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SF District 4 Real Estate: West Portal, St. Francis Wood & More

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

SF District 4 is the San Francisco Association of REALTORS® MLS search district for the hills west and south of Twin Peaks: West Portal, St. Francis Wood, Forest Hill, Forest Hill Extension, Monterey Heights, Miraloma Park, Sunnyside, Westwood Park, Westwood Highlands, Balboa Terrace, Ingleside Terrace, Mount Davidson Manor, Sherwood Forest, Midtown Terrace, Diamond Heights and Forest Knolls. The MLS uses the number to group listings; it is not Supervisor District 4, which is drawn for elections. The Assessor uses the same sixteen subdistrict codes, 4A through 4T, so the city’s parcel records can describe each neighborhood on its own terms.

Single-family houses dominate. Of roughly 13,700 parcels on the Assessor’s 2025 roll, about 11,650 are single-family houses, and most sit in residence parks and builder tracts laid out between 1911 and the 1960s, several with recorded restrictions and a neighborhood association.

SF District 4 homes for sale

SF District 4 market report

District 4 neighborhoods at a glance

Each row gives the MLS code, a one-line description drawn from Assessor and Planning records, and the main transit. Follow the links for full guides.

Neighborhood (code)	Character	Main transit
West Portal (4T)	Mostly 1920s houses around the West Portal Avenue shopping street, at the west mouth of the Twin Peaks Tunnel	K, L and M at West Portal station; 48, 57
St. Francis Wood (4G)	1912 residence park planned by the Olmsted Brothers; detached houses on the district’s largest median living areas; National Register historic district	K and M at St. Francis Circle; West Portal station
Forest Hill (4C)	1912 hillside residence park of curving streets, stairways and a Maybeck clubhouse	Forest Hill station (K, L, M); 36, 52
Forest Hill Extension (4J)	Detached houses south of Dewey Boulevard rising onto Edgehill Mountain, inside a city slope protection area	Forest Hill and West Portal stations
Monterey Heights (4M)	Small tract of about 310 detached houses north of Monterey Boulevard, median build year 1935, with a CC&R homes association	23 Monterey; K and M at St. Francis Circle
Miraloma Park (4H)	Meyer Brothers houses over garages, built 1926 into the 1950s on Mount Davidson’s south and east slopes; about 1,950 houses (median build year 1947), with mapped landslide polygons on parts of the hill	36 Teresita and 44 O’Shaughnessy; 36 and 52 to Forest Hill station
Sunnyside (4S)	Street grid of small-lot houses (median lot 2,500 sq ft) plus flats and condos, with Monterey Boulevard’s NC-1 shops, the 1891 Sunnyside Conservatory landmark and a 2026 commercial historic district	23 Monterey; K, 8 and 49 at City College to the south
Westwood Park (4R)	Baldwin & Howell bungalow park of 650+ houses built mainly 1918–1923 (median build year 1921), with a 1917 owners’ association, its own special use district and Landmark No. 314 gates; the 4R area includes Ocean Avenue’s north side and the Balboa Reservoir site, where Phase 1A construction began in November 2025	K Ingleside on Ocean Avenue; 23 Monterey
Westwood Highlands (4P)	About 540 detached hillside houses north of Monterey Boulevard, half built before 1930 and a third after 1945, nearly all zoned RH-1(D)	23 Monterey; K Ingleside on Ocean Avenue
Balboa Terrace (4A)	1920s residence park of about 280 houses with a mandatory homes association and design review, eligible as a California Register district; Gregangelo Museum landmark on San Leandro Way	K Ingleside on Junipero Serra Boulevard and Ocean Avenue; 23 Monterey
Ingleside Terrace (4E)	1911 residence park on the old Ingleside Racetrack, with Urbano Drive tracing the oval, the 1913 sundial landmark, a 1938 homes association and the district’s largest median lots (about 6,000 sq ft)	K Ingleside on Ocean Avenue and Junipero Serra Boulevard
Mount Davidson Manor (4N)	Mostly late-1920s houses (median 1929) between Monterey Boulevard and Ocean Avenue, with 1980s–1990s infill on Dorado Terrace, about 130 condo units and Ocean Avenue NCT storefronts	K Ingleside on Ocean Avenue; 23 Monterey
Sherwood Forest (4K)	About 230 detached houses, mostly from the 1950s and 1960s, on Mount Davidson’s west slope; large lots (median about 4,900 sq ft), all RH-1(D), with mapped landslide-zone polygons	36 Teresita at Myra Way and Dalewood Way
Midtown Terrace (4F)	Postwar tract of about 975 houses below Twin Peaks, 914 of them recorded 1950–1959 (median 1957), on “view”-named streets; RH-1(D) on Planning’s current map	36 Teresita loop to Forest Hill station; 52 on Portola Drive
Diamond Heights (4B)	Redevelopment Agency project built from 1961 into the 1970s: about 670 condo units, 172 below-market-rate condo units on Ora Way and 475 houses on gem-named streets, mostly RM-1; Stage 1 (1962–1965, Eichler houses by Claude Oakland) is an eligible California Register district	52 Excelsior on Diamond Heights Boulevard
Forest Knolls (4D)	Postwar hillside houses (median 1961) below the Mount Sutro forest, with apartment buildings on Warren Drive and Locksley Avenue and eight of the ten Northwest Mt. Sutro slope protection blocks	36 Teresita on Warren Drive to Forest Hill station

