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Presidio Heights & Laurel Heights, San Francisco Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
Large early-1900s houses along the Presidio wall and Sacramento Street, plus Jordan Park and Laurel Heights south of California Street, between Arguello Boulevard and Presidio Avenue.
Presidio Heights & Laurel Heights by the numbers
presidio heights & laurel heights by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Presidio Heights & Laurel Heights (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in presidio heights & laurel heights · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Presidio Heights & Laurel Heights
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Presidio Heights & Laurel 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 (Presidio Heights & Laurel Heights (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Presidio Heights & Laurel Heights came to be
For decades after the Gold Rush this was the city's far edge. Planning's evaluation of the neighborhood says its first big features were cemeteries, including Laurel Hill, which filled the land south of California Street between Presidio and Parker avenues. Transit brought the houses: the California Street cable line reached Presidio Avenue in 1879, a Geary Street line followed in 1880, the Ferries & Cliff House Railroad ran out California Street in 1888 and a Sacramento Street cable line arrived in the early 1890s. Fire-insurance maps show the blocks between Sacramento and Washington streets 30 to 90 percent built by 1905.
The area came through 1906 with little damage, and building sped up; Planning says many houses were architect-designed, and by 1930 the neighborhood was essentially built out. Later infill brought modern houses by architects including Gardner Dailey, Joseph Esherick, Erich Mendelsohn and William Wurster. Just west of Arguello Boulevard, Baldwin & Howell opened Presidio Terrace in 1905: nine acres, 40 wide lots around an oval street, underground utilities and gates designed by Albert Pissis. Planning's residence-parks study calls it the model for the residence parks that followed.
South of California Street, Jordan Park began as a 50-acre tract that sat tied up in litigation through the 1890s; the Army even ran a field hospital on it in 1898. Lots finally sold from about 1905 with 33-foot minimum widths and 12-foot setbacks, and Planning's study says many of the houses built through 1908 were probably the work of architect-builder Joseph Leonard. Unlike most residence parks it allowed flats early on. East of Parker Avenue, Laurel Hill Cemetery's graves were moved to Colma around 1939-41, and the land became the Laurel Village shopping center (built 1948-55), houses on Heather, Lupine and Manzanita avenues and Mayfair Drive (recorded 1949-53), and an insurance-company headquarters campus that is now entitled for a phased housing project of about 744 units.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
North of California Street, tree-named cross streets (Cherry, Maple, Spruce, Locust, Laurel, Walnut) meet Sacramento, Clay, Washington, Jackson and Pacific. The Assessor counts 554 houses here with a median recorded year built of 1911, a median lot of about 3,760 square feet and a median building area of about 4,200 square feet; about half are recorded at three stories. Planning describes the core, from the Presidio south to Clay Street between Arguello Boulevard and Presidio Avenue, as large, often formal houses two to three stories over a raised basement, with front and side setbacks, garden walls and wood shingle, brick or stucco walls. That core is a California Register-eligible historic district (about 1890-1930). Zoning is mostly RH-1, and the Sacramento Street commercial district runs from about Spruce Street east past Presidio Avenue.
Jordan Park, between Palm and Parker avenues, has broad streets about 80 feet wide, shallow front yards and a mix of two-story detached houses, flats and apartments; eight early palms still line Palm Avenue between Geary Boulevard and Euclid Avenue. It is also a California Register-eligible historic district (1900-1920). Across Laurel Heights and Jordan Park the roll counts 356 houses (median recorded year built 1915), about 250 condo units, 138 flat buildings and about 125 apartment buildings, under a patchwork of RH-1(D), RH-2 and RM-1 zoning with commercial zoning along Geary and California.
Presidio Terrace is its own small world: 34 houses on the roll around a private oval street, a median recorded year built of 1910 and lots of roughly 5,200 to 16,200 square feet. Planning lists it as a California Register-eligible district (1905-1915). The street is private, not city-owned; the city's street file marks it private, and local news reported that supervisors rescinded a 2015 tax sale of the street in 2017.
streets in presidio heights & laurel heights
- Pacific Avenue
- Jackson Street
- Washington Street
- Clay Street
- Sacramento Street
- California Street
- Euclid Avenue
- Geary Boulevard
- Arguello Boulevard
- Presidio Avenue
- Spruce Street
- Laurel Street
- Maple Street
- Cherry Street
- Jordan Avenue
- Commonwealth Avenue
- Palm Avenue
- Presidio Terrace
- Mayfair Drive
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Presidio Heights & Laurel Heights
- park
The Presidio
The national park begins at the Pacific Avenue wall, with entrances at Presidio Avenue and Arguello Boulevard; Mountain Lake and its trail are about a mile straight-line west of Washington and Spruce streets.
- playground
Presidio Wall Playground
A 12-acre city playground just inside the Presidio wall at West Pacific Avenue and Spruce Street, renamed from Julius Kahn Playground in 2019.
- playground
Presidio Heights and Laurel Hill playgrounds
Presidio Heights Playground is a half-acre city park on Clay Street between Walnut and Laurel streets; Laurel Hill Playground covers about 1.6 acres on Euclid Avenue.
