builder filesfile 01 of 42built c. 1880–1920sboyenga team at compass
Fernando Nelson homes
Fernando Nelson built his first San Francisco house in 1880, a flat-front Italianate in Noe Valley, and more than 4,000 houses over 70-plus years by the city’s count. His Victorians fill much of the Duboce Park Landmark District, and his company, Fernando Nelson & Sons, laid out Parkway Terrace in the Sunset in 1916. Here’s where they are, how to spot one and what they sell for.
- builder
- Fernando Nelson (1860–1953)
- later company
- Fernando Nelson & Sons
- first house
- Noe Valley, 1880
- own home
- 701 Castro St, 1897; a city landmark since 2026
- how he sold
- a few standard plans with mill-cut trim
- signature trim
- “button boards, drips and donuts”
- listings say
- “Fernando Nelson Victorian”
- sales on record · live…
- median $/sq ft, last 2 yrs…
- for sale now · live…
- houses in San Francisco, per the city4,000+
where they are
Where the homes are
From SF Planning reports, a 2026 landmark ordinance and the Western Neighborhoods Project photo archive. Unconfirmed details are marked.
| tract | neighborhood | built | homes | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First house | Noe Valley | 1880 | 1 | His first solo job, an $800 flat-front Italianate on 30th St that still stands, per SF Planning. |
| Bernal Heights group | Bernal Heights | 1883 | 20 | His first venture as a builder-developer, per SF Planning. |
| Haight-Ashbury flats | Haight-Ashbury | 1889–early 1890s | — | Two- and three-unit flats built with his brother-in-law William Hamerton, per SF Planning. |
| 20th and Castro | Eureka Valley/Castro | late 1890s | — | Around his own 1897 house at 701 Castro St, a turreted Queen Anne the city designated a landmark in 2026. |
| Duboce Park Landmark District | Duboce Triangle | 1899–c. 1902 | about half of 87 | Nearly all of Carmelita and Pierce Sts; a city landmark district since 2013, per SF Planning. |
| Old Bay District Race Track land | Inner Richmond | c. 1902–1913 | — | Houses and flats on the old track land he bought; photo archive captions date his houses on 2nd and 17th Aves to 1902–1913. |
| Parkway Terrace | Central Sunset | laid out 1916; built mostly 1920s | — | 27th to 32nd Aves, Lincoln Way to Irving St, with built-in concrete benches at the corners, per SF Planning. |
| West Portal Park and Mount Davidson Manor | West of Twin Peaks | from 1916 and 1923 (unconfirmed) | — | Named as Nelson tracts in an SF Planning report; the years come from neighborhood histories. |
SF Planning also lists Merced Manor, Sunset Terrace, Parkwood Heights, Twin Peaks and Silver Terrace among his tracts without details. Westwood Park and Westwood Highlands are linked to a different builder, Hans Nelson. We found no Fernando Nelson work in San Mateo County.
how to spot one
How to spot a Nelson home
From SF Planning and the 2026 landmark ordinance.
- trim
Button boards, drips and donuts
SF Planning lists these mill-cut ornaments as hallmarks of his Victorian-era houses.
- fronts
A cut-out over the porch
Several of his Duboce-area houses have a blocky cut-out above the entry porch, two-sided bay windows and half-circle dentils in the gable, per SF Planning.
- plans
Plan A or Plan B
He sold from a few standard plans and let the mill trim vary the fronts; his calling card showed Plan A on one side and Plan B on the other, per SF Planning.
- corner lot
The model on the corner
He often built his own or a family house on the corner and sold the rest of the block; 78 Carmelita is a small copy of his Castro St house.
- Sunset
Corner benches
Parkway Terrace’s rounded concrete corner benches are the Sunset’s only planned landscape elements, per SF Planning, and its Period Revival houses sit on larger lots with deep setbacks.
the sales ledger
Every recorded Fernando Nelson sale
Each dot is a sale whose listing names Fernando Nelson, in San Francisco. Hover a dot for the address, date and price.
- sales on record…
- median price…
- median $ per sq ft…
- latest sale…
one recorded salemedian for the yearprice per sq ft = sale price ÷ listed living area
| sold | address | price | $/sq ft | bd / ba | sq ft |
|---|
Most of his houses sell without his name in the listing, so the ledger undercounts them. Sales come from the MLS records available to us and include every sold listing whose description names the builder, so a few homes may be labeled by the listing agent rather than confirmed from tract records. Sold data is shown with the listing brokerage. Price per square foot uses the living area in the listing. Ask us for a full comparable-sales report on any address.
on the market
For sale now
Active listings whose description names Fernando Nelson.
Checking active listings…
owning one today
Owning one today
- Duboce Park Landmark DistrictExterior changes inside the district can need a Certificate of Appropriateness from the city, though ordinary repair may not. Check SF Planning before you plan work.
- San Francisco historic reviewA documented Nelson attribution can matter when SF Planning reviews an older house for major changes. Check the Property Information Map first.
- Mills ActCity landmarks and houses in landmark districts can apply for Mills Act property-tax savings, per SF Planning.
