Bonnie Spindler, wrote this about the house, "In 1894, when Charles H. Smitten hired David Emerson, a talented carpenter, to build his Victorian home, he could never imagine what his house would witness over the next 120 years. On the edge of Golden Gate Park & Kezar Stadium, it watched the rise & fall of Chutes Amusement Park, early years of the storied 49ers NFL team, concerts Led Zeppelin, Joan Baez, Grateful Dead, Santana, Neil Young & so many more."
Here it is from the outside:
The wallpaper covering the parlors (just as today some homes have both a living room and a family room, Victorian homes had "double parlors", where there was a formal front parlor for guests, and another parlor behind it that served as a family room) is not original to the house, though maybe they did use authentic historic wallpaper patterns? I love the idea of restoring old homes to their original grandeur, but this wallpaper might be a bit intense for some, including myself:
I have no idea if this is original or restored, but that is one ornate wood staircase and tin wallpaper:
One of my favorite parts of the tour was the view of the backyard and of other backyards from the back of the house. Because Cole Valley is a relatively affluent area of the City, all the backyards look so lushly green and well-tended. Compare that with where I used to live in the Inner Sunset, where all the backyards looked overgrown with weeds since most of the houses were rented out.
The kitchen has a fascinating original feature (beyond just the beautiful countertop tiling) - if you notice the countertop's level compared to the subway tile backsplash, the countertop is actually slanted. At first I thought it looked like the counter had sunken down from age, but then I realized, what a handy feature! When you make a mess on the counter, the slope helps you easily get that mess into the sink!
I liked the old floor tiling too:
Gorgeous staircase and arched doors:
Beautiful original bathroom with cool subway tiles and floor tiling:
Last little neat thing I noticed was that in the well-ordered garage, there was a page from a magazine from 1969 just lying on the table, talking about the miracle of Singapore's transformation under then young prime minister Lee Kuan Yew:
The other house that I saw was an old Victorian home at 169 Beulah Street, in Cole Valley.
http://www.redfin.com/CA/SAN-FRANCISCO/1690-BEULAH-ST-94117/home/902797
It was built in 1897. Cole Valley is actually home to a lot of grand, gorgeous Victorian houses. The realtor, Bonnie Spindler, wrote this about the house, "In 1894, when Charles H. Smitten hired David Emerson, a talented carpenter, to build his Victorian home, he could never imagine what his house would witness over the next 120 years. On the edge of Golden Gate Park & Kezar Stadium, it watched the rise & fall of Chutes Amusement Park, early years of the storied 49ers NFL team, concerts Led Zeppelin, Joan Baez, Grateful Dead, Santana, Neil Young & so many more."
Here it is from the outside:
The wallpaper covering the parlors (just as today some homes have both a living room and a family room, Victorian homes had "double parlors", where there was a formal front parlor for guests, and another parlor behind it that served as a family room) is not original to the house, though maybe they did use authentic historic wallpaper patterns? I love the idea of restoring old homes to their original grandeur, but this wallpaper might be a bit intense for some, including myself:
I have no idea if this is original or restored, but that is one ornate wood staircase and tin wallpaper:
One of my favorite parts of the tour was the view of the backyard and of other backyards from the back of the house. Because Cole Valley is a relatively affluent area of the City, all the backyards look so lushly green and well-tended. Compare that with where I used to live in the Inner Sunset, where all the backyards looked overgrown with weeds since most of the houses were rented out.
Sadly, I just went back to look at the St. Francis Woods home for reference on Redfin and the home was completely gutted of most of its original charm.
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