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Forest Hill & Forest Hills Extension, San Francisco Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
Two residence-park tracts laid out by Mark Daniels from 1912 on the hill around the Forest Hill Muni Metro station, with curving streets, public stairways and split-level lanes on both sides of Dewey Boulevard.
Forest Hill & Forest Hills Extension by the numbers
forest hill & forest hills extension by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Forest Hill & Forest Hills Extension (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in forest hill & forest hills extension · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Forest Hill & Forest Hills Extension
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Forest Hill & Forest Hills Extension 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 (Forest Hill & Forest Hills Extension (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Forest Hill & Forest Hills Extension came to be
Forest Hill was carved out of the old Sutro holdings, a eucalyptus-covered stretch of the former Rancho San Miguel. The Sutro estate sold the land to the Residential Development Company in 1910, which soon sold this tract to the Newell-Murdoch Realty Company. Building began in 1912 north of Dewey Boulevard, in Forest Hill, and on May 8, 1913, south of it, in Forest Hill Extension, which had different owners. Landscape engineer Mark Daniels laid out both as one composition, according to the city's draft context statement on residence parks. With no large parks in the plan, Daniels made the streets do the work: two main arteries, Pacheco Street and Magellan Avenue, winding side streets, and footpaths and stairways as shortcuts.
The Twin Peaks streetcar tunnel runs under the hill. Newell-Murdoch donated three lots for the Municipal Railway's West Portal station and 18 more for the mid-tunnel station and a small shopping strip beside it. That station opened as Laguna Honda, a name still etched on its facade, and later took the neighborhood's name. The tunnel was dedicated in July 1917 and streetcars began running through it in early 1918, according to the SFMTA. The Mission Revival station building on Laguna Honda Boulevard near Dewey Boulevard, built in 1917, has been a city landmark since 2004.
Sales were slow during World War I. In March 1919 residents took over the management of streets, sewers and lighting from the developer, and in 1920 the Lang Realty Company bought out Newell-Murdoch and kept building through the 1920s with in-house architects that included Harold G. Stoner. Bernard Maybeck designed three houses and the 1919 clubhouse, and in the 1930s Morrow and Morrow designed an early International Style house on San Marcos Avenue that is now a city landmark (private home, no public access). Planning counts the Forest Hill Historic District, period 1912 to 1939, as eligible for the California Register, and the neighborhood's Forest Hill Association is still active; it co-hosted an SFMTA open house at the Forest Hill clubhouse in 2018.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
Dewey Boulevard, the flattest street, divides the two. The main entrance is at Pacheco Street and Dewey Boulevard, where curved seat walls and urns frame the intersection on both sides. On the Forest Hill side, a planted median with a large urn leads to a two-part grand stair from Magellan Avenue up to Castenada Avenue; a second Daniels gateway, tall pillars with 'Forest Hill' in metal script, marks Pacheco Street at 9th Avenue. Narrow streets on steep ground split into upper and lower lanes with small planted medians on parts of Magellan, Marcela, Pacheco, Mendosa, Santa Rita, San Marcos, 9th and Montalvo avenues, and public stairways cut through the steepest blocks. In the Extension, short cross streets run at 45 degrees to ease the grade, and the Pacheco Street stair climbs from Merced Avenue to Vasquez Avenue.
Houses in Forest Hill were individually designed in period revival styles, and Stoner added picturesque, storybook designs in the 1920s. The Extension filled in with a mix of large and more modest 1920s houses. On the Assessor's roll, most Forest Hill houses are two stories with a median of about 2,350 square feet on lots around 4,000 square feet, while most Extension houses are listed as one story, with a median of about 1,800 square feet on lots around 3,500 square feet. The SFAR and MLS 'Forest Hills Extension' area reaches east past the original tract to Woodside Avenue and Portola Drive, taking in the Edgehill slopes and the 1920s Laguna Honda Park blocks that Lang Realty developed.
About 90 percent of the zoned land is RH-1(D), single-family detached. Since the Family Zoning Plan took effect in January 2026, lots near the station along Laguna Honda Boulevard and Magellan Avenue are RTO-C, and there is a small neighborhood-commercial cluster by the station. On Planning's historic resource map, parcels in the Forest Hill Historic District are Category A, while most of the Extension's eastern blocks (Idora, Hernandez, Ulloa, Rockaway and Edgehill) are Category B, not yet evaluated.
streets in forest hill & forest hills extension
- Dewey Boulevard
- Pacheco Street
- Magellan Avenue
- Castenada Avenue
- Dorantes Avenue
- Montalvo Avenue
- Mendosa Avenue
- San Marcos Avenue
- Santa Rita Avenue
- Marcela Avenue
- Sotelo Avenue
- Ventura Avenue
- Linares Avenue
- Alton Avenue
- Mesa Avenue
- 9th Avenue
- Merced Avenue
- Vasquez Avenue
- Garcia Avenue
- Idora Avenue
- Hernandez Avenue
- Kensington Way
- Edgehill Way
- Ulloa Street
- Rockaway Avenue
- Laguna Honda Boulevard
- Woodside Avenue
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Forest Hill & Forest Hills Extension
- landmark
Forest Hill Muni Metro station
The 1917 Mission Revival station on Laguna Honda Boulevard near Dewey Boulevard, a city landmark since 2004, serves the K, L and M; a sloping lawn and path behind it lead up to Magellan Avenue.
- landmark
Pacheco Street gateways and grand stairs
Mark Daniels' entrance at Pacheco Street and Dewey Boulevard mirrors itself on both sides of Dewey, with seat walls, urns and grand stairs climbing to Castenada Avenue and to Vasquez Avenue.
- park
Edgehill Mountain
A Recreation and Park Department natural area at Edgehill Way and Garcia Avenue, on the knob that rises from the Extension's blocks.
- park
West Portal Playground
The city playground at Ulloa Street and Lenox Way, about 0.4 mi straight-line south of the center, has a play area, athletic field, tennis court, picnic area, dog play area and community rooms; it was rebuilt in 2020.
- shopping
West Portal Avenue
The West Portal Avenue shops are about 0.5 mi straight-line south of the center, one Muni Metro stop away, and a small commercial cluster sits beside the Forest Hill station.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Forest Hill and Forest Hills Extension are served by the San Francisco Unified School District, which assigns seats by application and lottery; an address's attendance-area school is a tiebreaker, not a guarantee. Public schools next door include West Portal Elementary at 5 Lenox Way, just south of Taraval Street and Dewey Boulevard, and Herbert Hoover Middle School at 2290 14th Avenue, just west of 12th Avenue. SFUSD's elementary assignment policy is changing (its own pages give different start years), so check the exact address with SFUSD's Enrollment Center.
Getting around
- Muni Metro: Forest Hill station (K Ingleside, L Taraval, M Ocean View) sits inside the area, about 0.2 mi straight-line from the center, and West Portal station is about 0.4 mi straight-line.
- From Forest Hill station the trains run east through the Twin Peaks Tunnel to Castro station and the Market Street subway.
- BART: Glen Park station is about 1.7 mi straight-line to the southeast, and Balboa Park about 1.7 mi to the south.
- Driving: Laguna Honda Boulevard runs north toward the Inner Sunset, Portola Drive and O'Shaughnessy Boulevard head east and southeast, and the nearest I-280 ramps are about 1.6 mi straight-line.
- On foot: public stairways and paths cut through the steep blocks, including the Pacheco Street stairs on both sides of Dewey Boulevard and the paths down to the station.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Forest Hill & Forest Hills Extension: what we check
Buying here
- Slopes: about 8% of the area is in a mapped state seismic hazard zone, mostly around Edgehill Way, Kensington Way and Knockash Hill, with patches near Pacheco Street and Laguna Honda Boulevard. Read the natural hazard disclosure, and expect geotechnical work for big additions or new foundations.
- Retaining walls, drainage and stairs: many lots sit above or below the street, and some streets are split into upper and lower lanes. Find out which walls, steps and medians belong to the lot, and look hard at drainage and driveway grades.
- Historic status: parcels in the Forest Hill Historic District are Category A, so street-facing changes and demolition get historic review; most Extension parcels east of the original tract are Category B. Check the Property Information Map's Preservation tab.
- Association: the Forest Hill Association runs the clubhouse and works with the city on neighborhood projects. Ask whether the house is subject to any association dues, assessments or recorded maintenance obligations, and check current dues.
- Zoning: most lots are RH-1(D), but RTO-C now applies near the station along Laguna Honda Boulevard and Magellan Avenue. If you are near there, check what neighboring parcels may now build.
Selling here
- Have permits and engineering reports ready for retaining walls, foundation work and drainage; on this hill they are the first thing buyers ask about.
- If the house is a Category A historic resource, list the exterior work that went through Planning and when.
- Measure and state the walk to Forest Hill or West Portal station from the front door; on a hill, minutes matter more than distance.
- Gather association information (contacts, any dues or assessments) so buyers do not have to chase it.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Forest Hill & Forest Hills Extension questions, answered
Is Forest Hill the same as Forest Hills Extension?
They were planned together by Mark Daniels from 1912, but Dewey Boulevard divides them: Forest Hill is the steeper, curvier tract to the northwest and the Extension is the gentler slope to the southeast. The MLS spells it 'Forest Hills Extension' and stretches it east to Woodside Avenue and Portola Drive.
Which trains stop at Forest Hill station?
The K Ingleside, L Taraval and M Ocean View all stop there, inside the Twin Peaks Tunnel. The station opened as Laguna Honda, a name still etched on the building.
Does Forest Hill have a homeowners association?
Yes, the Forest Hill Association, which runs the neighborhood clubhouse that Bernard Maybeck designed. Ask whether a specific house carries dues or assessments.
Is Forest Hill a historic district?
Planning treats the Forest Hill Historic District as eligible for the California Register, so its parcels are Category A historic resources for permit review. The station is a separate city landmark.
Are there landslide or seismic hazard zones here?
Parts of the hill, about 8 percent of the area, are in a mapped state seismic hazard zone, mostly around Edgehill Way and Kensington Way. Check the parcel's natural hazard disclosure.
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