The landmark 10,000-square-foot home at 3500 Jackson Street is the largest Bernard Maybeck designed home in San Francisco and still features a plethora of its original detailing, with redwood walls and ornate fireplaces and fixtures designed by Maybeck while the kitchen has been modernized along with a few other rooms.

And having hit the market this past July priced at $16 million, a price which was reduced to $13.5 million in October, the sale of 3500 Jackson closed escrow two days before the end of 2017 with an $11 million contract price.

We’ll keep you posted as to the fate of the home’s interiors and plans to remodel.

40 thoughts on “Landmark Presidio Heights Home Fetches a Mere $11 Million”
  1. Genius house deserved more. You have bland to ugly modern design selling for $2000/sq ft plus in Noe- no bay view . Whatever!

    1. While originally priced at $1,420 per square foot, the designer Noe Valley home at 4352 26th Street sold for $1,025 per square foot last week while the higher-end LEED Platinum house at 428 Collingwood failed to break the $1,500 per square foot mark at $1,432.

      And in fact, of single-family homes over 2,000 square feet in size, there was a total of one (1) that broke the $2,000 per square foot mark in Noe Valley last year.

      Now back to 3500 Jackson…

      1. Don’t think 428 is LEED Platinum. It is “designed to achieve” LEED BD+C Platinum, but certification is still “in process”. With it having closed, not sure the developer is likely (unless it is a trailing condition) to complete the certification.

      2. Yes, back to 3500 Jackson which is an undeniable work of art, designed by one of the great architects of his time/the last 200 years, has a view of one of the bay as well as one of the most iconic structures in the world, in one of the nicest neighborhoods in the country, and still got less per square foot.

    1. Except for the kitchen which looks like a veterinarian’s examination room. Maybe they can do a reverse remodel.

    1. I get your point, but I think in general if you are trying to maximize your sale price the owner would not want to landmark the house. The status potentially limits to buyer pool to those who want the house to stay as it.

      1. There are some people who can afford to take a little less money in order to preserve something they have enjoyed for the future. Many of our friends are also in that position. If an easement of some kind could be given to a charity, one might even get a tax deduction for the “loss.” We should all watch this house carefully, as its interior is one of the most important in San Francisco.

    2. but what benefit to society is there to “landmark the interiors” if it’s a private home and there is no public access. it could be the best preserved details within the house but nobody will ever see it except for a couple of people.

    1. Looks like they were trying to replicate a West Elm catalog in some rooms. Zero attention paid to the context of the architecture.

  2. Does anyone know if those living room chandeliers are period original? They look like extended polychrome lights (popular in the 20s and 30s).

    Here’s hoping the interior survives. Perhaps they could even make the kitchen more period appropriate. Wishful thinking on both counts, though.

    1. I believe that the chandeliers are period original. They were there when I saw a glimpse of the living room before Elizabeth Meyerfeld Roos’ death in 1977. According to her obituary, Maybeck designed the interior.

      There used to be a ceramic plaque on the front door designed by Maybeck with the monogram “LLR” for Leon L. Roos, for whom the house was built.

      I also hope the new owners resist the urge to Dwellify the interior. We can only hope.

      1. Thanks for the information! The light fixtures look quite impressive. Likely cast brass. Finding something similar these days is incredibly difficult as many people were throwing them out without much thought to their value.

  3. I wonder if that small room that projects out on the left side of the front elevation is original or not.

    It doesn’t seem to be.

    1. The one over the Jackson side driveway? From a 1938 aerial, it appears to be in place. So it was either added in those 30 years or it’s original.

  4. A decade ago I was telling people: “Listen, if you have two million bucks tucked away somewhere you can buy a spectacular place here in San Francisco (especially north of California St.) that would cost at least three times as much in New York City and with a much lower quality of life.” Fast forward to 2018 (I’m still unpacking the fact that we’re 18 yrs past Y2K – and ‘unpacking’ is now a no-no word thank god… gone the way of ‘at the end of the day’) and the same holds true but the numbers have changed. Now its ten million. But still, in a decade that house will be worth $20,000,000 at least.

  5. I’ve been inside this house several times and it is beyond magnificent, though to live in it is also live in a cross between a museum and a mausoleum.

  6. Call me a Philistine, but this exterior is a tacky mess. The interior is better, assuming light is not your thing.

    1. Perhaps you should take a course in architectural history, in order to fully appreciate the California expression of the Arts & Crafts Movement. Maybeck was a genius. As was Willis Polk and Ernest Coxhead. This is one of the greatest houses ever built here.

      1. Maybe this is why it sold way below the original asking price. Not enough people with courses in architectural history?

  7. Yes, the light fixtures are original Maybeck. There are plenty of online photos of the room with not only these fixtures but the Maybeck designed furniture (one sofa of which is visible in the realtor photos) as well as a number of medievalish flags and banners.

    Yes, the addition over the left side of the front elevation is an addition…a dressing room added by Maybeck for the Roos’s in 1919. The staging is as bland as the original Maybeck design is idiosyncratic.

    Hopefully the new owners are in love with the Maybeckian flourishes, not the bland white stager anyhouse USA interpretations.

    1. Thank you for all the information! A bit of searching lead me to this link which has the photos you mention. Looks much better with Maybeck furniture. Gothic, Tudor, or similar furniture would fit quite nicely there, too. Easier to find than a Maybeck piece, that’s for sure! My guess you’d have to check the auction houses to find any.

  8. I would say this was a good buy for 11M given the location and size. I’ve driven by this house several times since its been on the market (I just didn’t notice it before seeing the article about it on SocketSite) and I think the outside is ugly esp with the tacky red trim. I haven’t been inside but the great room looks grand and beautiful in the photos and agree with others it would be a shame not to preserve it. Bedrooms are nothing special but look fine but I would redo the kitchen and master bath (no photos of other bathrooms). The buyer can’t change the shape of the front but I would consult professionals about changing the color scheme of the exterior.

  9. Red is the original Maybeck trim color, and I would expect is so noted in the Historic Structures Report as well as in the original Maybeck blueprints. I do agree that freshly painted, it’s a tad garish…wait a few years when it fades and will blend in better with the dark wood.

  10. That Mister Market, he’s just crazy. Every house in San Francisco is worth $1K per square foot.

    Also, a 12 year old Bentley Arnage (chrome wheels, Poupon fold-down tray) for the same price as a new well-equipped Honda Odyssey is the correct automobile for this house. Solid gold, baby.

  11. For a little more than $1000 per square foot, one can have the fine Victorian house with some splendid original interior spaces, very good southern views, and acceptably remodeled kitchen at 2709 Jackson. So there are bargains if you have taste and persistence.

  12. I’m a little surprised at the low price, but vintage places just aren’t on tech billionaire’s menu.

    I absolutely love this home and I used to live on the block, which is perfection. 3600 Jackson is a bit better, with the 3600/3700 blocks of Washington holding the ultimate Presidio Heights trophy homes Weather-wise, it’s not in the fog belt.

    Presidio Heights can be a bit ghost-townish at times and walking anywhere other than Laurel Village is a bit of a pain, but it’s a gorgeous neighborhood and I’d move back in a second. Congrats to the buyer!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *