Westwood Highlands, San Francisco: Homes & Real Estate Guide
Westwood Highlands is a hillside neighborhood of about 540 detached houses that rises north from Monterey Boulevard near Plymouth Avenue, between Westwood Park below and Sherwood Forest and Miraloma Park above. It is subdistrict 4P in the MLS’s District 4. Almost every parcel is a single-family house, and nearly all are zoned for one-family detached use.
It is less documented than the residence parks around it. There is no mapped historic district and no association we could confirm, so the parcel records, the slope and the recorded title documents do most of the explaining.
Westwood Highlands homes for sale
Westwood Highlands market report
Streets and edges
The Assessor’s addresses for 4P run along Brentwood Avenue, Burlwood Drive, Colon Avenue, Valdez Avenue, the lower part of Cresta Vista Drive, Lansdale Avenue, Sherwood Court and the upper blocks of Hazelwood, Joost, Mangels, Melrose and Plymouth avenues. Many of the streets curve with the hill.
The Assessor’s subdistrict outlines put Westwood Park across Monterey Boulevard to the south, Monterey Heights to the west, Sherwood Forest to the northwest, Miraloma Park to the north and Sunnyside to the east.
What published histories say
Primary records on the tract’s origins were not available to us, so this section relies on Wikipedia’s Westwood Highlands article and the sources it cites. It describes a subdivision marketed by Baldwin & Howell, built from 1925 to 1929 by Hans Nelson to designs by architect Charles Strothoff, and gives a count of 283 homes.
The article says Strothoff worked with a modular facade system of interchangeable window, entrance and garage components, usually combined three at a time. It also says lots were sold as packages with a predetermined house, that corner lots face their intersections on the diagonal, and that the subdivision adopted covenants and restrictions early.
The Assessor’s 4P area is larger than that original subdivision, with 539 single-family parcels, so not every house in the MLS subdistrict comes from that 1925–1929 program. The roll’s build years bear that out.
Three building periods on the roll
Westwood Highlands sits between the 1920s residence parks and the postwar tracts. Half of its houses carry build years before 1930, and about a third were built after World War II:
| Measure (4P, single-family parcels) | Westwood Highlands | Westwood Park (4R) |
|---|---|---|
| Single-family parcels | 539 | 612 |
| Median recorded year built | 1929 | 1921 |
| Recorded before 1930 | 270 (50%) | 603 (99%) |
| Recorded 1930 to 1945 | 79 (15%) | 4 |
| Recorded after 1945 | 190 (35%) | 5 |
| Median lot area | 4,120 sq ft | 3,733 sq ft |
| Median building area | 1,776 sq ft | 1,469 sq ft |
| Recorded as one story | 342 (63%) | 519 (85%) |
Compared with Westwood Park across the boulevard, the houses here are larger and more varied in age, and more of them are recorded as two or three stories, as is common on sloping lots. The roll lists no condominiums or commercial buildings in 4P; apart from the houses, it shows only a handful of other residential parcels and one vacant lot.
Zoning and the 2026 rules
In the Assessor’s zoning field, about 514 parcels are RH-1(D), one-family detached, and 31 are RH-1. On Cresta Vista Drive, the parcel we checked on Planning’s current map is RH-1(D) in a 40//40-R-4 height district and falls within the Family and Senior Housing Opportunity Special Use District.
That SUD treats corner lots differently from mid-block lots. Under Planning Code Section 249.94, a qualifying single lot can hold two to four units, while a corner lot may propose the greater of six units or one unit per 1,000 square feet of lot area, subject to the section’s ownership, tenant-protection and design conditions.
No California or National Register district covers Westwood Highlands on Planning’s maps, so the SUD’s historic-demolition bar is less likely to apply than in Balboa Terrace or Ingleside Terrace, though an individual house can still be evaluated. Recorded covenants, if any still bind a lot, can be stricter than zoning. Our SB 9 lot split guide covers the state route. This is general information, not legal advice; talk to a California real estate attorney before relying on any development path.
Slopes and mapped landslide polygons
Planning’s earthquake-induced landslide layer shows thin polygons on the upper slope, in the area around Cresta Vista Drive, Lansdale Avenue and Sherwood Court, with more on the Sherwood Forest and Miraloma Park slopes above. Its liquefaction layer shows no mapped zone in 4P.
The polygons cover only parts of those blocks, so look up the exact parcel. A lot in a mapped zone must be disclosed, and an addition there calls for a geotechnical review first; our hillside geotechnical report guide explains what that involves, and the San Francisco hazard maps page shows how to check.
Getting around
The 23 Monterey takes its name from the boulevard along the neighborhood’s southern edge; its published termini are Palou Avenue and Third Street and the San Francisco Zoo. South of Westwood Park, the K Ingleside runs on Ocean Avenue between the Balboa Park BART mezzanine and West Portal, according to SFMTA. Our route list for buses dates from 2022, so confirm current service with SFMTA.
From the upper streets, the walk down to Monterey Boulevard and on to Ocean Avenue can be a climb on the way back, so test it if you plan to commute by transit.
Selling a home in Westwood Highlands
Buyers here usually weigh a Westwood Highlands house against nearby houses in Westwood Park, Monterey Heights and Miraloma Park. The differences they look for are the house’s era, its view, its slope and how much usable yard it has.
- Era and original design: if the house is from the 1925–1929 program, note its original facade elements; if it is postwar, gather the records of later updates.
- Permits: lower-level rooms, decks and additions on a sloping lot are the first things an inspector asks about; unpermitted rooms are covered in our unwarranted units guide.
- Ground: the lot’s landslide-zone status and any geotechnical, drainage or retaining-wall reports.
- Title: the recorded covenants and restrictions from the preliminary title report.
- City requirements: the 3R report and other city steps, covered in our selling requirements guide.
Diamond may refer you to partners we work with, such as inspectors and engineers; you’re free to choose any provider. For current 4P pricing, see the market report further down this page.
Questions people ask
Where is Westwood Highlands?
North of Monterey Boulevard near Plymouth Avenue, below Sherwood Forest and Miraloma Park, with Westwood Park to the south, Monterey Heights to the west and Sunnyside to the east.
Is Westwood Highlands the same as Westwood Park?
No. They are separate MLS subdistricts on opposite sides of Monterey Boulevard. Westwood Park (4R) is a 1920s bungalow tract with its own association and special use district; Westwood Highlands (4P) is a hillside area with larger, more varied houses.
When were the houses built?
The median recorded build year is 1929. About half the houses date from before 1930, about 15 percent from 1930 to 1945 and about a third from after 1945.
Does Westwood Highlands have an HOA?
We could not confirm an active homes association. Published histories say the subdivision adopted covenants and restrictions, so read the recorded documents in the title report for any obligations on a specific lot.
Is Westwood Highlands in a landslide zone?
Parts of the upper slope are. Planning’s map shows thin landslide polygons around Cresta Vista Drive, Lansdale Avenue and Sherwood Court; most of the neighborhood lies outside them.
Considering a sale? We can prepare a valuation that sets your house against 4P sales from the same decade and similar ground, and our guide to selling in San Francisco covers the steps. For the rest of the city, start at our San Francisco page.
Sources & notes
- Wikipedia: Westwood Highlands, San Francisco (history section and its cited sources)
- 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.
