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Sea Cliff & Lake District, San Francisco Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
A 1913 residence park on the bluffs above China Beach, plus the Lake Street blocks along the Presidio's south edge from 27th Avenue east to Arguello Boulevard.
Sea Cliff & Lake District by the numbers
sea cliff & lake district by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Sea Cliff & Lake District (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in sea cliff & lake district · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Sea Cliff & Lake District
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Sea Cliff & Lake District 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 (Sea Cliff & Lake District (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Sea Cliff & Lake District came to be
Sea Cliff and the Lake District grew up on a strip of sand between two pieces of public land: the Presidio to the north and the old city cemetery, now Lincoln Park, to the west. Planning's residence-parks study says the bluff was part of the Baker tract, which the John Brickell Company took over after about 20 years of foreclosure litigation, and almost nothing was built here in the 1800s. Streetcars changed the math: by the 1910s Muni's C line ran on California Street and a private line ran a block away on Clement.
The Lake Street blocks came first. In 1910 Lyon & Hoag recorded West Clay Park, 50 lots between 22nd and 24th avenues north of Lake Street, graded into terraces for views, with stone gates and underground telephone and electric lines. The same partners platted 79 lots along 32nd Avenue north of California Street. On the block north of California between 15th and 16th avenues, the Fernando Nelson firm built a row of Mission Revival houses, two stories over an attached garage, now a California Register-eligible historic district. The Lake District's median recorded year built is 1911.
Sea Cliff was launched in 1913, when the Brickell Company had Lyon & Hoag survey Subdivision No. 1, the 76 parcels north of El Camino del Mar between 25th and 27th avenues. Three more subdivisions followed through 1928, reaching south to California Street. Allen & Co. sold the lots and the S. A. Born Company built many early houses, but buyers hired their own architects. Brickell also donated an 80-foot strip for El Camino del Mar, the scenic road linking the Presidio to Lincoln Park. After World War II the last lots went to modern designs, including houses by William Wurster and Joseph Esherick. Planning treats Sea Cliff as a California Register-eligible historic district (1913-1935).
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
The Lake District is the Richmond grid: numbered avenues run north from California Street to Lake Street or the Presidio edge. Sea Cliff keeps the grid on its southern blocks, then curves where the ground does, with Sea Cliff Avenue, El Camino del Mar, McLaren Avenue and Scenic Way bending around the bluff. On the steep west end, Lake Street and El Camino del Mar split into upper and lower lanes separated by a planted median with brick walls and public stairs; the El Camino del Mar median has a row of Canary Island date palms. Old stone gateway pillars still mark entrances, the main one at Lake Street and 28th Avenue. Many core blocks have rear garage alleys, and utilities are underground.
Sea Cliff is almost all houses: the Assessor's 2025 roll counts 467 single-family parcels out of about 510 residential parcels, with a median recorded year built of 1923 and a median lot of about 4,000 square feet. On the bluff, 168 lots are 5,000 square feet or more and 36 are 10,000 or more. Most houses are recorded at two stories, about 100 at three. Planning-filed reports describe Spanish and Mediterranean revival, Tudor and other period styles from the 1910s to 1930s, then Second Bay Tradition and mid-century modern houses, some 1970s and 1980s infill and many later remodels. Most lots are zoned RH-1(D), one detached house per lot.
The Lake District is a different market. Its 764 single-family houses are 39 percent of residential parcels; the rest are 414 flat or duplex buildings, about 520 condo units, about 210 apartment buildings and a few TICs. Lots are mostly about 3,000 square feet, and 171 houses are recorded at 1906 or earlier (the roll uses 1900 for many early or unknown dates). Zoning is mainly RH-2, with RH-1 and some RM-1, plus RTO-C corridor zoning along California Street since the 2026 rezoning.
streets in sea cliff & lake district
- Lake Street
- El Camino del Mar
- Sea Cliff Avenue
- McLaren Avenue
- Scenic Way
- Sea View Terrace
- 25th Avenue North
- West Clay Street
- California Street
- 25th Avenue
- 27th Avenue
- 28th Avenue
- 32nd Avenue
- 15th Avenue
- Park Presidio Boulevard
- Arguello Boulevard
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Sea Cliff & Lake District
- beach
China Beach
A small National Park Service beach below Sea Cliff Avenue, under a quarter mile straight-line from the middle of Sea Cliff, with restrooms, cold showers and picnic grills. No lifeguards; the Park Service does not recommend swimming.
- park
Lincoln Park, Legion of Honor and the golf course
Lincoln Park (about 113 acres on Rec and Park's list) starts at Sea Cliff's west edge. Its golf course began in 1902 as the city's first municipal course and reached 18 holes by 1917; the Legion of Honor museum opened in 1924, about 0.6 mile straight-line from central Sea Cliff.
- trail
Lands End
The National Park Service's Lands End area (Coastal Trail, Sutro Baths ruins, Lands End Lookout visitor center) lies just west; the visitor center is about 1.4 miles straight-line from central Sea Cliff.
- park
Mountain Lake Park and Mountain Lake
A 13-acre city park off Lake Street near 11th Avenue, with a playground beside the Presidio's Mountain Lake, where the Anza expedition camped in March 1776. A 1939 highway shrank the lake; restoration has since cleaned up the water, and a trail circles it.
- playground
Richmond and Rochambeau playgrounds
Two city playgrounds of about an acre each: Richmond Playground on 18th Avenue near Lake Street and Rochambeau Playground on 25th Avenue.
