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It was five months ago that we first reported that the modern 6,000 square foot Noe home at 625 Duncan might soon hit the market.

As we reported at the time, the sale “would appear to have been planned prior to last week’s ruling against the owners who had requested the Discretionary Review to block the building of 645 Duncan as proposed, characterizing their request as a fight to preserve “the character and charm” of the neighborhood.”

Yesterday, the rather spec-tacular house at 625 Duncan was listed for $6,750,000. The property was purchased by the former COO of MobiTV for $5,818,000 in 2008.

∙ Listing: 625 Duncan Street (4/5.5) 5,933 sqft – $6,750,000 [Paragon]

21 thoughts on “Charming 6,000 Square Foot Noe Home Hits The Market For $6.75M”
  1. For about the same price, you can have 2881 Jackson, a small two-unit nondescript building enlarged and converted to a single larger house (although perhaps legally still two). It has not a hint of the former interior or any suggestion of its original period. The facade has been preserved, except for the front door. Inside there is a grim “blackened” steel fireplace suggesting a border between living and dining rooms. It will be like living in a contemporary art gallery, but apparently a lot of people like black and white. Lots of hyperbolic and effusive descriptions available. Bought for about $2m, it will surely sell at $6.6m.

  2. I like this Duncan house and would take it over 2881 Jackson in a heartbeat. My hope is that homes like 2881 do not get rewarded in the marketplace and homes that get remodeled are done so tastefully and timelessly. I sincerely do not think that it will sell for 6.6. Don’t want to take this thread off course too much but 2881 disturbs me greatly. But this home (duncan) has a lot of well thought out details and finishes. Not all to my liking, but certainly done with a lot of care. Good luck to all.

  3. confier and eddy,
    There was a pretty similar discussion about 2201 Clay a week and a half ago — it’s already in contract.

  4. Joshua, thanks for the update on 2275 Clay. I hadn’t seen that go into contract. Pretty insane what we’re seeing in the market right now. It certainly gives hope to 2881 Jackson and I may have to rethink the state of the market and buyers. My radar is too low.

  5. Dunno about all the posted speculations. But I DO know that that facade has major fugglies! This would fit right into one those Chinese themed suburbs. All those cheesy lines and angles give me a major headache!

  6. Jackson seems fine to me but not at this price. It’s really sad that a house on a normal lot w/o anything interesting can command almost $7M, just because a similar one in Noe would now sell for $4M (like that LEED platinum on 26th).
    Duncan at least is on a double lot, and had the potential to be a special house that those 25″ lots can’t deliver but the pics/floorplan don’t inspire that much confidence.
    It’s clearly better than the $5M double lot on 28th street that was sold last year, but hardly a mansion like the first $5M Noe house – the T house, down the block.

  7. correction: 2775 Clay, not 2201
    BTW, 2821 Broderick also just sold very quickly.
    Asking price was $11.7MM.
    N-S street in Cow Hollow.

  8. What we cannot predict is how long this inflation will go on or how it will end up. At $7m you can still buy a magnificent apartment on a fine street in the 7e arrondissement in Paris, or a very nice big apartment on some of the best streets on the upper east side of Manhattan.
    So there is a real international disconnect to this modest house on a shortened lot on Jackson (as well as similar $4m houses in Noe) In the short or long term, it will have to be adjusted. Of course the adjustment can come from the others rising rather than this falling.

  9. Why do you say that conifer? The Bay Area is a better place to try and create wealth than Manhattan or Paris. I am sure Paris would be a better place to retire. I would personally much rather live in San Francisco than Manhattan at any time of my life.
    And San Francisco has always had expensive houses in Pacific Heights and Seacliff. There is no reason we can’t support another wealthy neighborhood.
    What drives home prices is the fact that amazing amounts of world-changing technology is being produced here and mostly only here. Unless and until that changes, educated, intelligent, ambitious people will pour into the region in droves.

  10. But conifer, what if someone WANTS to live in SF and not Paris?
    Isn’t that what real estate is all about? Desire?
    You seem to feel that Paris or Manhattan is “better” than those Euro cities.
    Not if the buyer wants to live here.

  11. I like Conifer’s phrase “international disconnect”. I was thinking about this when viewing a 2 million dollar Cliff May mid century modern home (pool, tennis court, but needs work and is now in escrow ) online down in Pacific Palisades (about 1/3 the cost of our home in Cow Hollow) or when visiting friends who cashed out of Noe Valley, retired and now live on Maui in a beautiful home for half the cost of their Chattanooga Street home with no parking that was across from a school. Not everyone with money here works for a social media start up so the opportunity cost to live in San Francisco if you are in another type of profession does not have the same attraction. I am sure I am not the only San Franciscan who travels and begins to notice how much better they could live by selling and moving. My partner and I have many conversations of how we could live if we leave. A cottage in Santa Barbara and an Alexander Estates home in Palm Springs COMBINED would be 1/5 the cost of our home. I think we are very close to leaving, but without any bitterness, just willing to try something new. A Paris apartment ( I would prefer Rome) and a place in the desert is also on our short list.

  12. On a more or less apples to apples basis, Santa Barbara or Pacific Palisades are not going to be cheaper…at least not significantly so, unless you were moving to a much smaller place or buying in a relatively less desirable neighborhood in those towns.

  13. @ MovingOn: good comments, and yes, my partner and I have the same conversations. We have recently been looking a lot in Palm Springs and it’s pretty amazing that we could get a Mid-Century with pool and space for the price of a studio condo here. We also love Maui and it’s relatively “affordable” compared to here.
    The desert SW has an amazing peaceful and tranquil quality to it.
    We also will be cashing out and moving on, remembering how amazing SF is and has been to us. But change is good and so is a pure modern home.

  14. I walked by 2881 Jackson and the workmen said it was already sold at over asking. Does one of you have access to this info? If so, how much over 6.6m?

  15. re: 2881, I fear we’re doomed to see scores of these vanilla remodels of these homes. An “era” will be born and not in a great way. The developer will make $3M+ on this place is my guess. Surprised a home like this sold for under $2m even in 2012. And it sat on the market for a while. Good buy (in ’12) and congrats to all.

  16. This sort of remodel will only end when the market tells it to. It may take the resale of a number of these, where other properties bought at the same price, but remodeled with respect for the past, fetch more.
    I am not a contractor, but it probably would not have cost much more to preserve some of the character of this building, although it was two identical small flats. They could have saved money by leaving out the black wall around the fireplace.

  17. 2881 closed below asking at $6.415. Don’t think anyone is too upset at the sale price. Still a big price.

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