District 4 meets District 2 (the Inner Sunset, Parkside and Golden Gate Heights) to the north and west, District 3 (Lakeside, Merced Manor and Ingleside) to the southwest, District 5 (Twin Peaks, Clarendon Heights and Glen Park) to the east and District 10 (Mission Terrace and the Outer Mission) to the southeast.

What “District 4” means on a listing

SFAR’s printed map divides the city into ten districts with lettered subdistricts. Its District 4 codes match the Assessor’s exactly, from 4A Balboa Terrace to 4T West Portal; the letters I, L, O and Q are skipped.

Supervisor District 4 is a separate election map with its own lines. When a listing, a tax bill and a city mailer each mention “District 4,” check which map each one means before drawing conclusions about schools, services or comparable sales.

Parcel records: a district of houses

The 2025 roll shows how alike, and how different, the subdistricts are. Figures below are for single-family parcels; medians are the middle value, and build years in old records can be approximate.

Code	Single-family parcels	Median year built	Median lot (sq ft)	Median building area (sq ft)
4A Balboa Terrace	281	1926	4,042	2,286
4B Diamond Heights	475	1965	3,406	2,020
4C Forest Hill	751	1928	3,998	2,332
4D Forest Knolls	476	1961	3,208	1,562
4E Ingleside Terrace	689	1924	5,998	2,130
4F Midtown Terrace	976	1957	3,413	1,270
4G St. Francis Wood	612	1925	5,033	2,813
4H Miraloma Park	1,954	1947	2,883	1,385
4J Forest Hill Extension	616	1931	3,508	1,792
4K Sherwood Forest	230	1958	4,911	1,980
4M Monterey Heights	312	1935	4,721	2,426
4N Mount Davidson Manor	586	1929	3,400	1,858
4P Westwood Highlands	539	1929	4,120	1,776
4R Westwood Park	612	1921	3,733	1,469
4S Sunnyside	1,714	1925	2,500	1,210
4T West Portal	831	1925	3,300	1,925

Two groups stand out. Westwood Park, Ingleside Terrace, Balboa Terrace and West Portal are overwhelmingly pre-1930: 99, 91, 80 and 78 percent of their houses carry build years before 1930. Midtown Terrace, Diamond Heights and Forest Knolls are almost entirely postwar, and Sherwood Forest mostly so.

Multi-unit housing is concentrated in a few places. Diamond Heights holds about 670 of the district’s roughly 1,080 condominium parcels, plus 172 Ora Way units the Assessor classes as below-market-rate condominiums; the rest are scattered through Mount Davidson Manor, Sunnyside, West Portal and Forest Knolls. Sunnyside has the only sizable group of flats, about 65 parcels.

Residence parks, associations and recorded restrictions

San Francisco Planning’s residence parks study describes these developments as garden suburbs built at the edge of the street system, with large lots, landscaping, entry gates, stairs and fountains. Its sample of eight includes four in District 4: Ingleside Terraces (1911), Forest Hill and Forest Hill Extension (1912), St. Francis Wood (1912) and Balboa Terrace (1920).

Several neighborhoods have their own organizations, most of them tied to the tract’s founding restrictions or landscaping:

St. Francis Homes Association, whose site describes St. Francis Wood’s four parks, more than 1,200 significant trees, seven miles of parkways and the 1917 upper fountain.
Forest Hill Association, incorporated in 1918, runs the 1919 Bernard Maybeck clubhouse.
Monterey Heights Homes Association lists its mission with the IRS as coordinating and administering the CC&Rs.
Westwood Park Association, formed on March 21, 1917, collects dues mainly for Westwood Park’s gates, trees and landscaping; the neighborhood also has its own special use district on Planning’s map.
Balboa Terrace Homes Association: its FAQ says every Balboa Terrace homeowner is automatically a member, pays an annual assessment based on lot size and needs Architectural Review Committee approval for exterior work such as windows.
Miraloma Park Improvement Club, incorporated in 1936, has its clubhouse at 350 O’Shaughnessy Boulevard and publishes design guidelines.
Ingleside Terraces Homes Association was formed in 1938 to protect the tract’s residential character and maintain its parks and courts, according to Planning’s sundial landmark fact sheet.

