It looks to be a well kept and completely renovated Queen Anne Victorian that’s anything but 1899 on the inside (think built-in Miele espresso maker in the kitchen). Plus, there’s an unwarranted “kitchen and bath” on the lower level (which looks to be staged rather than rented). And it’s open tonight (5:30 to 7:00) so feel free to share a review if you see it.
UPDATE: 66 Carmelita closed escrow on 2/1/08 with a reported contract price of $1,875,000 (4.5% over asking).
∙ Listing: 66 Carmelita (3/2.5) – $1,795,000 [MLS]
Huh. I’m going to go have a look. As nice as these Duboce cul de sac blocks are, they are within a few blocks of some very, very dangerous criminal activity. That didn’t stop 64 Pierce from selling for $2M+ amid our “deflating bubble” (LOL). We’ll see though. Part of me thinks that Lower Haight should be one of the first areas affected, if in fact a sea change is going to happen.
This area is interesting (and right in my neighborhood). There is a lot of violence and drug dealing activity in the Western Addition, but you’d be surprised about how little of it crosses Haight Street. I live at Waller and Fillmore (about 2 blocks west of this listing) and I’ve been very surprised at how little shady stuff I’ve seen since I moved into my apartment in May– a measly 2 drug deals, and the participants looked very nervous when they saw me! I have been told by many old-timers that our street has changed radically in the past 5 years due to the neighborhood association, which put up lights and chased away the gangbangers. The streets are clean and there are lots of sidewalk gardens, trees, and a few outdoor cafes– it’s a very pleasant place to walk around in.
I don’t think this is a “transitional” neighborhood in the same sense that parts of the Mission are, because of a) the proximity to Duboce Triangle, and b) the number of families with kids that have bought here (I see lots and lots of white yuppies with strollers on the weekends, which implies to me that we’ve passed the “broke artists in straight-legged jeans” stage of gentrification and moved onto something more permanent). Your mileage may vary– but come check out the Cafe du Soleil at 9:30 on a Wednesday night or 1 pm on a Saturday and see if you don’t also fall in love with the nabe!
I really like the neighborhood too. Don’t get me wrong about that. I even lived in the thick of it, on Oak @ Webster for years. It’s just that Webster st., and Haight between Fillmore and Laguna, are problem areas where stray bullets do occur from time to time. Most signs seem to indicate that below Haight and West of Fillmore the area has turned the corner, permanently. It’s just the proximity to real gangsterism. You want to get a burrito at Cuco’s one afternoon? There are maybe four drug dealers outside. They don’t care about you, per se. But they have rivals. That’s the story.
Agree with both fluj and jesscat. This particular block has been great for 10 or so years (ever since the last problem house got emptied…), and the neighborhood as a whole has completely changed. Fluj is right…around the projects there are still problems, but those very very rarely would come anywhere near this place.
Plus, in my experience, it is a very friendly street with lots of long term residents who did the initial gentrifying and stayed.
So basically, you are confined to a 2-3 block radius of your house? Yes… I know that crime happens everywhere, but isn’t there a higher probability in this neighborhood as opposed to the
Outer Richmond?
This place will appraise at $2 Million so the buyers can take our some extra equity to buy a couple of SUVs. Heck of a deal. On the phone with my lender…….
very funny anon. i think this place is beautiful. looks like they paid just under 900k for in 99 according to property shark. i wonder how much this remodel cost them? it would have been nice if they did something with the backyard and that deck for this price.
I agree that there’s been a great deal of investment and improvement of the housing stock in this part of the lower Haight over the past few years, and I’ve never felt unsafe there. It is disconcerting, though, that there’s still so much dumping of household junk on the streets (I recently came across a disgusting mountain of trash that had been dumped on Laussat at Steiner). But then again, I even see that kind of thing in Pacific Heights these days, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised.
the house is gorgeous. I’m not always one for Victorian style, but this place isn’t so frilly so I like it… (but I’d probably paint a lot of the rooms)
anyone know the square footage of this place? 1.75 Mill seems a bit steep to me, unless it’s a really big place (but only 3BR)
do you think I can rent out the unwarranted Kitchen and Bath downstairs for $10,000/month?that would help defray some of the monthly costs of this place!
Very nice throughout. Any renovator who modernises without buckling under to the Kitchen Granite Countertop Cult is ok by me!
Wow, $1000 per square foot for a place in the hood. Definitely going to jump all over that.
Unless this place is way bigger than the public records indicate (1800 sft) it sure appears to be priced a bit (or a lot) high. 158 Castro (featured on SS), a few critical blocks farther away from the projects went for $1.5M and it was a gorgeous place of the same size with an awesome back yard. 64 Pierce went for $2M but it was an enormous, complete remodel again with a fantastic garden rear yard.
DerrySF: So you like the marble & stainless kitchen better than the granite & stainless? Same difference to me.
How is this ‘the hood’? It’s right next to the park no?
What do you think the profile is of the buyer of this house. I love the architecture. Unique and irreplacable.
S&S,
I liked the granite and stainless look when it first appeared in lofts and other modern construction, but now that seemingly every new or refitted dwelling in every state of the union simply *must* have it, as now do mobile homes and even high-range RVs, let’s just say that I am ready to look at something, anything, else…!
i take it you guys all missed the home section of the chronicle yesterday:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/02/HO5ATTPDU.DTL
talks about how out the granite and stainless steel look is now
Carmelita (where I have had a home for 10 years) is everything the new urbanists are striving towards. Never mind most car-barreling streets in SF — this is a civilized, walkable, to-scale, peaceful little street. I’m not in the biz, but owners are buying in for the quality of the street and aren’t doing endless Sq Ft calculations. Which is why one mid-floor FLAT in the corner bldg sold for 1.3 two years ago.
Anyone walking on Carmelita — slows down, takes it in, and is happy to be in San Francisco @ that moment. This street has been studied by urban planners to try to understand its essence.
Invented, I agree that this street is very pretty with the exception of a few rentals that are quite run-down. I live near here and love the neighborhood, but you do hear shootings just a couple blocks away in the projects fairly regularly and drug dealing in the park is pretty rampant. I still love the area for many reasons, but this price does not fairly reflect the urban woes that are prevalent in this particular neighborhood.
This is my neighborhood. I love living here. It’s centrally located, great public transportation, we have a diverse population, and the blocks that run parallel to the Duboce Park have less traffic, which makes the neighborhood quieter.
People are willing to pay a premium to live around here. I do not think of this as a transitional neighbrohod. It was transitional neighborhood in 1980, now it’s simply a great place to live.
Carmelita led the pack, the neighbors there banded together and undergrounded their utiliity lines,at their own expense, years before the city got around to this neighborhood. It has always been a magical block.
Pretty interesting how all over the city, you are seeing neighborhoods clean up, and prices reach 900-1000/sqft. Makes buying anything in the northern part of SF for $1,000/sqft seem like good value now! lol
I’m all for charm and unique opportunities…but, at $1000 sq/foot, I don’t want to hear gun fire or know that drugs are being peddled a few blocks from my home. While that may be “ok” to many people who have lived with it for many years, as a new homeowner looking to raise a family…at $1.75M, I can live in Pac Heights, Russian Hill, Lake District, etc. in a full floor flat with less space, but, know that my kids are safe, relatively speaking. What families are moving into homes like this and sending their kids to private schools at $30k per year? Sooner or later reality will hit…$100 oil, recession ahead and housing declining nationwide does not equal hurry up and bid. The people that buy into this kind of thinking, have too much money and not enough sense.
66 Carmelita closed escrow on 2/1/08 with a reported contract price of $1,875,000 (4.5% over asking).