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St. Francis Wood, San Francisco: Homes, History & Real Estate Guide

By Matthew Martinez, Founder, CEO & Managing Broker, Diamond Real Estate Group. California DRE #01869679.

St. Francis Wood is a planned residence park on San Francisco’s west side, opened for sale by the Mason-McDuffie Company in October 1912 on a street plan by the Olmsted Brothers. It lies between Portola Drive, Junipero Serra Boulevard and Monterey Boulevard and is subdistrict 4G in the MLS’s District 4. The Assessor’s 2025 roll lists 612 single-family houses there and no commercial buildings.

The whole tract is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. That status, a homes association, wide lots and steep pockets of ground shape most of what a buyer or seller needs to know.

St. Francis Wood homes for sale

St. Francis Wood market report

Streets, gates and fountains

St. Francis Boulevard is the spine. According to the St. Francis Homes Association’s history, it has an elaborate gateway and two fountains and runs through the original 283-lot “horseshoe” section.

The rest of the tract follows curving streets, most with Spanish saint names: Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santa Paula and Yerba Buena avenues; San Anselmo and San Pablo avenues; San Andreas, San Benito, San Buenaventura, San Fernando, San Lorenzo, San Rafael and Santa Monica ways; Terrace Drive; and the lower part of Miraloma Drive. Houses on Portola Drive, Junipero Serra Boulevard and Monterey Boulevard form the edges.

Across those edges are West Portal and Forest Hill Extension to the north, Monterey Heights to the east (the two share San Jacinto Way and Yerba Buena Avenue) and Balboa Terrace to the south.

How the residence park was built

The Residential Development Company bought 725 acres of the old Rancho San Miguel from Adolph Sutro’s estate, and Mason-McDuffie bought 175 of them for St. Francis Wood. Sales opened on October 12, 1912, with utilities promised by March 1913 and wires and pipes placed underground.

John Galen Howard, the first supervising architect, designed the lampposts, brick-diamond sidewalks, entry pillars, main gate and first fountain. Henry Gutterson, supervising architect through 1954 by the association’s account, designed the monumental upper fountain at the St. Francis Boulevard terminal and many houses; the association’s architecture page says all plans had to be submitted to him for approval.

Building came slowly, then fast. Only 46 houses went up between 1912 and 1918, while 347, more than 60 percent of the eventual total, were built in the 1920s. Italian Renaissance designs came first, followed by period revivals: Italian villas, English manors, Dutch and Spanish Colonial, French Norman and thatched-roof cottages.

Lots were laid out wider than the 25-foot frontages of older city tracts, for detached houses set back from the street; today’s median lot, about 5,033 square feet, is roughly twice a 25-by-100-foot lot. Planning’s records name Masten & Hurd and Charles F. Strothoff among the architects alongside Gutterson.

St. Francis Wood in parcel numbers

The Assessor’s 2025 closed roll gives a concrete picture of the housing stock:

Measure (4G, single-family parcels)	Value
Single-family parcels	612
Vacant residential parcels	23
Median lot area	5,033 sq ft
Median building area	2,813 sq ft, the largest median in District 4
Median recorded build year	1925
Built before 1930	about 68 percent
Built after 1945	about 17 percent

The 23 vacant residential parcels are worth a note. If a house is offered with an adjoining parcel, confirm that the second lot conveys in the contract and check how it is taxed and titled.

The homes association and the CC&Rs

The St. Francis Homes Association, at 101 Santa Clara Avenue, describes four primary parks, more than 1,200 significant trees, seven miles of parkways, two tennis courts and a children’s playground, plus the 1917 upper fountain. Its site has a members’ area and lists a 24-hour emergency contact.

The association’s public pages do not describe current dues or the current design-review process. Ask for both in writing, along with any approvals pending for the house, and read the recorded CC&Rs in the preliminary title report.

The founding CC&Rs carry a history the association addresses directly. Its history page says the 1912 documents included a clause, Clause 13, that excluded certain ethnic groups from owning or leasing property. In 1948 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Shelley v. Kraemer that courts could not enforce racially restrictive covenants, and after the 1968 Fair Housing Act the association recorded an extension of the CC&Rs declaring the clause invalid.

