Westwood Park, San Francisco: Bungalows, Rules & Real Estate Guide
Westwood Park is a bungalow residence park of more than 650 houses on the southern slope of Mount Davidson, bounded by Monterey Boulevard, Frida Kahlo Way, Faxon Avenue and Ocean Avenue. Baldwin & Howell built most of it from 1918 to 1923. It is subdistrict 4R in the MLS’s District 4.
The neighborhood has had an owners’ association since 1917, a city landmark at its entrances, and its own special use district on the zoning map. The Assessor’s 4R area also takes in the north side of Ocean Avenue’s commercial strip and the Balboa Reservoir site, where construction of the first phase of a large housing development began in November 2025.
Westwood Park homes for sale
Westwood Park market report
Where Westwood Park sits
The Westwood Park Association gives the boundaries as Monterey Boulevard on the north, Frida Kahlo Way on the east, Ocean Avenue on the south and Faxon Avenue on the west. Inside, Assessor addresses run along Miramar Avenue, the curving Westwood Drive, Eastwood, Northwood and Southwood drives, Montecito, Greenwood and Hazelwood avenues, and Plymouth Avenue.
Its neighbors are Westwood Highlands across Monterey Boulevard to the north, Mount Davidson Manor to the west, Sunnyside to the northeast and the Ingleside neighborhood across Ocean Avenue to the south. City College of San Francisco, at 50 Frida Kahlo Way, is next door to the east.
For elections, Planning’s map puts the neighborhood in Supervisor District 7, a reminder that the MLS’s “District 4” is a search area, not a political district.
Baldwin & Howell’s bungalow tract
The association’s history page says grading began on about 90 acres of Mount Davidson’s southern slope several months before the association itself was formed on March 21, 1917. Baldwin & Howell built the neighborhood from 1918 to 1923, and a 1922 newspaper contest offered the house at 598 Miramar Avenue as a prize.
Building got under way in 1918, the year the Twin Peaks Tunnel opened to Muni service. What resulted was more than 650 bungalows, planned as a residence park, with the gates, trees and landscaping the association still maintains.
The gateway landmark and the special use district
Louis Christian Mullgardt designed the entrance gates and pillars in 1916. Planning lists them as Landmark No. 314, the Westwood Park Entrance Gateway and Pillars, at three entries: Miramar Avenue at Monterey Boulevard, Miramar Avenue at Ocean Avenue, and Judson Avenue at Frida Kahlo Way. The association dates the designation to February 9, 2024.
Planning’s special use district layer shows a district named Westwood Park over the residential blocks, on top of the RH-1(D) one-family detached zoning. The association describes the neighborhood as San Francisco’s only Residential Character District, a status it says dates from 1995 and protects the area’s architectural character.
The association also publishes design guidelines, landscape design guidelines and the neighborhood CC&Rs, and owners pay annual dues used mainly for the gates, trees and landscaping. Before planning exterior work, read all three alongside the Planning Code; a project can be acceptable under one set of rules and not the other.
What the Assessor’s roll shows
Westwood Park is the most uniform tract in District 4. The 2025 closed roll lists 612 single-family houses, and almost every one carries a build year from one decade:
| Measure (4R, single-family parcels) | Value |
|---|---|
| Single-family parcels | 612 |
| Median recorded year built | 1921, the oldest median in District 4 |
| Recorded before 1930 | 603 (about 99 percent) |
| Recorded after 1945 | 5 |
| Recorded as one story | 519 (about 85 percent) |
| Median lot area | 3,733 sq ft |
| Median building area | 1,469 sq ft |
A typical listing is therefore a one-story 1920s bungalow on a lot of roughly 3,700 square feet. Many have been altered in the century since, and the permit file is where those changes show up. The roll also counts about 15 condominium units and about 17 commercial parcels, most of them on Ocean Avenue.
Ocean Avenue and the reservoir site
The Assessor’s 4R area includes the north side of Ocean Avenue from roughly the 1100 to the 1600 block: storefront buildings, the public library parcel at 1298 Ocean, and newer mixed-use buildings at 1100–1150 Ocean built in 2012 and 2015. At the point we checked, Planning now zones this frontage NCT, the Ocean Avenue Neighborhood Commercial Transit District (Planning Code Section 755), with a 50//85-R-4 height district.
The Balboa Reservoir site, recorded at 11 Frida Kahlo Way on the same Assessor block as the 1100–1250 Ocean Avenue buildings, is also in the 4R area. The association’s project page says the city picked a BRIDGE Housing and AvalonBay team in 2017 and the Board of Supervisors approved about 1,100 homes on 17 acres in August 2020. The project’s own site says construction of Phase 1A, which covers the site’s infrastructure and two affordable housing buildings, began in November 2025; it describes the full plan as up to 1,100 households, up to 550 of them in affordable apartments, plus a childcare center. A California Tax Credit Allocation Committee staff report from August 2025 described the first affordable building, Building A, as 159 units. Completion dates can move, so check the project’s monthly construction updates before relying on a timeline.
