224 Elsie: Master Bath
It’s a Bernal Heights renovation (i.e., no apple) with limited head room in the master bed but with an open master bath with dual walk-in showers and natural light that we adore.
∙ Listing: 224 Elsie (3/2) – $948,000 [MLS]

47 thoughts on “You Might Bump Your Head In The Morning But Did You See The Bath?”
  1. “dual walk-in showers”?? Do people want to take showers facing their partner who is washing at the same time?

  2. (I’m assuming that those two showers don’t have any wall in between them. I probably wouldn’t put the towels there though. Or give up having a tub to have a walk in shower.)
    Other than the shower, I’m curious about whether people still spend nearly a million dollars for Bernal, even as nice as this?
    Prophesies on what it will sell for?

  3. People all over the world are giving up bathtubs that they rarely use for walk-in showers. We have seen it in NY, London and its “home counties,” Paris and Barcelona.
    This arrangement, however, looks a little like a gym.

  4. Love the location (big fan of this side of Cortland). Like the warm feel. I think they respected the place though the floor plan probably went through the usual compromises with Victorian/Edwardian layouts. But no stone-cold redo there and that’s a plus.
    I like the master bedroom deck. You have to go up one step from what I see the pic. You’re already watching out for your head inside and you have to look out for the step when you get outside. No biggie, enjoying the deck will be well worth the small stunt. I’d also be interested to see how they worked out the water flow on that deck.
    Price is what it is. Still reasonable under 1M, but 600s for BH?

  5. Conifer, I’ve been noticing it being more and more popular the past few years but it’s not a trend I like. There’s one house on 23rd avenue that has three full baths and not one tub between them. Sometimes I want a good soak!
    But a nice big shower like this as long as there’s another tub to be had – that would be nice. I kind of like the gym aspect, good for couples who like different water temperatures!

  6. I agree it’s a good location for Bernal. This price might make sense if it was 2000 square feet or at least close. But $1M for something small in Bernal — which is really a 2BR from what I infer from the description of the “unwarranted third bedroom” that connects to the garage (!) — seems way overly optimistic. This place should go for $850k.

  7. The bedroom reminds me of some Paris apartments on the top floor which used to be the maids’ rooms. If there is not a sufficient ceiling height, the sellers cannot include the square footage in the legal total, so they cite two numbers. You are only buying the legal number, which is a very important figure for taxes, transfers, and other bureaucratic issues of which the French are very fond.
    This bed is not included in the prix du mètre carré.

  8. Conifer,
    I once owned a Paris 1BR that had 450sf floor surface and 250sf official. Pretty ridiculous floor plan but a great rental deal otherwise as the floor surface was the only thing that mattered at the time for rentals.

  9. I don’t see the big deal in not having a bathtub. But then again, I’ve never understood the appeal of sitting in a tepid pool of your own filth.

  10. Ever try to give a writhing 9 month old a shower? If you have kids under the age of 5, a bathtub is a must. Not necessarily in the master bath, however…

  11. mom – OK, I agree. I’ll chalk up the lack of a tub and a nicer shower as one of the niceties that goes along with not being saddled with kids.

  12. Mom is right. Depending on the number of people and number of kids, the number of bathtubs needed per house is one or more, and less than the total number of bathrooms. Almost everyone else in this society now showers. Frail and older people especially do not like to climb over the side of a bathtub. Of course a definition of luxury is having both, including a walk in shower.
    No real controversy here.

  13. Compared to a lot of the other places on the market in Bernal right now, this place is nice. I think it could go for 900k. There are a fair number of comparably sized Victorian fixer uppers in the 500-600k range. They have potential, but are in need of at least 200k work and factor in 12 months of carrying cost while you do the construction.
    IMHO, Bernal is the last undiscovered part of SF. Generally affordable, quiet, with great parks, mature trees and a lot of good fixer uppers.

  14. cerky- are those 500-600K fixers in as good of a location as this listing? I stopped paying attention to BH due to price and I don’t recall seeing many of those type of listings.

