Monterey Heights, San Francisco: Homes & Real Estate Guide
Monterey Heights is a small neighborhood of detached houses on the north side of Monterey Boulevard, between St. Francis Wood and Westwood Highlands. It is subdistrict 4M in the MLS’s District 4, and the Assessor’s 2025 roll lists 314 parcels there, 312 of them single-family houses, every one zoned RH-1(D).
It has no shops, condos or flats, and it has recorded CC&Rs administered by a homes association. That makes it a useful comparison for buyers who like St. Francis Wood’s lot sizes but want to look at houses built a decade or so later.
Monterey Heights homes for sale
Monterey Heights market report
Streets and edges
The neighborhood is short on streets and long on curves. Its addresses, from the Assessor’s roll, are on Maywood Drive (the most parcels), San Felipe Avenue, Fernwood Drive, Rosewood Drive, Yerba Buena Avenue (the 180-to-460 numbers), Saint Elmo Way, El Verano Way, Brentwood Avenue, San Jacinto Way, Ravenwood Drive and Monterey Boulevard between about the 1000 and 1420 blocks.
Two of those streets continue into St. Francis Wood to the west: the lower-numbered blocks of Yerba Buena Avenue, and San Jacinto Way. Sherwood Forest lies to the north, Westwood Highlands to the east, and Mount Davidson Manor across Monterey Boulevard to the south.
The houses
Monterey Heights is a 1930s-centered tract. The median recorded build year for its single-family parcels is 1935, about 45 percent were built before 1930 and about 26 percent after 1945. St. Francis Wood’s median, by comparison, is 1925.
| Measure (2025 roll) | Monterey Heights (4M) | St. Francis Wood (4G) |
|---|---|---|
| Single-family parcels | 312 | 612 |
| Median lot | 4,721 sq ft | 5,033 sq ft |
| Median building area | 2,426 sq ft | 2,813 sq ft |
| Median year built | 1935 | 1925 |
Its median building area is the second-largest in District 4 after St. Francis Wood, and its median lot is among the larger ones. On the hillside streets, though, a lot’s slope often matters more than its square footage.
CC&Rs and the homes association
The Monterey Heights Homes Association is a registered nonprofit with an IRS ruling year of 1966 and a San Francisco 94127 post office box. Its stated mission in its Candid (GuideStar) profile is “to coordinate and administer the CC&R’s,” and it files the IRS’s short-form Form 990-N.
The association has no public website we could find, so the recorded CC&Rs in the preliminary title report are the place to start. Read them for building, fence, height or use restrictions and any approval process, and ask the seller for anything the association has sent about the house.
Private covenants are separate from zoning. A project the city could approve may still need the association’s consent, and the reverse is also true. This is general information, not legal advice; talk to a California real estate attorney about how the recorded restrictions apply to a specific lot.
Historic status and the 2026 zoning rules
Planning’s National Register, California Register and Article 10 layers show no historic district covering Monterey Heights as a whole, unlike St. Francis Wood next door. The St. Francis Wood district’s outline runs along the shared western edge, so check a house near San Jacinto Way or Yerba Buena Avenue. A permit application can still prompt Planning to evaluate an older house on its own merits.
All 314 parcels are RH-1(D), one-family detached, on the Assessor’s roll. The neighborhood also lies inside the Family and Senior Housing Opportunity Special Use District on Planning’s map, which can allow two to four units on a qualifying RH lot that meets its ownership, tenant and demolition rules. The state’s SB 9 is a separate path; our SB 9 lot split guide explains it.
Slopes and seismic mapping
Planning’s earthquake-induced landslide layer shows mapped polygons along the St. Francis Wood edge around San Jacinto Way and Maywood Drive, and more on the slopes of Sherwood Forest to the north. The liquefaction layer shows no mapped zone in Monterey Heights.
A lot inside a mapped zone must be disclosed at sale. If the lot touches a zone, or averages steeper than 4 horizontal to 1 vertical, DBI requires a stamped slope protection checklist for new buildings or additions above its size thresholds, with possible third-party review. The San Francisco hazard maps page shows how to check.
Transit and commuting
The 23 Monterey bus, as its name says, serves Monterey Boulevard; its published termini are Palou Avenue and Third Street in the east and the zoo at Sloat Boulevard and the Great Highway in the west. Muni Metro is a walk away: the K Ingleside and M Ocean View at St. Francis Circle, and all three tunnel lines at West Portal station. Confirm current routes with SFMTA, since our route list dates from 2022.
Selling a home in Monterey Heights
St. Francis Wood and Westwood Highlands are the obvious comparisons for a house here. Help buyers compare by documenting what makes a Monterey Heights house different: its decade, its lot and slope, and the absence of a historic district.
- Provide the recorded CC&Rs and any association correspondence.
- Gather permits for additions, decks and lower-level rooms, all common on hillside houses.
- State the lot’s seismic hazard zone status and include any geotechnical or drainage reports.
- Complete city sale requirements; see our San Francisco selling requirements guide.
The market report on this page shows current 4M figures, and our San Francisco selling page explains how we prepare a listing.
Questions people ask
Does Monterey Heights have an HOA?
It has the Monterey Heights Homes Association, whose stated mission is to administer the neighborhood’s CC&Rs. Check the title report and ask the association what applies to a specific house.
Is Monterey Heights part of St. Francis Wood?
No. It is a separate MLS subdistrict (4M) east of St. Francis Wood and is not part of that historic district as a whole, though the two share parts of Yerba Buena Avenue and San Jacinto Way, where edge houses should be checked.
How many homes are in Monterey Heights?
The 2025 Assessor’s roll lists 312 single-family parcels out of 314 total, with no condominium units or flats.
What Muni lines serve Monterey Heights?
The 23 Monterey runs on Monterey Boulevard, and the K and M are a walk away at St. Francis Circle, per published route lists. Check SFMTA for current service.
Considering a sale in Monterey Heights? Request a home valuation that compares your house with nearby sales from the same era. The San Francisco guide covers the rest of the city.
Sources & notes
- 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)
- Candid (GuideStar): Monterey Heights Homes Association nonprofit profile
- 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)
- 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
- Wikipedia: List of San Francisco Municipal Railway lines (route termini; page states service as of July 2022)
- San Francisco Association of REALTORS: MLS district map (2001 edition, via Reineck & Reineck)
Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.
