The Real 595 Buena Vista Avenue

I have lived nearby for many years and this building has been an obession from the first time I set eyes on it. The design is so neat and clean, and stands against all of the mannerist early 20th century stuff nearby. The Architect is supposed by the owner to be Henry Hill, a bay area modernist with some sweet projects. Here is a link to a recent SF Chronicle story about Hill:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/06/11/HOGH1D54U31.DTL&hw=henry+hill&sn=001&sc=1000
I have toured 3 times since it went up for sale this summer. It is almost entirely original, for good or bad, except for the kitchen, which is straight out of the old Goodman’s on Bayshore. You get a gas stove worth good $100 at a used appliance shop and you get to customize the kitchen with a new refrigerator because I didn’t see one. The unit is very small, with that kind of moderist logic that sometimes makes a space feel smaller because there are no mysteries to solve. It has the kind of bedrooms where you will need to stop at double bed if you also want a nightstand. I do wish I had been aware that it was for sale in the early ’90’s for something in the $400K range (for the entire property, per the agent), because that would have been fun. But $800K for what reminds me of married student housing at the University of Oregon just makes me sad.