  15. Kind of amazing that a fixer in BH would still command $500k-$600k or more. I just toured a 3500 sq. ft. new construction 5BR/3.5BA house (with views) in the Belmont Hills (evil Peninsula, I know!) that is a foreclosure at $693k. 0.31 acre lot. It needs $300k worth of work to complete it but most of these fixers would absorb that kind of money to fix up and you end up with half the square footage and more downside risk. No 25′ ceilings or elevators, either.

  16. 252 bonview is literally around the block – listed for 579k and retains a lot of the nice victorian details inside – but needs a new kitchen, bathrooms and definitely a new exterior. backyard is cement.
    166 highland is a few blocks away – listed at 639k and in pretty good shape as well but needs new kitchen, bathroom, and backyard is not as nice.
    The owners of this home paid attention to detail – nice stove/oven, nice backyard, deck – and it’s in move-in state. I think 900k is reasonable given the competition. The other places listed on MLS in the 900k-1M range lack the character and some of them have downright gross interiors/exteriors – 133 Justin? 115 Justin? Or the fortress that is 4017 Folsom?

  17. I think everyone would agree that there are a lot of nice non-SF locations that are very affordable. Within SF, finding a SFH (without tenants) in a safe neighborhood centrally located near a cool place like Cortland St or Mission St for 600k is relatively hard to do. Bernal reminds me (slightly) of Noe – lots of parks, kids, families – except it’s way more affordable.

  18. The lack of a bathtub in a remodeled place would be an absolute non-starter for my family. There are places even in this modern world that insist upon the benefits of full-body soaking (Japan, for one). I would tell any agent to not even bother showing it to my family.

  19. Just looked at the pics. Ouch, my head!
    I really hate bedrooms shoved under the roofline. Lovely garden though.

  20. I’m shooting from the hip, but I’m going to bet 750 to 800 after a painful period of price discovery. That bedroom cries out for a dormer over the bed…
    And it’s a dealkiller without one…
    Nice remodel otherwise…

  21. a cool place like Cortland St or Mission St
    I don’t understand all the love for Cortland. When I started looking at places in Bernal, I was really disappointed in the difference between the talk and the reality.

  22. El-D,
    It can be underwhelming when compared with 24th street or Church or even some of Mission Street, but try and compare BH’s Cortland with more comparable locales like Potrero or Glen Park (similar semi-peripheral market segments) and you’ll learn to love Cortland.

  23. Cerky,
    You are opbviously a RE agent. The prices of local listings has nothing to do with the value of this property. The prices of local, comparable SOLD properties relate to the potential value of this “knife”. Whom would live in that master bedroom, which you use every night? I agree with conifer that the sq footage of the master bedroom should be counted with quotations, because it looks more like an attic than a bedroom.

  24. I have four bathrooms in my house. Took out all the tubs for large walk-in frameless showers during latest remodel except the master because the contractor talked me out of annexing the jet tub for a shower room “just in case” I have to sell the house. I am still upset I listened to him. I miss a really large walk-in shower and the new bubble tub sat untouched by my wife and I. We washed the kids in the showers everyday when they were young. Cleaning the tub after every use is simply too much work – unless you are willing to overlook the “black ring”…

  25. I would flip that bed around and put the head in the middle of the room. At least until the dormer got built. I’ve done head-in bed arrangements before and it’s not as weird as it sounds, especially if–as in this place–there is no headboard.