The individual neighborhood guides cover other tracts. For any address, the preliminary title report is where recorded CC&Rs appear; read them before you remove an opening contingency.

Some early deed restrictions were discriminatory. St. Francis Wood’s own history page says its 1912 CC&Rs contained a clause barring certain groups from owning or leasing, and Planning’s landmark record for the Joseph Leonard house on Cedro Avenue notes that Leonard, developer of Ingleside Terraces, popularized restrictive covenants in city subdivisions. The U.S. Supreme Court made such covenants unenforceable in 1948, and California now lets an owner record a Restrictive Covenant Modification that removes the unlawful language (Government Code section 12956.2). This is general information, not legal advice; talk to a California real estate attorney about the documents on a specific lot.

Zoning after the Family Zoning Plan

Most of the district is house zoning. In the Assessor’s zoning field, RH-1(D) (one-family detached) covers every parcel in Monterey Heights and Sherwood Forest and nearly every parcel in St. Francis Wood, Balboa Terrace, Ingleside Terrace, Westwood Highlands and Forest Hill Extension. Midtown Terrace, Miraloma Park and Sunnyside are mainly RH-1, and Diamond Heights is mainly RM-1. That field can lag: at the three Midtown Terrace points we checked, Planning’s current map shows RH-1(D).

The Family Zoning Plan took effect January 12, 2026, raising heights on transit and commercial corridors and removing density limits elsewhere within existing height limits. Planning’s current zoning layer shows the West Portal Avenue Neighborhood Commercial District, RTO-C parcels near West Portal station and St. Francis Circle, and a two-tier height designation on West Portal Avenue. The Assessor’s zoning field adds NC-1 and NC-2 parcels at commercial edges such as Ocean Avenue and Monterey Boulevard.

Every point we checked in the five western subdistricts also falls inside the Family and Senior Housing Opportunity Special Use District, which can allow two to four units on qualifying RH lots. It bars demolishing landmarks and buildings listed in, or eligible for, the California or National Register, including district contributors, so historic status matters as much as zoning here. Read our SB 9 lot split guide for the state-law route, which has its own historic exclusions.

Historic districts and landmarks

Planning’s layers show no Article 10 historic district in District 4, but several Register districts and city landmarks:

Listed: St. Francis Wood Historic District, National and California Registers, period of significance 1912–1954, 591 properties with 529 contributors.
Eligible for the California Register: Forest Hill (1912–1939), West Portal Park (built by Fernando Nelson, 1916–1929), Balboa Terrace (1921–1939), Ingleside Terrace (1910–1930), Miraloma Park (1926, Meyer Brothers) and its 2023 extension, Diamond Heights Stage 1 (1962–1965) and Laguna Honda.
City landmarks: Forest Hill Muni Station (No. 231), Cowell House at 171 San Marcos Avenue (No. 270), the Joseph Leonard/Cecil F. Poole House at 90 Cedro Avenue (No. 213), Ingleside Terraces Sundial and Sundial Park (No. 293), Westwood Park Entrance Gateway and Pillars (No. 314), the Gregangelo Museum at 225 San Leandro Way (No. 318) and Sunnyside Conservatory (No. 78).

The tunnel and the K, L and M

The Twin Peaks Tunnel opened to revenue service on February 3, 1918, running about 2.27 miles from near Market and Castro streets to West Portal Avenue and Ulloa Street. Its two District 4 stations, West Portal and Forest Hill, are where the K Ingleside, L Taraval and M Ocean View lines enter the subway.

Planners promoted the tunnel to open the western hills to housing, and several residence parks were laid out while it was being planned and built. SFMTA’s route pages show the 36 Teresita linking Forest Hill station with Midtown Terrace, Forest Knolls and Myra Way on Mount Davidson, the 52 Excelsior running from Forest Hill station along Portola Drive and Diamond Heights Boulevard toward Glen Park, and the 23 Monterey along Monterey Boulevard. The 57 Parkmerced begins at West Portal station per a 2022 route list, so check current SFMTA service for a specific address.

Slopes, landslide zones and slope protection

This is hill country. Planning’s earthquake-induced landslide layer shows mapped polygons in St. Francis Wood (around Terrace Drive and Santa Paula Avenue, and near Portola and Miraloma drives), on Edgehill Way in Forest Hill Extension, near upper Castenada Avenue in Forest Hill, along San Jacinto Way and Maywood Drive in Monterey Heights, on Casitas Avenue in Sherwood Forest, and on open-space slopes in Forest Knolls and below the Diamond Heights neighborhood center.

