Built as an Earthquake Cottage circa 1907 and hidden behind a fence and foliage, the roughly 1,000-square-foot Excelsior District home on a 2,495-square-foot lot at 228 Athens Street hit the market priced at $888,000 two months ago.
According to its listing, the home is currently configured with a large living room, a dining room that was used as a bedroom, an eat-in kitchen with a built-in table and a bathroom with a shower over its bathtub. In addition, there’s an exterior staircase to its rear yard and an enclosed basement with a dirt floor which has been used for storage over the years.
And with a current “Zestimate” of $876,995, or a more conservative estimate of $767,357 according to Redfin, the sale of 228 Athens has just closed escrow with a contract price of $535,000 or $117,000 less than the “cheapest single-family home in San Francisco” ended up fetching last year.
1000 sf seem quite large for an ‘Earthquake Cottage’ – which, as can be seen, seemed to be more ~250sf (small enough to be moved w/ two HP. anyway!)… it must have been added onto extensively.
The earthquake cottages that became homes were either several cottages combined or were significantly enlarged. They had to be. The earthquake cottages were basically wooden tents. They did not have bathrooms or kitchens.
The story here is how far off the internet estimates were, but it is nearly impossible to find comps for some properties.
There were also small, presumably temporary buildings erected on the backs of lots shortly after the earthquake. Whether or not we want to call them “earthquake cottages” is I suppose something one could debate.
I believe, technically, “earthquake cottage” refers to those built by the Relief Corporation at one of the various camps. But you’re right, of course ,that the term can be used colloquially for DIY efforts..I’ve no idea how carefully the term is being used here.