home / san francisco / ingleside terraces & balboa terrace
san francisco neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Ingleside Terraces & Balboa Terrace, San Francisco Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
Two residence parks on either side of Ocean Avenue: Ingleside Terraces, built from 1911 on an old racetrack with a 1913 sundial, and Balboa Terrace, the 1920s tract with pedestrian greenways to the north.
Ingleside Terraces & Balboa Terrace by the numbers
ingleside terraces & balboa terrace by the numbers · live from the mls
- for sale now…
- median list price…
- homes sold, last 12 months…
- median sale price, 12 mo…
- median price per sq ft, sold…
- sale price vs. list…
Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Ingleside Terraces & Balboa Terrace (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in ingleside terraces & balboa terrace · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Ingleside Terraces & Balboa Terrace
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Ingleside Terraces & Balboa Terrace from the MLS, updated automatically, with a map of the neighborhood outline.
Loading listings…
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 (Ingleside Terraces & Balboa Terrace (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Ingleside Terraces & Balboa Terrace came to be
Ingleside Terraces sits on a former racetrack. A syndicate built the Ingleside Racetrack on part of the old Sutro holdings, grading a flat oval out of the valley between Mount Davidson and Merced Heights; it opened in 1895 and ran horse races until 1905. After the 1906 earthquake and fire the grounds became a refugee camp until January 1908. In 1910 builder Joseph A. Leonard bought the property, and his Urban Realty Improvement Company opened lot sales in November 1911, with lots 50 to 150 feet wide. Engineer E. J. Morser organized the street plan around the old oval, which survives as Urbano Drive. The city at first rejected the curving plan, and the company moved about 300,000 yards of soil to terrace lots for ocean views, according to the city's draft context statement on residence parks.
The company added sandstone entry pillars and, in 1913, a giant concrete sundial in a circular park at the end of Entrada Court. The sundial's gnomon is 28 feet long and 17 feet high on a 34-foot base with Roman numerals, ringed by Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Tuscan columns; the sundial and park became city Landmark No. 293 in 2021. Sales were slow until the 1920s, when the tract grew from about 150 houses to more than 600, about 200 of them by builder C. S. Allred. In 1927 Leonard and Holt built El Plazuela Way, an L-shaped cul-de-sac of 14 two-story houses on the site of the old golf clubhouse. Residents formed the Ingleside Terraces Homes Association in 1938 to look after the tract's landscaping.
Balboa Terrace, across Ocean Avenue, had a slower start. The Balboa Terrace Company bought 15 acres from the Residential Development Company in 1912 and put in streets and utilities, then sold the whole tract to Newell-Murdoch, the Forest Hill developer, in 1918. A plat by engineers Punnett & Parez was filed in 1920, and in 1922 Ernest C. and Oscar M. Hueter bought the property and built it out with Lang Realty, architect Harold G. Stoner and builder Walter Zweig; in 1924 they bought 36 more acres to the east. Stoner designed at least 60 percent of the houses, by one estimate cited in the context statement. Mason-McDuffie had already built 80-foot-wide Monterey Boulevard, with its grassy median, in 1914 to separate Balboa Terrace from St. Francis Wood.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
In Ingleside Terraces, the streets north of Urbano Drive curve hard, while those inside and south of the oval run in gentle arcs that form long blocks. The ground steps down in terraces from east to west, so houses on one side of a street often sit above the sidewalk behind a bank or retaining wall. Sandstone pillars mark the entrances on Junipero Serra Boulevard (the main one at Mercedes Way) and Ocean Avenue, and stone benches mark those on Ashton Avenue. Early Craftsman and Edwardian houses line Victoria Street and Moncada Way; 1920s bungalows and stucco Mediterranean houses fill streets such as Monticello, Estero and Corona. On the Assessor's roll the median lot is about 6,000 square feet and houses split about evenly between one and two stories.
Balboa Terrace is a modified grid of north-south blocks, each with an interior alley for garages. A 25-foot-wide pedestrian greenway, with a grass strip and grass circles, cuts across the blocks from Junipero Serra Boulevard to San Benito Way, entered through a terraced 1920 gateway by Punnett & Parez; a second greenway runs from San Fernando Way to San Benito Way. A stucco bus shelter with a red tile roof and 'Balboa Terrace' in metal script stands on Junipero Serra Boulevard. Stoner's early houses here are Storybook and English-cottage designs; later ones are larger Spanish Colonial and Italian Renaissance revivals, mostly one or two stories in stucco, with rows of repeated footprints on Santa Ana Avenue and San Benito Way.
Both tracts are California Register-eligible historic districts, and every parcel in this guide area shows Category A on Planning's historic resource map. About 87 percent of the zoned land is RH-1(D), single-family detached; since the Family Zoning Plan took effect in January 2026, the lots fronting Ocean Avenue are mostly RTO-C, with small neighborhood-commercial pieces near Junipero Serra Boulevard and Ashton Avenue.
streets in ingleside terraces & balboa terrace
- Urbano Drive
- Entrada Court
- Moncada Way
- Mercedes Way
- Paloma Avenue
- Cedro Avenue
- Cerritos Avenue
- Victoria Street
- Corona Street
- Lunado Way
- Borica Street
- Alviso Street
- Estero Avenue
- De Soto Street
- Head Street
- Pico Avenue
- Monticello Street
- El Plazuela Way
- Ashton Avenue
- Holloway Avenue
- San Benito Way
- Santa Ana Avenue
- San Leandro Way
- San Fernando Way
- San Rafael Way
- Darien Way
- Aptos Avenue
- San Aleso Avenue
- Upland Drive
- Ocean Avenue
- Monterey Boulevard
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Ingleside Terraces & Balboa Terrace
- landmark
Ingleside Terraces Sundial and Sundial Park
The 1913 concrete sundial and its 155-foot circular park, city Landmark No. 293, sit at the end of Entrada Court, at the west end of the old racetrack oval.