The liquefaction layer, by contrast, shows no mapped zone across the West Portal, St. Francis Wood, Forest Hill, Forest Hill Extension and Monterey Heights area. Mapped liquefaction polygons do appear toward the district’s southern and eastern edges, including a strip along Portola Drive at the Diamond Heights edge, so check each address. California law requires sellers and their agents to disclose that a property lies in a mapped seismic hazard zone; our Natural Hazard Disclosure guide and San Francisco hazard maps page explain the reports.

The city adds its own layer. Under DBI’s slope protection rules, lots in the Edgehill Mountain or Northwest Mt. Sutro Slope Protection Areas, lots touching a state landslide zone and lots averaging steeper than 4 horizontal to 1 vertical need a stamped slope checklist for larger projects, and may face third-party or Structural Advisory Committee review. All eight Edgehill Mountain blocks are in Forest Hill Extension, and eight of the ten Northwest Mt. Sutro blocks are in Forest Knolls.

How buyers and sellers compare District 4 neighborhoods

Buyers here usually compare houses, not building types, so the questions are about the lot and the street. A 5,000-square-foot St. Francis Wood or Ingleside Terrace lot, a 3,300-square-foot West Portal lot and a 2,500-square-foot Sunnyside lot are different products even at similar living areas.

Era: 1920s period-revival houses (Westwood Park, West Portal, Balboa Terrace) bring older systems and lower-level rooms to check; postwar tracts (Midtown Terrace, Miraloma Park, Sherwood Forest) bring different construction and garage layouts.
Recorded obligations: associations, architectural approval and CC&Rs vary by tract and are found in the title report, not the listing.
Historic status: listed or eligible districts shape what can be added or replaced.
Slope: landslide-zone or slope-protection status changes the cost and timeline of additions.
Transit: walking distance to West Portal or Forest Hill station is a real dividing line within neighborhoods.

For sellers, the city’s sale requirements apply everywhere; our San Francisco selling requirements guide covers the 3R report, energy rules and transfer tax. Larger houses on the biggest lots often follow the marketing approach on our San Francisco luxury homes page, and the citywide context is on the San Francisco guide.

Questions people ask

Is SF District 4 the same as Supervisor District 4?

No. MLS District 4 is the SFAR search area west and south of Twin Peaks, with subdistricts 4A–4T. Supervisor District 4 is a separate election map with different lines.

Which District 4 neighborhoods have homes associations?

We could confirm seven: the St. Francis Homes Association (St. Francis Wood), the Forest Hill Association, the Monterey Heights Homes Association, the Westwood Park Association, the Balboa Terrace Homes Association, the Miraloma Park Improvement Club and the Ingleside Terraces Homes Association. Their roles differ, from mandatory assessments and design review in Balboa Terrace to a club that offers memberships in Miraloma Park, and other tracts may have recorded CC&Rs without an active association. The title report for each lot is the reliable source.

Can I add a unit to a house in District 4?

Often, but the answer is lot-specific. The Family and Senior Housing Opportunity SUD and SB 9 both offer routes, and both exclude certain historic buildings; slope protection and private CC&Rs can add conditions. Ask Planning and an attorney before you price in a unit.

Is St. Francis Wood a historic district?

Yes. Planning’s records show it listed on both the National and California Registers, with 529 contributing and 62 non-contributing properties. It is not an Article 10 city historic district.

Where are the landslide zones in District 4?

Planning’s landslide layer shows mapped polygons on the steeper slopes, including parts of St. Francis Wood, Forest Hill, Forest Hill Extension, Monterey Heights and Sherwood Forest. Check the map for the specific parcel; a nearby zone does not mean the lot is in one.

Which Muni lines serve District 4?

The K, L and M Muni Metro lines stop at West Portal and Forest Hill stations, and the K and M continue south from West Portal Avenue. Bus lines include the 23, 36, 48, 52 and 57; confirm current routing with SFMTA.

Why do District 4 houses have such different lot sizes?

The neighborhoods were laid out by different developers in different decades. Residence parks such as St. Francis Wood planned wide lots, while Sunnyside followed an older grid with a 2,500-square-foot median.

Are there condos in District 4?

Some. Diamond Heights holds most of the district’s roughly 1,080 condominium parcels, with smaller groups in Mount Davidson Manor, Sunnyside, West Portal and Forest Knolls.

Planning a sale or a move within District 4? Request a home valuation and we will compare your house with recent sales from the same subdistrict and the same era of construction.

Sources & notes

Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.