161 Clifford Terrace: Living Room
By no means do we consider ourselves couch potatoes, but we’d be hard-pressed to ever leave the newly remodeled living room of 161 Clifford Terrace.
∙ Listing: 161 Clifford Terrace (1/1) – $795,000 (TIC) [MLS] [Pacific Union]

16 thoughts on “161 Clifford Terrace: Calling All Couch Potatoes (With Good Taste)”
  1. Nice jewel in one of the most charming neighborhoods in the city. Excellent job on the remodel and a very attractive alternative for those of us who are not interested in high rise living. Although only 1bd/1ba this is in the same price range as some of the units of similar size for sale in the new towers, and I for one would rather walk my dog in this neighborhood to coffee and enjoy the fireplace and view.

  2. I’m smitten but don’t know much about that neighborhood. Can anyone who has actually lived in the area shed some more light? Pros/cons?

  3. Speaking of Photoshop, does the living room photo look a little unreal to anyone else? My guess is that the views out the windows were Photoshopped in.
    In this case it’s probably pretty benign. The same photo was probably taken twice, once with the exposure set for the interior and again with the exposure set for the view out the windows (always much brighter than the interior). Then the two were combined using Photoshop.
    This technique solves a big problem in photographing interiors and I’m sure we are going to be seeing more and more of it. I was wondering what other readers feel about it. I think it is great because the end result gives a pretty good sense of what it is like to actually be in the space, but it does open the door to improvement of the view.

  4. Regarding the neighborhood, I guess you could call it Ashbury Heights or Cole Valley. This street is very quiet and the neighborhood is mostly single family homes. Some of the streets are actually paved with bricks instead of asphalt and there are some real noteworthy craftsman homes and a couple of early modernist listed gems also. It is tucked away so that I am suprised how many people are not aware of this little pocket. The views are spectacular btw.

  5. Agreed. This is, in my opinion, one of the nicest areas of the city. Secluded enough that it’s very quiet, but not so much that you feel you’re truly stranded in the burbs. Depending on how much you walk, you’re within distance of Haight and GG park, the Castro, etc. Cole Valley and inner Sunset also have lots of little shops and restaurants, so you’re not isolated out there with no street life. Plus the N judah stop is only a few blocks away.
    That being said, $800K is pretty steep for a one bedroom, especially given what the TIC market has done vs. condos and SFRs recently.

  6. This is a great neighborhood, the financial stats are probably much better than those towers over in the “warehouse district”. And you will live longer because you will be climbing and walking the hills. This block of Clifford is really steep. I keep motorcycles and I would probably need to pass on it myself because it is a little too steep for moving motorcycles on a day-to-day basis.

  7. This place is cool but needs a new foundation!! Be careful there has been a lot of pacthwork cement nonsense in the basement!
    Buyer beware

  8. I live in a house but if I wanted to downsize to a condo this would be it!!! It looks quiet, has character, in a neighborhood that is joy just to walk around, and you can go down to Eos or any of the other shops and restaurants. As expensive as this might be, the 3208 Pierce project on the Lombard corner in the Marina had one bedrooms priced at $925,000 and $749,000! I am not sure of the 1bd pricing in the towers but with this unit you are really buying a very unique neighborhood.

  9. As expensive as this might be, the 3208 Pierce project on the Lombard corner in the Marina had one bedrooms priced at $925,000 and $749,000.
    Careful there. There is a big difference between stating that a place is reasonably priced, and comparing A TIC at this location to an overpriced set of condos in a completely different neighborhood.
    Agreed, though that the neighborhood is really nice.
    This place is cool but needs a new foundation!! Be careful there has been a lot of pacthwork cement nonsense in the basement!
    This is why every place for sale should first sell 3% options to hundreds of people before listing anything for sale (ala “the Producers”). As soon as anyone made such a well reasoned statement on a forum, he would immediately be set upon by hoardes of angry option holders, argung that no one really *needs* a foundation and besides, the option holders would point out that they heard that the best friend of the mother in law of one of the janitors from Google is moving in less than three miles away, and so the prices in the neighborhood will soon skyrocket.
    I’m telling you: the sellers should pay more attention to Socket Site!

  10. Salarywoman – I was thinking the same thing, that the photographer employed digital blending ( http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/digital-blending.shtml ) so that the photo showed both well exposed interior and exterior.
    Unlike the cloning out of unsightly details like baseboard heaters and power lines that we’ve seen before here, I don’t find this exposure blending practice deceiving. In fact I think it brings the image closer in line with what the human eye perceives with its wider range of tolerance for brightness.
    … that is assuming that the view we see here in this photo is the actual view and the photographer didn’t replace a Honeymooners view of a brick wall with a long view 🙂

  11. Not to overlook the views (no-pun intended) but what I noted after being amazed by the views is that it is a TIC and there is only ONE parking unit for the whole building. That is something you live w/ everyday. The cool thing about Ashbury Hts is you have a home fairly central to everything, and bonus of Cole Valley is that everything is right out your doorstep. Not to sound lazy but this Apt is kind of a hike to neighborhood shops and when you get home its not much home at a 1br. Interested to see what people want to overlook. The views I must agree are kind of priceless, interesting to see what someone will pay.

  12. Yeah, if walking and hills are not your thing, this neighborhood is not for you. The hike from the N in Duboce to the top of Buena Vista is equivalent to 45 minutes on a stairmaster. This place is on the other side, so it’s not as bad, but the calves will still burn for a few days.
    I personally like it, but not for everybody. As for the views, they can’t be beat, except maybe from some muckety-muck penthouse on Nob Hill.

  13. great apartments (for a single person) but no real way to expand. just one bedroom with no den or office or space to grow.
    parking can be a problem sometimes and when it is… you have some serious hills.

  14. It’s interesting to note there are 76 TIC’S listed in all of district 5, 34 condo’s and 24 single family homes. That’s where the glut of listings are!

  15. Is the TIC market significantly softer than that for condos or single family homes? Or do those figures just reflect the current market mix in one part of SF?

  16. Good point about the TIC’s, but it’s not really an issue for this property as it there are only two units total in the building (that’s what the listing says). Two unit properties bypass the condo lottery and avoid the estimated 5-10 year wait to convert their TIC interest into a private condominium. The only requirements for two unit buildings are (1) that an owner occupies each one of the units for one year and (2) the building passes a code inspection which shouldn’t be a problem if they did their renovation up to snuff. The difference between a TIC in a two unit building and 3+ unit buildings is night and day in this regard. On another note, I have a hard time believing that someone spent a good sum of money and did a high end remodel job on the unit and left a substandard foundation that is going to need work. That would not make sense and would need to be disclosed – which it doesn’t appear to be. Buyer beware indeed…of potentially misleading info on blogs.

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