- Homes of this agePlan for foundation, seismic, sewer-lateral, electrical and plumbing checks. Our Inspection Decoder covers what to order.
- Old deed languageDeeds from this era sometimes carry discriminatory covenants. They’re void, and California lets owners record a modification that strikes the language.
the nerd check
Buying or selling one
What we check when you buy
- Which era?We match the address to its tract and year, since an 1890s Victorian and a 1920s Sunset house are different houses to own.
- Permits and historyWe check the permit history for additions and conversions before you plan a remodel.
- InspectionsRoof, foundation and systems matched to the home’s age. Our Inspection Decoder covers what to order.
- The right comparablesWe compare against similar homes in the same neighborhood first.
How we market one when you sell
- Tell the storyThe Nelson name and district are part of the value; we document them from city records.
- Photograph the detailsOriginal trim, windows and stained glass, shot to show what’s original.
- Prep with a planOur Prep Lab budgets repairs and refresh before you list.
- Price from real salesWe price from recent sales of similar homes nearby.
questions
Questions we hear
How many houses did Fernando Nelson build?
San Francisco’s 2026 landmark ordinance for his Castro Street home says more than 4,000 over 70-plus years, from Noe Valley Victorians in the 1880s to Sunset and West Portal tracts in the 1910s and 1920s.
Is a Nelson house a landmark?
Usually not on its own. Houses in the Duboce Park Landmark District and designated buildings such as 701 Castro need city review for many exterior changes; most other Nelson houses don’t, though the attribution can come up when the city reviews major changes.
How can I spot a Nelson Victorian?
SF Planning lists button boards, drips and donuts, a blocky cut-out above the porch, two-sided bay windows and half-circle dentils in the gable. Water-connection and permit records confirm it.
Did he build Westwood Park or Westwood Highlands?
Not according to the sources we found; those are linked to a different builder, Hans Nelson. Fernando Nelson’s work west of Twin Peaks was West Portal Park and Mount Davidson Manor.
sources
Sources
SF Planning and Board of Supervisors records and the Western Neighborhoods Project photo archive, checked October 2026.
- San Francisco Ordinance 182-26 (2026)701 Castro St landmark and the 4,000-house countmedia.api.sf.gov/documents/o0182-26.pdf
- SF Planning: Duboce Park Landmark District case report (2012)Nelson’s biography, methods and trimcommissions.sfplanning.org/hpcpackets/2011.0683L.pdf
- SF Planning: Duboce Park Landmark DistrictThe district and its review rulessfplanning.org/resource/duboce-park-landmark-district
- SF Planning: Sunset District Residential Builders historic context statement (adopted 2013)Parkway Terracedefault.sfplanning.org/Preservation/sunset_survey/Adopted_SunsetHCS.pdf
- OpenSFHistory: Parkway Terrace bench, 1918The corner benchesopensfhistory.org/Display/wnp15.930.jpg
- OpenSFHistory: Fernando Nelson & Sons office, 1919The West Portal officeopensfhistory.org/Display/wnp36.02182.jpg
- SF Planning: Mills ActProperty-tax savings for historic buildingssfplanning.org/mills-act
- SF Planning: Property Information MapHistoric status and permits for a San Francisco addresssfplanninggis.org/pim/
- California Government Code § 12956.2Recording a modification to strike unlawful covenantscalifornia.public.law/codes/ca_gov't_code_section_12956.2
builder files
Every builder file, by era
Bars show the years each builder was building here. See all builders or the home styles field guide.
- Fernando Nelson1880–1920s
- Gellert (Sunstream)1922–1972
- Birge Clark1922–1970s
- Stoneson1920s–1960s
- Doelger1927–1960s
- McKeon1927–early 1970s
- Gardner Dailey1930s–1960s
- William Wurster1930s–1960s
- Rousseau1931–1933
- Bohannon1936–1955
- Cliff May1950s
- Stern & Price1951–1953
- Mackay Homes1950s
- Mardell1955–1959
- Hayman Homes1960s–1970s
- Ditz-Crane1962–1984
- Brown & Kauffmann1960s–1981
- Bahl1968–1986
- Ponderosa Homes1970s–1990s
- Shapell1971–2000s
- SummerHill Homes1976–today
- Pinn Brothers1976–today
- Robson Homes1989–today
- Pacific Peninsula Group1989–today
- Barry Swenson Builder1990s–2010s
- Classic Communities1990s–2010s
- Warmington1990s–2020s
- DeNova Homes2000s–today
- City Ventures2011–today
- Trumark Homes2012–today
- Dividend Homes2010s–today
- KB Home1980s–today
- Brookfield1990s–today
- Pulte Homes2000s–today
- Shea Homes2000s–2010s
- Lennar2000s–today
- Toll Brothers2000s–today
- Taylor Morrison2007–today
- D.R. Horton2010s
- Tri Pointe Homes2012–today
- K. Hovnanian2014–2018
- Meritage Homes2010s
talk to a property nerd
Own a Fernando Nelson home?
We can document its tract and era, check the historic rules and value it against recent sales nearby. Commissions are negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what’s included.