Buyers interested in the project’s below-market-rate units can start with our San Francisco BMR homes guide.
Zoning, extra units and ground conditions
The residential blocks are RH-1(D) with a 40//40-R-4 height district, and Planning maps the Family and Senior Housing Opportunity Special Use District over them in addition to the Westwood Park district. Under Planning Code Section 249.94, a qualifying house lot in that SUD can hold two to four units, and a fourth unit may go in the rear yard of a lot of at least 2,400 square feet if it stays within a 20-foot height, 4-foot side and rear setbacks and 25 feet of separation from the main building.
How those state and city housing rules interact with the Westwood Park district and the CC&Rs is a question for Planning and a land-use attorney before you buy for that purpose. Diamond may refer you to partners we work with; you’re free to choose any provider. Our SB 9 lot split guide covers the separate state route.
The ground is gentler than on the hills to the north. Planning’s seismic hazard layers show no mapped liquefaction or landslide zone in the 4R area, and the FEMA layer places the point we checked in Zone X, outside the special flood hazard area. A Natural Hazard Disclosure report is still part of every sale; see our San Francisco hazard maps page.
Getting around
The K Ingleside runs along Ocean Avenue on the neighborhood’s southern edge. SFMTA’s route page lists stops at Ocean Avenue and Lee Street and at the City College pedestrian bridge, with the line ending at the Balboa Park BART mezzanine to the east and, in the other direction, continuing to West Portal and the subway.
Two bus lines, the 8 Bayshore and the 49 Van Ness/Mission, terminate at Unity Plaza on the City College campus next door, and the 23 Monterey is named for the boulevard that forms the northern boundary. Those details come from a published route list dated 2022, so confirm current routes and stops with SFMTA.
Selling a home in Westwood Park
Buyers here are usually choosing among bungalows that started out alike, so the differences come from what owners did later. Expect them to ask about the lower level, the rear of the house and how faithfully the front was kept.
- Permits for added space: garage-level rooms, rear additions and attic conversions are the usual questions; space added without permits is explained in our unwarranted units guide, which is worth reading before you set a price.
- Association items: the dues status, any design approvals for past work and the recorded CC&Rs.
- Systems: sewer lateral, foundation, electrical and roof records for a house about a century old.
- Ocean Avenue buildings: leases, rent rolls and tenancy records for mixed-use property; our San Francisco multifamily guide covers what buyers request.
Citywide obligations such as the 3R report are collected on our San Francisco selling requirements page. For pricing context, see the 4R market report on this page.
Questions people ask
What are Westwood Park’s boundaries?
The Westwood Park Association lists Monterey Boulevard, Frida Kahlo Way, Ocean Avenue and Faxon Avenue. The Assessor’s 4R area also includes the north side of Ocean Avenue’s commercial blocks and the Balboa Reservoir site.
Does Westwood Park have an HOA?
It has the Westwood Park Association, formed in 1917, which collects annual dues mainly for the gates, trees and landscaping and publishes design guidelines and CC&Rs. Ask it for the status of a specific house.
What is a Residential Character District?
That is how the association describes the Westwood Park special use district on Planning’s map, in place since 1995 by its account. Planning layers it over the base RH-1(D) zoning, so read its code provisions and the association’s design guidelines before designing exterior changes.
What is being built on the Balboa Reservoir?
A city-approved development of about 1,100 homes on 17 acres, led by a BRIDGE Housing and AvalonBay team by the association’s account. The project’s site says construction of Phase 1A, the infrastructure and two affordable buildings, began in November 2025.
Which Muni line serves Westwood Park?
The K Ingleside runs on Ocean Avenue along the southern edge, connecting to Balboa Park BART and the Twin Peaks Tunnel. Check SFMTA for current bus routes.
Thinking about selling a Westwood Park bungalow? Start with a home valuation built on recent 4R sales of similar size and condition, and see our San Francisco selling page for how a listing comes together. For other parts of the city, use our San Francisco neighborhood guide.
Sources & notes
- Westwood Park Association: Westwood Park home page
- Westwood Park Association: History
- Westwood Park Association: Balboa Reservoir Development
- Balboa Reservoir project site: Balboa Reservoir (Phase 1A construction status)
- California Tax Credit Allocation Committee: staff report CA-25-600, Balboa Reservoir – Building A (August 5, 2025)
- DataSF / SF Assessor-Recorder: Assessor Historical Secured Property Tax Rolls, 2025 closed roll (parcel counts by class, build years, stories, median lot and building area, zoning codes, street and block listings and subdistrict extents for 4A, 4E, 4H, 4P, 4R and 4S; queried October 2026)
- San Francisco Planning: PlanningData map service (zoning, height and special use districts, landmarks, California Register historic districts, seismic hazard zones, FEMA flood zones, supervisor districts; queried October 2026)
- San Francisco Planning Code (via GoCodebook): Sec. 249.94, Family and Senior Housing Opportunity Special Use District
- SFMTA: K Ingleside route page
- Wikipedia: List of San Francisco Municipal Railway lines (route names and termini; page states service as of July 2022)
Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.
