Forest Hill, San Francisco: Hillside Homes & Real Estate Guide
Forest Hill is a hillside residence park west of Twin Peaks, begun by the Newell-Murdoch Company in 1912 on land bought from the heirs of Adolph Sutro. Wikipedia’s neighborhood article puts its edges roughly at Seventh Avenue and Laguna Honda Boulevard on the north and east, Taraval Street on the south and 14th Avenue on the west. It is subdistrict 4C in the MLS’s District 4. The Assessor’s 2025 roll lists about 750 single-family houses.
A Muni Metro station sits under its eastern edge, curving streets climb the slope above it, and a neighborhood association still runs the clubhouse Bernard Maybeck designed. Those three features, plus the ground itself, are what set Forest Hill apart from the flatter neighborhoods around it.
Forest Hill homes for sale
Forest Hill market report
Forest Hill station, a landmark underground
Forest Hill station sits inside the Twin Peaks Tunnel at Laguna Honda and Dewey boulevards. According to Wikipedia’s history of the tunnel, it was originally named Laguna Honda, lies about 70 feet below grade near the tunnel’s highest point, and gained high-level platforms in 1985. The city designated the station at 390 Laguna Honda Boulevard as Landmark No. 231 in 2004; Planning’s record notes its Mission Revival style and lists Michael M. O’Shaughnessy as a significant person.
The K Ingleside, L Taraval and M Ocean View all stop there. The 36 Teresita and 52 Excelsior bus lines begin at the station, per published route lists from 2022; confirm current service with SFMTA. For many Forest Hill houses, the walk to the station, with its stairs and grades, matters more than the street address.
Curving streets, stairways and the clubhouse
Landscape architect Mark Daniels drew the master plan, and its streets curve across the hillside. On the Assessor’s roll the most common addresses are on Magellan and Castenada avenues and Pacheco Street, followed by Dorantes, San Marcos, Sotelo and Santa Rita avenues, Ninth Avenue and Dewey Boulevard, with shorter runs on Alton, Lopez, Ventura, Marcela, Mendosa, Montalvo and Linares avenues.
The Forest Hill Association’s history describes ornate staircases linking parts of the neighborhood, with balustrades and urns furnished by the Sarsi studios. The first house, on Pacheco Street, was finished in 1914.
The association was incorporated on March 12, 1918. It operates the Clubhouse, a 1919 Arts and Crafts building by Maybeck, and a Garden Club founded in 1931 supports its beautification work. Its website includes a tree policy, bylaws and an online bill-payment page; ask the association what, if anything, a specific lot owes.
One house here is an individual city landmark: the Cowell House at 171 San Marcos Avenue, a 1933 Modern design designated Landmark No. 270 in 2016.
What the parcel records show
Forest Hill is not a single-era tract. Of its 751 single-family parcels, about 53 percent carry build years before 1930 and about 30 percent were built after 1945, so 1910s and 1920s period-revival houses share streets with postwar and later infill. The median build year is 1928.
| Measure (4C, 2025 roll) | Value |
|---|---|
| Total parcels | 822 |
| Single-family houses | 751 |
| Condominium units | 18 |
| Vacant residential parcels | 19 |
| Median single-family lot | 3,998 sq ft |
| Median single-family building area | 2,332 sq ft |
On a slope, those medians hide wide variation. A downhill lot may carry a tall rear elevation and a garage at street level, while an uphill lot may put the house well above the sidewalk.
Historic status and zoning
Planning has found a Forest Hill Historic District eligible for the California Register, with a period of significance from 1912 to 1939; its records name Newell-Murdoch as developer and Mark Daniels as landscape architect. The district is eligible, not listed, and it is not an Article 10 city district.
Eligibility still matters. The Family and Senior Housing Opportunity Special Use District, which Planning maps over Forest Hill, allows two to four units on qualifying RH lots but bars demolishing buildings eligible for the California Register, individually or as contributors. Exterior projects on older houses can draw historic-resource review.
About 744 of the 822 parcels are zoned RH-1(D), one-family detached, in the Assessor’s zoning field, with about 40 RH-1 parcels and public land. Our SB 9 guide explains the state’s separate two-unit route and its historic exclusions.
