Solaria Exterior Rendering
According to a “plugged-in” tipster, a number of San Francisco’s power agents pased on this listing for a “French Chateau inspired” home that’s nearing completion in the self-proclaimed “Yerba Buena Heights” (otherwise know as the edge of St. Francis Wood).

The home is centered around its solarium, a stunning, flexible space capped by a 26 foot-high glass skylight that fill the home with natural light. An order flows from here to the outer rooms, creating areas for children and adults to entertain, work, play, and rest. The palladium-style gallery arcade separates spaces for socializing; the dining and living rooms occupy the home’s front, and the library and theater are set to the rear. For privacy, the four second-level bedrooms follow a traditional corner plan, each en suite.

And while “Solaria’s” 2,500 square foot six (plus) car garage was rendered complete with a Range Rover, Two Mercedes, a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, and a $1.5M Bugatti Veyron (what can we say, we know our cars), the property’s website is quick to note: “As a home, Solaria is a symbol of success, not extravagance.
∙ Listing: 166 Yerba Buena Avenue (4/6.5) – $10,700,000 [yerbabuenaheights.com]
The Bugatti Veyron [wikipedia.org]

17 thoughts on “The SocketSite Scoop On “Solaria” (166 Yerba Buena Ave)”
  1. Can socketsite start a spinoff website focusing on the supercar market??
    I’d like to get ‘plugged in’ to that bugatti.
    Maybe trade my mortgage for car payment – about 1 for 1.

  2. Who says a Bugatti, McLaren, Lamborghini and Ferrari are extravagant? All they’re missing is a cute little ice blue Maserati GranSport MC Victory.

  3. The rendering with the cars says a lot about who they are targeting. I’m surprised they didn’t drop a blonde in there.

  4. “Who wants to live over there? For 10M there are a lot of options.”
    Agreed. 10 Hastings would be near the top of my list for that chunk o’ change.

  5. “”Who wants to live over there? For 10M there are a lot of options.”
    Well, I can see the appeal. St. Francis Wood is one of the *very* few areas in San Francisco with lush vegetation, substantial yards and well-tended, mature street trees. It’s probably as close as you can get to suburban living in the city limits, but you’re just a few stops on the Muni Metro away from downtown and steps from the West Portal shopping area. I don’t find it a hard sell at all.

  6. I’d rather move out to sea cliff. Or buy in Tiburon for half the price and take a chopper into downtown 🙂 Seriously, no view, no SF charm… seems like a dull place to live.
    Also, to the person who said they’d prefer 10 hastings… I checked it out on the brokers tour… what a disaster. brass fixtures, no privacy, tacky marble, no privacy, high winds on roof deck, so-so views. I could go on and on… Actually, the views are great… from the neighbors into your house! The article quoting the guy’s wife as having a talent for design is outright laughable. If that sells for over 8M it will be a miracle. Can’t see any discerning buyer wanting that place; even if the design flaws could be fixed for under a 100k.
    Maybe this place isn’t so bad after all.

  7. inquiring minds want to know – what was on the site previously?
    “Well, I can see the appeal. St. Francis Wood is one of the *very* few areas in San Francisco with lush vegetation, substantial yards and well-tended, mature street trees. It’s probably as close as you can get to suburban living in the city limits, but you’re just a few stops on the Muni Metro away from downtown and steps from the West Portal shopping area. I don’t find it a hard sell at all.”
    I suspect that if you can afford this thing, you wouldn’t be taking the Metro or shopping in West Portal.

  8. What eddy said about 10 Hastings is true.. I didn’t want to totally trash the house, but that’s pretty accurate.

  9. Are you kidding me? Where did the trim come from in the house? “Home Depot Versailles Style”, buy 15 factory-made baseboards, get the 16th free!

  10. not tough enough – I drove by today and couldn’t believe my eyes. The houses are built in what appears to be the backyard of surrounding houses. The driveway essentially cuts alongside another house – probably only an easement – and deep down into a hole behind the existing houses on Yerba Buena. Not to mention the cheap materials. Why doesn’t “Modern” architecture fit into SF, but “French Provincial” does???

  11. This is a great part of town (suburban like, to be sure) and there are lots of people who love living over here (including me).
    BUT, I don’t think there is one house, even in The Wood, that is $10MM+. Not even the truly fabulous old mansions. These neighborhoods just don’t support that price point, no matter how fabulous the house.
    And this house is truly NOT fabulous. In fact, it’s not even a house. It’s a roughly stuccoed shell looming up on a carved out hill (the construction of this house caused flooding in the streets down below, generating loads of good-will toward the new neighbors….).
    While it sounds slick to leave the house unfinished so a new owner can pick the finishes, in it’s current state of construction one can only assume that the builder has run out of cash to finish. A dicey situation in which to sink your spare $10.7MM. And to those who mention the cheap looking materials – look closer at the listing. There are no finish materials at all(let alone cars in the garage) yet! It’s all renderings!!
    The listing didn’t show total square feet, but if its quality is like we’re all guessing, I can’t imagine it would go for more than $3MM, no matter the size. There will be no market for a house like that at the price it’s at. And that’s one of the things that makes me love my ‘hood!
    Just check out 75 Miraloma http://www.75miraloma.com/
    Faux Tuscan “style” Villa – $2,285,000 and sitting (new home first went on the market in Oct.of 2004(??) for close to $4MM – even the Barbara Callan juggernaut couldn’t move it. So I heard they rented it for a while, and now it’s back and sitting again. That new construction looks like it’s fading fast, too…. Think they’ll be lucky to get $2MM).
    And while it seems trivial, who are Star Realty? Their sign looks like the kind you see for small time generic realtors selling dumpy row houses in the outer Sunset….

  12. I know of two professionals who passed on this project. I’m surprised it ever got the green light to be built, but who are we kidding, we all know it works at the DBI.
    M.R.

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