- park
Aptos Playground
A 4.81-acre city playground at Aptos and Ocean avenues, next to Aptos Middle School, with a play area, athletic field, baseball diamond, tennis, picnic area and restrooms.
- park
Junipero Serra Playground
Across Junipero Serra Boulevard at 300 Stonecrest Drive, about 0.3 mi straight-line from the center, with a play area, ball diamond, tennis and basketball court, picnic area and a clubhouse added in a 2008 renovation.
- shopping
Ocean Avenue and Lakeside Village
The Ocean Avenue shops begin at Fairfield Way at the tract's northeast corner, and Lakeside Village's 1930s and 1940s storefronts sit just west across Junipero Serra Boulevard; Stonestown Galleria is about 0.5 mi straight-line west.
- library
Merced Branch Library
The San Francisco Public Library branch at 155 Winston Drive is about 0.3 mi straight-line west of the center.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Ingleside Terraces and Balboa Terrace 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. Commodore Sloat Elementary at 50 Darien Way sits at the Balboa Terrace corner of Ocean Avenue and Junipero Serra Boulevard, on a site long used for public schools but not part of the tract, and Aptos Middle School at 105 Aptos Avenue is just east of Balboa Terrace. 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: the K Ingleside runs along Ocean Avenue between the two tracts, with stops between Junipero Serra Boulevard and Fairfield Way, and continues east to Balboa Park; inbound it runs up Junipero Serra Boulevard and West Portal Avenue to West Portal station and the Twin Peaks Tunnel.
- The M Ocean View stops at 19th Avenue and Winston Drive (Stonestown), about 0.4 mi straight-line from the center, and at SF State, about 0.5 mi.
- BART: Balboa Park station is about 1.3 mi straight-line to the east.
- Driving: Junipero Serra Boulevard and 19th Avenue (State Route 1) run along the west side, and the I-280 ramps near Ocean Avenue and City College are about 1.1 mi straight-line.
- On foot: the Balboa Terrace greenways and the Ingleside Terraces paths, such as Legion Court, cut through long blocks.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Ingleside Terraces & Balboa Terrace: what we check
Buying here
- Historic status: every parcel here is Category A (both tracts are California Register-eligible districts), so street-facing changes, additions and demolition get historic review. Check the Property Information Map's Preservation tab and budget time for it.
- Associations: the Ingleside Terraces Homes Association has voluntary dues, publishes design guidelines and reviews plans that Planning sends it. The Balboa Terrace Homes Association has CC&Rs (deed restrictions); get the current documents and check current dues.
- Ground: about 15% of the guide area, mostly around Urbano Drive, Entrada Court, Corona Street, Borica Street and De Soto Street, is in a mapped state seismic hazard zone. Read the natural hazard disclosure and plan for geotechnical work on big projects.
- Terraced lots: houses on the high side of a street sit behind banks and retaining walls. Check wall condition, drainage and driveway grades.
- Ocean Avenue: the K runs in the street, and the Ocean Avenue frontage is now RTO-C under the Family Zoning Plan. If you buy near Ocean, check what neighboring parcels may build. Old deeds here may also carry void discriminatory covenant language; the city has a free process to strike it (sf.gov).
Selling here
- Gather association material: ITHA design review letters for past work, or BTHA CC&Rs and contacts.
- Pull permits and any Planning historic review for exterior changes; in an all-Category A area, buyers will check.
- Have reports ready on retaining walls, foundation and drainage, especially on terraced or hazard-zone lots.
- In Balboa Terrace, explain garage access from the rear alley and any shared alley upkeep.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Ingleside Terraces & Balboa Terrace questions, answered
Was Ingleside Terraces really a racetrack?
Yes. The Ingleside Racetrack ran from 1895 to 1905, and Urbano Drive follows the old oval. Joseph A. Leonard's company began selling lots in 1911.
What is the sundial?
A 1913 concrete sundial, 28 feet long and 17 feet high, set in a circular park at the end of Entrada Court with four classical columns around it. The city designated it Landmark No. 293 in 2021.
Do Ingleside Terraces and Balboa Terrace have homeowners associations?
Both do. The Ingleside Terraces Homes Association has voluntary dues and a design review committee; the Balboa Terrace Homes Association has CC&Rs. Ask each for current documents.
Are the houses historic resources?
Yes for permit purposes. Both tracts are California Register-eligible historic districts, so every parcel here shows Category A on Planning's map.
How do you get downtown?
Take the K Ingleside from Ocean Avenue through West Portal and the Twin Peaks Tunnel, the M from Stonestown, or BART from Balboa Park, about 1.3 mi straight-line east.
next door
More San Francisco neighborhood guides
talk to a property nerd
Thinking about Ingleside Terraces & Balboa Terrace? Let's run your numbers.
Eric, Janelle and the Boyenga Team have sold more than 2,520 Silicon Valley homes, $2.6+ billion in all, since 1996. Get a value, a plan, or a straight answer about a street.
Questions about Ingleside Terraces & Balboa Terrace? Send us a note.