Slopes and recorded restrictions
Planning’s earthquake-induced landslide layer shows a mapped zone on the upper part of the neighborhood around Castenada Avenue, plus small polygons along the western edge near Mendosa Avenue; its liquefaction layer shows none here. Disclosure is required for a lot in a mapped zone, and DBI’s slope protection rules require a stamped checklist for larger additions on lots that touch one or that average steeper than 4 horizontal to 1 vertical.
Ask for any geotechnical, drainage or retaining-wall reports from past work; on a hillside, they are as useful as the permit file.
Early deed restrictions also deserve a careful read. Wikipedia’s Forest Hill article says early advertising for the tract stressed deed restrictions that barred apartment buildings and ownership by racial minorities; we have not reviewed the recorded documents themselves. Racial terms of that kind have been unenforceable since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Shelley v. Kraemer in 1948. California’s Restrictive Covenant Modification process (Government Code section 12956.2) lets an owner, a buyer or their agent submit a modification that county counsel reviews before it is recorded, striking the unlawful wording. This is general information, not legal advice; have a real estate attorney review what still binds a lot.
Selling a home in Forest Hill
Buyers compare Forest Hill houses on the walk to the station, the view and light on each side, the garage and stairs at the front, and the condition of the structure on its slope. Houses from 1912–1930 bring period detail; postwar houses bring different layouts and newer systems.
- Gather the permit history, especially for lower-level rooms, decks and retaining walls.
- Assemble geotechnical, foundation and drainage reports, and note whether the lot is in a mapped landslide zone.
- Confirm the house’s status in Planning’s historic records and whether it lies inside the eligible district.
- Get any association statement and the recorded CC&Rs from title.
- Complete city sale requirements, listed in our San Francisco selling requirements guide.
Larger houses with views often draw buyers who also look at the city’s luxury market; our San Francisco luxury homes page covers that segment. The market report on this page shows current 4C figures.
Questions people ask
Where is Forest Hill in San Francisco?
It sits west of Twin Peaks, southeast of the Inner Sunset and northeast of West Portal, roughly between Laguna Honda Boulevard, Taraval Street and 14th Avenue. Forest Hill Extension lies south of Dewey Boulevard, and Forest Knolls is to the northeast.
Is there an HOA in Forest Hill?
The Forest Hill Association, incorporated in 1918, operates the Maybeck clubhouse and a tree program. Ask it, and check the title report, for any obligations that apply to a particular house.
Which Muni lines serve Forest Hill?
The K, L and M stop at Forest Hill station, and the 36 Teresita and 52 Excelsior start there per published route lists. Confirm current routes with SFMTA.
Is Forest Hill a historic district?
Planning has found it eligible for the California Register, but it is not listed and not a city Article 10 district. Eligibility can still limit demolition under the city’s housing SUD.
Are there landslide zones in Forest Hill?
Yes, in places. Planning’s map shows a mapped landslide zone on the upper slope around Castenada Avenue and small polygons near Mendosa Avenue. Check the individual parcel.
If you are weighing a sale, see how we sell San Francisco homes or contact us for a walk-through of your house and its records. The San Francisco guide covers the rest of the city.
Sources & notes
- Wikipedia: Forest Hill, San Francisco
- Forest Hill Association: home page
- Forest Hill Association: History
- DataSF / SF Assessor-Recorder: Assessor Historical Secured Property Tax Rolls, 2025 closed roll (parcel counts by class, build years, median lot and building area, zoning codes and street lists for subdistricts 4A-4T; queried October 2026)
- San Francisco Planning: PlanningData map service (zoning districts, height districts, special use districts, landmarks, National and California Register historic districts, Article 10 districts, seismic hazard zones; queried October 2026)
- Wikipedia: Twin Peaks Tunnel
- Wikipedia: List of San Francisco Municipal Railway lines (route termini; page states service as of July 2022)
- San Francisco Planning: Residence Parks Historic Context Statement
- San Francisco Planning Code (via GoCodebook): Sec. 249.94, Family and Senior Housing Opportunity Special Use District
- California Government Code section 65852.21 (SB 9 two-unit projects), via California Public Law
- SF.gov / Department of Building Inspection: Comply with slope protection requirements for your building project
- California Geological Survey: Seismic Hazards Program
- St. Francis Homes Association: History
- California Government Code section 12956.2 (Restrictive Covenant Modification), via California Public Law
- San Francisco Association of REALTORS: MLS district map (2001 edition, via Reineck & Reineck)
Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.
