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Diamond Heights, San Francisco Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
A Redevelopment Agency hilltop built from the early 1960s into the late 1970s between Twin Peaks and Glen Canyon: about 100 Eichler houses, 1960s-70s houses, townhouse and condo complexes, and a 1965 shopping center.
Diamond Heights by the numbers
diamond heights by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Diamond Heights (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in diamond heights · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Diamond Heights
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Diamond Heights from the MLS, updated automatically, with a map of the neighborhood outline.
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Listings come from MLSListings and other MLSs through IDX and show their listing brokerage; confirm details with the listing agent. The map outline is the neighborhood boundary used by our listing search (Diamond Heights (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Diamond Heights came to be
Before redevelopment this was three rocky hills south of Twin Peaks: Red Rock, Gold Mine and Fairmount. The Glen Park Neighborhoods History Project puts the redevelopment area at 332 acres, including about 70 acres of Glen Canyon. The Board of Supervisors designated it for the Redevelopment Agency in 1950, and Vernon DeMars provided early designs. Legal disputes held things up for about four years; by 1959 the agency had bought or condemned the private land, leveled the summits and pushed about 2 million cubic yards of earth into the saddle where the shopping center now sits.
Houses went up in the early 1960s. Eichler Homes built about 100 houses designed by Claude Oakland on Amethyst Way, Amber Dr, Cameo Way and Duncan St from about 1962 to 1964. The slope ruled out the usual one-story Eichler plan, so many are split-level or two- and three-story houses, some sharing a wall or roof with the house next door. Planning has found the Diamond Heights Stage 1 Historic District, which covers those streets plus Turquoise Way, Quartz Way and Coralino Ln, eligible for the California Register, with a period of significance of 1962-1965. The shopping center opened in 1965, and the high school campus at 555 Portola Dr followed in 1972.
Not every plan was built. A 1961 design competition for Red Rock Hill picked a scheme of apartment towers plus low-rise units; after money trouble, only the townhouses along Diamond Heights Blvd near Clipper St were finished by 1968 and the towers never went up. Cooperative and apartment complexes followed on Gold Mine Hill and Fairmount Hill into the mid-1970s, and the agency closed out the project on September 27, 1978, with about 2,350 units built, per the same history project.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
The Redevelopment Agency limited access to one main road, Diamond Heights Blvd, and the side streets are loops and short courts off it. On the northwest side, off Diamond Heights Blvd near Clipper St and Portola Dr, are the early-1960s streets: Amethyst Way (about 30 houses), Cameo Way (about 31), Quartz Way, Turquoise Way (about 76) and Amber Dr (about 90), all with Assessor years mostly from 1962 to 1965. Not every house of that era here is an Eichler, since Eichler built about 100 and the streets hold more, so check the original permit if the label matters to you.
Gold Mine Hill, south of the shopping center, carries Gold Mine Dr (about 107 houses, mostly 1966-1972), Topaz Way, Berkeley Way, Ora Way, Crags Ct and Jade Pl, with detached and attached houses from the late 1960s and 1970s. House lots are small for a hilltop, with a median of about 3,400 sq ft. Many houses have a street-level garage with living space stepping up or down the slope.
The condominium side is large. The Assessor's roll shows roughly 840 condo and townhouse parcels, against about 475 single-family houses, mainly along Diamond Heights Blvd, Red Rock Way, Topaz Way and Gold Mine Dr. Zoning follows the pattern: about half the land is P (public open space, mostly Glen Canyon), with RH-1 on the house blocks, RM-1 and a little RM-4 on the complexes, and NC-S at the shopping center. Nearly all of Diamond Heights is inside the Central Neighborhoods Large Residence special use district.
streets in diamond heights
- Diamond Heights Blvd
- Portola Dr
- O'Shaughnessy Blvd
- Clipper St
- Duncan St
- Amethyst Way
- Amber Dr
- Cameo Way
- Quartz Way
- Turquoise Way
- Coralino Ln
- Gold Mine Dr
- Topaz Way
- Berkeley Way
- Ora Way
- Crags Ct
- Jade Pl
- Red Rock Way
- Burnett Ave
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Diamond Heights
- park
Glen Canyon Park
About 70 acres of canyon (Rec and Park's property data) with Islais Creek still running above ground, chert outcrops and about 3.7 miles of trails. The rec center, ball field and tennis courts are at the Elk St end, in Glen Park.
- park
George Christopher Playground
About 7 acres at 5210 Diamond Heights Blvd, in the saddle between the hills, next to the shopping center.
- shopping
Diamond Heights shopping center
The neighborhood-commercial (NC-S) center at Diamond Heights Blvd and Gold Mine Dr, opened in 1965.