  26. I don’t want to overly defend that bedroom however I do think the space should be counted as square footage.
    My master bedroom is something like this, reclaimed from attic space. My head of bed is also similar to the one in this house- there is about 2 feet (guesstimate) of clearance between the head of my bed and the ceiling. However my ceiling is pitched at a much steeper angle than this ceiling.
    In my house, it is impossible to hit your head on the ceiling if you are laying in bed. Because as you lift your head up your head arcs forward which adds more clearance. (as an experiment, put your forearm/hand on the table in front of you, then flex your elbow bringing your hand up… you’ll see it makes an arc and doesn’t go straight up)
    It is also impossible to hit your head just by walking to the bed because I have bedside tables there.
    My house solved the ‘hitting the head’ problem by just lining the walls with storage/closet space which doesn’t need to be as high. This way the minimum head clearance anywhere is about 6 feet (except where the bed is, where it’s about 4-5 feet or so.) and then it rapidly rises to about 14 feet or so (maybe more, never measured)
    so actually, although my room looks something like this, it is very open feeling and airy, and many many people “ooh” and “ahh” at the space.
    Not saying this place will have a similar feel, since I haven’t been in it… and also because I’m not sure this ceiling is pitched as steeply and it looks like it might only be around 7 feet high given the relation of the ceiling height to the door height.
    If the owner of this house wanted more head clearance near the bed,they could simply put a thick headboard or something between the wall and the head of the bed pushing the bed midline.
    I’d also consider lining the wall with storage/bookshelves/cabinets. it would make that “unusable” space more usable.

  27. ex-SFer, I was thinking about that too. I’ve had an attic bedroom, and you get used to it. It can even be a little bit fun. It’s not like a “real” room and I’m not sure it should be included in square footage but you can sleep there.
    Willow, Curmudgeon, Sunnysider, that’s really helpful info thanks, and exactly what I thought it might be like.
    We’re looking for a 3/2 (or at least convertible into a 3/1.5)in a reasonably okay neighborhood the city for ~700K. Yes, I know, but for work and school reasons, and since I don’t drive, we’re committed to being here another three to five years.
    I would *like* inner Avenues, Anza Vista, LPH, the cute part of Glen Park… you know. But outer Sunset/Parkside, Sunnyside, etc. is more likely. 😉

  28. Does anyone else think that the garden is over-designed? You’re essentially left with just a walking path to the gazebo.
    Not that it needs to accomodate a baseball game, but it seems that the garden renders the backyard to its visual merits alone.
    No?

  29. “Small SFRs in Bernal are still getting 750K+, routinely.”
    According to fluj……..

    No, according to anonn, and according to anybody who takes a moment to look into it. What percentage of your posts do you devote toward antagonization? 100 percent?

  30. @ex SF-er
    In my house, it is impossible to hit your head on the ceiling if you are laying in bed.
    It’s not the “laying” that I’m worried about. It’s other activities that this low ceiling precludes.
    I completely agree with @mom. A tub is a must it you have a kid. Preferably at least one tub that isn’t a deep soaking one.

  31. I had a guest room like this. I’d consider furing out the wall at the expense of the window. Or at least do what ex SF-er suggested and use a bed with high headboard and put some built ins on the side.

  32. Nice bait!
    Zillow’s map of last 3 months SFH sales in BH.
    Out of ~25 sales (depending where you put the borders of BH), 10 are over 750, most less or equal to 800. Some can call it routine I guess. Really nice bait. Always pick the terrain!

  33. It’s not the “laying” that I’m worried about. It’s other activities that this low ceiling precludes.
    ROFL!
    we’ve never had that problem, but I’m in the midwest now so we’re more vanilla than you heathens in SF…
    but again, my attic bedroom isn’t as small as this one is-mine is around 225 sq ft with about 14 ft ceilings and an adjoining bathroom that’s about 160 sq ft, so there’s plenty of room to (cough) play.

  34. Small SFRs in Bernal are still getting 750K+, routinely.
    I noticed the Three Musketeers closed recently, so the sale should provide a good “apple”. From the comments, I’m guessing it sold for about the same price it was bought for in Jan. 2007. No small feat if that is the case…

  35. Cleaning the tub after every use is simply too much work – unless you are willing to overlook the “black ring”…
    The Japanese figured this out a couple hundred years ago. Shower first, THEN soak in the tub.
    But if bubblebaths are your thing, then yeah.

  36. The trick is the use of aged wood for your tub. You CAN’T see the ring. What you can’t see won’t hurt you.
    Bubble bath can be fun, especially if you make your own bubbles…

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