Constructed from cobblestones in 1931 and hidden behind fences and courtyards, the 1,700 square foot home at 480 Collingwood offers an unexpected dose of old-world charm.
Outside and within.
The modern living room opens to an atrium:
Beyond the atrium, Eureka Valley lies.
Purchased for $1,150,000 in September of 2008, the rustic home on a 5,665 square foot lot “with expansion/development potential” is back on the market for $1,549,000.
∙ Listing: 480 Collingwood Street (2/2) 1,700 sqft – $1,549,000 [via Redfin]
How do you seismically retrofit *that*?
How do you live in that. It looks incredible but I can’t picture day to day living in it.
Love the uniqueness and lot.
Definitely a beautiful home, but I’d be a little concerned about earthquakes there… as stated above it might be a bit difficult to retrofit.
YIKES!! I remember this place when it was up for sale years ago. It looked like it had been abandoned for decades. The transformation is incredible. I agree with the others: one strong earthquake and “you go squish!”.
I lived on the 300 block of Collingwood during the Loma EQ. Not even a picture frame moved….nada.
Sure, but the Loma earthquake was a baby earthquake, historically/globally speaking, and relative to what will happen when the Hayward fault breaks again. I can’t imagine buying this place without the intention to knock it down and build something new — in which case it’s overpriced.
And the Loma Prieta epicenter was also quite far from Eureka Valley, a good 60 miles away down in Santa Cruz County. For an idea of what a quake, even one as moderate as the 1989 quake, can do to buildings closer to the epicenter, take a look at what the Loma Prieta did to downtown Santa Cruz and Watsonville. Those downtowns were nearly wiped out and still haven’t fully recovered.
San Franciscans who feel comfortable to have survived the ’89 quake with little or no damage should keep that false sense of security in check. If the San Andreas or Hayward faults snap nearer to SF and the urban core of the bay area then there’s going to be much more severe damage affecting a larger number of people.
Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. The buyer of this house should get a qualified engineer in there to evaluate the structure and recommend retrofits. It is also important to get an idea of whether the safety retrofits are good enough to also protect the structure. The primary purpose of seismo retrofits are to protect the occupants of the building. Post quake the building might end up being a total loss.
BEDROCK.
Forget earthquakes. Let’s talk more about how you can play chess while cooking dinner.
The transformation is not incredible. It is a cosmetic remodel. And yes, the lot is on bedrock, but the structure still should have been demolished. It is all a bit bizarre IMO, but the sellers will likely be rescued by the hot market.
I wonder if a thoughtful 2 unit development could be approved for that lot with a variance and a conditional use entitlement. It’s so close to the requisite 6000 square feet. I bet planning would smile on such a proposal if the neighbors didn’t object.
I toured this property five years ago … looks like the tiny kitchen is still in the same place (check the stove through the curved door in the photo with the fireplace). The whole kitchen fit under the tiny landing showed in photo no. 19 of the Redfin listing linked above. I think SocketSite also published an article “Going Medieval on Your A** at 480 Collingwood” — some other news orgs used the same title.
Wow, I was just thinking to myself “why don’t I buy a cobblestone house in the middle of the ring of fire?”
We owned 419/421 Collingwood for several years. What a great neighborhood. This place has a driveway that is really hard to get in and out of because of the location near the top of the hair-pin curve. The seismic map of SF shows bedrock here. My prediction: this is a tear-down. If someone builds a three or four story home, there could be spectacular views of the Bay Bridge. Good luck getting that by the neighborhood watch dogs, however. Every single development project that came under review while we lived there was fought.
Sold for 1.9 million.