- park
Pocket open spaces
Topaz Open Space (about 0.9 acre), Berkeley Way Open Space (about 0.8 acre) and the Crags Court community garden (about 0.4 acre) are city-owned.
- landmark
Red Rock Hill and Gold Mine Hill
The two hilltops the redevelopment plan graded; local history gives them as about 690 and 680 feet. Twin Peaks' summit is about 0.4 mi straight-line from Amber Dr.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Diamond Heights is served by San Francisco Unified (SFUSD). The McAteer campus at 555 Portola Dr houses two SFUSD high schools, the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts and The Academy; check with SFUSD on how each enrolls. There is no SFUSD elementary school inside the outline. SFUSD assigns seats by application and lottery, with an address's attendance area acting as a tiebreaker, not a guarantee, and the elementary policy is being reworked for no earlier than 2028-29, so check any address with SFUSD's Enrollment Center.
Getting around
- Glen Park BART is about 0.75 mi straight-line from Diamond Heights Blvd at Gold Mine Dr; from the Eichler blocks (Amber Dr at Cameo Way) it is about 1 mi, and Forest Hill Muni Metro station is about 0.8 mi.
- Muni buses, per public route maps: the 44 on O'Shaughnessy Blvd, the 52 on Diamond Heights Blvd and Portola Dr, the 48 on Portola Dr and Diamond Heights Blvd, and the 37 near Burnett Ave. Check SFMTA for current service.
- Portola Dr runs northeast to Market St and the Castro (Castro station about 1.2 mi straight-line from Amber Dr).
- I-280: the nearest on-ramp is from Bosworth St at San Jose Ave in Glen Park (city street data).
- On foot: Glen Canyon's trails drop to the rec center and Glen Park, and Rec and Park's Creeks to Peaks route climbs from Islais Creek toward Twin Peaks.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Diamond Heights: what we check
Buying here
- Condos and townhomes are a big share here. Get the CC&Rs, budget, reserve study, recent minutes and insurance summary (including earthquake coverage), ask about special assessments and rental limits, and check current dues.
- Seismic hazard zones: about a quarter of the area is inside a state-mapped earthquake-induced landslide zone (hillsides around Berkeley Way, Crags Ct and Coralino Ln among them), and state maps also show liquefaction-zone pockets, including parts of Amethyst Way, Cameo Way and Portola Dr. Check the parcel on the Seismic Hazard Zone map; additions may need a geotechnical report.
- Eichler specifics: some houses share a roof or wall with a neighbor. Ask how roof and exterior work has been coordinated and whether any written agreement exists, and use an inspector who knows 1960s modern houses for the roof, glazing, heating and original electrical.
- Historic status: houses in the Stage 1 district (Amethyst, Amber, Cameo, Duncan, Turquoise, Quartz, Coralino) count as known historic resources for Planning, so exterior changes can get historic review. Check the Property Information Map's Preservation tab.
- Large additions: in the Central Neighborhoods Large Residence SUD, a unit over 3,000 sq ft or over the floor-area limit needs Conditional Use approval and over 4,000 sq ft is not allowed, per Planning's summary; confirm current rules before you buy for an expansion.
- Fire and flood: CAL FIRE's 2025 local-responsibility map shows no fire hazard severity zone here and FEMA maps it as Zone X. Glen Canyon's grassland, scrub and eucalyptus border some lots, so read the natural hazard disclosure and ask who maintains the edge.
Selling here
- If you call it an Eichler, back it up with the original permit or plans; buyers who search for Eichlers check.
- For condos and townhomes, order the HOA resale documents California requires early, so buyers can review the budget, reserves and rules before writing.
- Photograph the views in clear weather and say which rooms have them.
- Document permits for lower-level rooms, decks and window replacements, especially inside the historic district.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Diamond Heights questions, answered
Are there Eichler homes in San Francisco?
Yes. Eichler Homes built about 100 houses in Diamond Heights in the early 1960s, designed by Claude Oakland, on Amethyst Way, Amber Dr, Cameo Way and Duncan St. Many are split-level or multi-story because of the slope.
Was Diamond Heights a redevelopment project?
Yes. The area was designated for the Redevelopment Agency in 1950, graded in the 1950s, built out from the early 1960s, and the project was closed out in 1978.
Is Diamond Heights mostly condos?
By parcel count, yes: the Assessor's roll shows roughly 840 condo and townhouse parcels and about 475 single-family houses.
How far is BART?
Glen Park BART is about 0.75 mi straight-line from the shopping center at Diamond Heights Blvd and Gold Mine Dr.
Is Glen Canyon Park part of Diamond Heights?
Partly. The redevelopment area took in about 70 acres of the canyon, and the Realtor neighborhood map puts most of the park in Diamond Heights, with the rec center end in Glen Park.
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