- street
Lake Street Slow Street
Lake Street from Arguello Boulevard to 28th Avenue is part of the SFMTA's permanent Slow Streets network, approved in December 2022.
- shopping
Clement Street and Geary Boulevard
Shops and restaurants are a block or two south: the Inner Clement Street commercial district runs from Arguello Boulevard to Funston Avenue, the Outer Clement district from 19th to 27th Avenue, and Geary Boulevard is zoned commercial to about 28th 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). No public school sits inside Sea Cliff or the Lake District; the nearest SFUSD campuses are just south of California Street: Alamo Elementary (23rd Avenue), Sutro Elementary (12th Avenue), George Peabody Elementary (6th Avenue), Presidio Middle School (30th Avenue) and Roosevelt Middle School (Arguello Boulevard). Check the exact address with SFUSD's Enrollment Center.
Getting around
- Muni 1 California and the 1X California Express run on California Street along the south edge toward downtown.
- The 28 19th Avenue and 28R run on Park Presidio Boulevard; the 28 continues through the Presidio to the Golden Gate Bridge toll plaza, about 1.5 miles straight-line from Lake Street and 15th Avenue.
- The 29 Sunset runs up 25th Avenue and El Camino del Mar into the Presidio near Baker Beach; Baker Beach is about half a mile straight-line from central Sea Cliff.
- The 38 Geary and 38R Geary Rapid run on Geary Boulevard two blocks south of California Street. Transit lanes went in between Stanyan Street and 34th Avenue in 2023, and the SFMTA expects the rest of the Geary Boulevard Improvement Project to wrap up in early 2028.
- There is no BART or Muni Metro station in the Richmond; Powell Street and Civic Center BART are roughly 3.5 to 4.5 miles straight-line east, most easily reached on the 38R.
- Driving: Park Presidio Boulevard leads north through the Presidio to the Golden Gate Bridge and south through Golden Gate Park to 19th Avenue.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Sea Cliff & Lake District: what we check
Buying here
- Bluff lots: the state's seismic hazard maps put roughly a sixth of Sea Cliff's area in an earthquake-induced landslide zone, concentrated on the bluff along Sea Cliff Avenue and the shoreline; the Lake District is almost entirely outside mapped zones. On a bluff lot, ask for geotechnical reports and permit history for retaining walls, and expect geotechnical review for new foundations or additions.
- Flood maps: FEMA's current San Francisco flood map (effective March 2021) puts coastal high-hazard VE zones on the beaches below the bluff, not on the residential streets. If a lot runs to the cliff edge, check the parcel on FEMA's map anyway.
- Historic review: most of Sea Cliff is a California Register-eligible historic district and the Nelson rowhouse block near 15th Avenue is another, so contributing buildings are treated as Category A historic resources and facade changes, visible additions and demolitions get Planning's historic review. Check each address on the Property Information Map's Preservation tab.
- Flats, condos and TICs are a big share of Lake District listings. Get HOA budgets, reserve studies and minutes for condos; read the TIC agreement and confirm fractional financing for TICs; and for tenant-occupied units check Rent Ordinance coverage (the city says many units built on or before June 13, 1979 have both rent limits and eviction protections). About 110 buildings in Sea Cliff and the Lake District are on the city's soft-story retrofit list, nearly all marked work complete; confirm the certificate.
- Old paperwork and old pipes: Sea Cliff and West Clay Park were sold with deed restrictions such as setbacks and residential-only use, so read the title report's recorded restrictions. Planning's residence-parks study notes that an 1895 sewer under West Clay Park collapsed in 1995 and destroyed a house, a good reason to scope the sewer lateral and ask about the street main.
- Zoning: Sea Cliff's RH-1(D) zoning keeps one detached house per lot, while RH-2 Lake District lots allow two units, and Planning Code rules now let RH lots reach up to four units (six on corner lots) under conditions; check current code with Planning before counting on extra units.
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 to the buyer, and the city quotes about 7 to 10 business days.
- Gather permits for bluff and retaining-wall work, garages and any garage-level rooms; the 3R lists permitted work, and buyers will compare it with what they see.
- For Sea Cliff and the Nelson rowhouses, have the historic resource status and any past Planning historic evaluations ready, since buyers planning remodels will ask how much review to expect.
- 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
Sea Cliff & Lake District questions, answered
Where does Sea Cliff end and the Lake District begin?
On the Realtor map the city publishes, Sea Cliff runs from 32nd Avenue east to 27th Avenue between California Street and the bluff, plus the blocks north of El Camino del Mar to 25th Avenue. The Lake District runs east from there along Lake Street to Arguello Boulevard.
Is Sea Cliff gated?
No. The stone pillars at Lake Street and 28th Avenue, on El Camino del Mar and on California Street are original entrance markers, and the streets are public. The original deeds carried restrictions such as setbacks and residential-only use, so check what is recorded on a specific lot.
Can you swim at China Beach?
The National Park Service says there are no lifeguards and does not recommend swimming because of unpredictable surf. The beach has restrooms, cold showers and picnic grills.
Is Sea Cliff in a landslide zone?
Parts of it. The state's seismic hazard map puts the bluff along Sea Cliff Avenue and the shoreline, about a sixth of Sea Cliff's area, in an earthquake-induced landslide zone. FEMA's flood map shows coastal high-hazard zones on the beaches, not the streets. Check each parcel.
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