- shopping
Sacramento Street
The Sacramento Street commercial district runs from about Spruce Street east to Lyon Street, with ground-floor shops on mostly residential blocks.
- shopping
Laurel Village
The 1948-55 shopping center on the south side of California Street west of Laurel Street, which Planning lists as a California Register-eligible midcentury commercial district.
- library
Presidio Branch Library
A San Francisco Public Library branch on Sacramento Street between Lyon and Baker streets, just east of Presidio Avenue.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Every address here is in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), which assigns seats by application with tiebreakers rather than fixed boundaries; an address's attendance-area school is a tiebreaker, not a guarantee, and SFUSD is changing its elementary assignment policy (its own pages give different start years). Roosevelt Middle School is on Arguello Boulevard near Geary at the west edge of Laurel Heights. Nearby are George Peabody Elementary on 6th Avenue and Raoul Wallenberg High School on Vega Street, just south of Geary between Masonic and Presidio avenues. Check the exact address with SFUSD's Enrollment Center.
Getting around
- Muni 1 California and the 1X California Express run on California Street; the 2 Sutter ends near Presidio Avenue and California Street.
- The 43 Masonic runs on Masonic and Presidio avenues and continues north into the Presidio; the 33 Ashbury/18th Street runs on Arguello Boulevard to Sacramento Street.
- The 38 Geary and 38R Geary Rapid run on the south edge; Powell Street BART is about 2.4 to 2.6 miles straight-line east.
- The Presidio Transit Center is about 0.9 to 1.1 miles straight-line north through the park, and the Golden Gate Bridge toll plaza about 1.7 to 1.9 miles.
- Driving: Presidio Avenue leads into the Presidio and toward the Marina; Geary Boulevard is the main route downtown.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Presidio Heights & Laurel Heights: what we check
Buying here
- Historic review: Presidio Heights' core, Presidio Terrace and Jordan Park are California Register-eligible districts, so contributing buildings are Category A historic resources and facade changes, visible additions and demolitions get Planning's historic review. Planning's own evaluation says garages added in the front setback or at the raised-basement level are a common alteration here, so check permits for any garage. Look up each address on the Property Information Map's Preservation tab.
- Presidio Terrace: the street, gates and landscaping are private, so ask for the association's documents, budget, dues and maintenance obligations, and confirm how the common area is held on title.
- The roll also counts about 600 condo units and about 190 apartment buildings here. Get HOA budgets, reserve studies and minutes for condos; check Rent Ordinance coverage for tenant-occupied units (many units built on or before June 13, 1979 have both rent limits and eviction protections); and note that about 95 buildings in these areas are on the city's soft-story retrofit list, nearly all marked work complete.
- Nearby construction: the former insurance and university campus at California and Laurel streets is entitled for about 744 homes in three phases, per a June 2026 project presentation posted on a city site. Check the project's timing if you are buying on Laurel, Euclid, Walnut or Mayfair.
- Zoning: most Presidio Heights lots are RH-1, while Planning Code rules let RH lots reach up to four units (six on corners) under conditions and the 2026 rezoning added RTO-C along parts of California Street; check current code with Planning before planning additions or extra units.
- Hazards: the state maps no liquefaction or landslide zone in Presidio Heights, Presidio Terrace or Laurel Heights; for older raised-basement houses, still ask about foundation work and seismic bracing.
Selling here
- Order the 3R report (Report of Residential Building Record) from the Department of Building Inspection early; the Housing Code requires sellers to deliver it, and the city quotes about 7 to 10 business days.
- Have the historic resource status and any past Planning historic evaluations ready; buyers planning remodels will ask how much review to expect.
- On Presidio Terrace, have the association's documents and current statement ready for buyers.
- Before title transfers, get the city's water conservation Certificate of Completion, and confirm the current energy conservation (RECO) requirements with a DBI-certified inspector.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Presidio Heights & Laurel Heights questions, answered
Where does Presidio Heights end and Pacific Heights begin?
At Presidio Avenue on the Realtor map the city publishes. West of it, between Pacific Avenue and California Street, is Presidio Heights; east of it is Pacific Heights.
What is the difference between Laurel Heights and Jordan Park?
Both sit between California Street and Geary Boulevard. Jordan Park is the older residence park between Palm and Parker avenues, built mostly from 1905 into the 1920s. Laurel Heights is the land east of Parker Avenue that was Laurel Hill Cemetery until the early 1940s, now Laurel Village, mid-century houses and the former insurance campus.
Is Presidio Terrace a public street?
No. It is a private oval street off Arguello Boulevard near Washington Street, owned by its association; the city's street file lists it as private.
Are there shops nearby?
Yes: Sacramento Street's commercial district from about Spruce Street east, the Laurel Village shopping center on California Street, and Geary Boulevard along the south edge.
What is being built at California and Laurel streets?
The former insurance-company headquarters, later a university campus, is entitled for a three-phase project of about 744 homes with some retail, according to a June 2026 project presentation posted on a city site; check current timing before you buy nearby.
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