Older recorded documents can still contain the original wording. Under Government Code section 12956.2, an owner, buyer, title company or agent may record a Restrictive Covenant Modification, reviewed by county counsel, that removes unlawful language from every affected property. This is general information, not legal advice; talk to a California real estate attorney about the documents on your lot.

What the historic district listing changes

Planning’s records show the St. Francis Wood Historic District listed on both the National and California Registers, with a period of significance from 1912 to 1954. It counts 591 properties: 529 contributors and 62 non-contributors. Wikipedia dates the National Register listing to June 30, 2022. It is not an Article 10 city historic district.

Contributor status is the practical question. California’s SB 9 two-unit law does not apply to a contributing structure in a historic district on the State Historic Resources Inventory (Government Code section 65852.21(a)(5)). The city’s Family and Senior Housing Opportunity SUD, which Planning maps over St. Francis Wood, bars demolishing buildings listed in or eligible for either Register, including contributors. Exterior projects on contributors should expect historic-resource review.

A non-contributing house may have more room to change, but confirm its status with Planning before assuming so. Our SB 9 lot split guide covers the state rules in more detail.

Zoning, slopes and getting around

Nearly every parcel is RH-1(D), one-family detached, in the Assessor’s zoning field. Planning’s landslide layer shows mapped earthquake-induced landslide polygons within St. Francis Wood: one around Terrace Drive, Santa Paula Avenue and Yerba Buena Avenue, another near Portola Drive, Miraloma Drive and San Pablo Avenue, and others along the Monterey Heights edge near San Jacinto Way. The liquefaction layer shows no mapped zone here.

A lot touching a state landslide zone must be disclosed at sale, and larger additions there need DBI’s stamped slope protection checklist. See our Natural Hazard Disclosure report guide.

For transit, West Portal station is a walk north across Portola Drive, and the K Ingleside and M Ocean View pass St. Francis Circle at the tract’s northwest corner on their way south from West Portal Avenue. Check SFMTA for current service.

Selling a home in St. Francis Wood

Buyers here compare houses on things a listing photo rarely shows: the original architect, how much period detail survives, the lot’s usable garden, the street’s slope and whether the house is a contributor. A well-documented history lets them price those differences.

Architect and permit file: original plans, the architect’s name if known, and permits for later work.
Historic status: contributor or non-contributor, from Planning’s property records.
Association items: dues statement, any design approvals and the recorded CC&Rs.
Ground: whether the lot is in a mapped landslide zone, and any geotechnical or drainage reports.
Separate lots: any adjoining vacant parcel and how it is titled.

City sale requirements still apply; see the San Francisco selling requirements guide. For marketing a large house, our San Francisco luxury homes page and luxury selling guide explain the approach. The market report on this page shows current 4G figures.

Questions people ask

Who designed St. Francis Wood?

The Olmsted Brothers laid out the curving street plan for the Mason-McDuffie Company. John Galen Howard designed the gate, pillars, lampposts and first fountain, and Henry Gutterson designed the upper fountain and many houses.

Does St. Francis Wood have an HOA?

Yes, the St. Francis Homes Association. Its public site describes the parks, trees and fountains; ask the association for current dues and review requirements for a specific house.

Is St. Francis Wood on the National Register?

Yes. Planning’s records show the district listed on the National and California Registers, and Wikipedia gives a listing date of June 30, 2022.

Can I build an ADU or second unit in St. Francis Wood?

It depends on the lot. SB 9 excludes contributing structures in listed historic districts, and the city’s housing SUD bars demolishing contributors, but ADU and non-contributor options may remain. Ask Planning and an attorney before you buy for that purpose.

How big are lots in St. Francis Wood?

The median single-family lot on the 2025 roll is about 5,033 square feet, and the median building area is about 2,813 square feet.

Are there landslide zones in St. Francis Wood?

Planning’s map shows several mapped landslide polygons on the steeper ground, including near Terrace Drive and near Portola and Miraloma drives. Check the specific parcel.

Considering a sale or purchase in St. Francis Wood? Request a home valuation based on comparable contributor and non-contributor sales. The San Francisco guide covers the rest of the city.

Sources & notes

Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.