daly city neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Westlake, Daly City Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
Henry Doelger's postwar tract: about 3,350 detached houses on lots near 3,400 square feet, plus big apartment blocks, between Skyline Boulevard, the San Francisco line and I-280.
Westlake by the numbers
westlake by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Westlake (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in westlake · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Westlake
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Westlake 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 (Westlake (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Westlake came to be
Westlake is the tract that turned Daly City's western dunes into houses after World War II. The city's history page says San Francisco builder Henry Doelger bought some 600 acres of sand dunes and cabbage patches between the old town's west edge and the ocean, built a community he called Westlake, and saw it annexed to Daly City in 1948, then doubled his land purchases and kept building west and south. The modernist-architecture preservation group Docomomo gives a bigger figure, 1,350 acres bought in 1945, and dates construction from 1948 to 1962. Its tour notes add that real estate advisers had warned against building this far out, in what they called the Fog Gap.
Doelger built more than houses. The same tour notes credit him with the infrastructure the tract needed, including a community center and a shopping center. Docomomo's 2014 driving tour paired the houses with several mid-century schools by architect Mario Ciampi. The building dates hold up in the numbers: Census estimates for the two tracts that hold most of Westlake's houses put roughly two-thirds of homes in the 1950s.
Older history sits at the north edge. Near the San Francisco line, the Broderick-Terry Dueling Place at 1100 Lake Merced Boulevard is a state historical landmark, registered in 1932, where granite shafts mark the spots of an 1859 duel fought in a ravine near the shore of Lake Merced. Two private clubs border the houses: the Olympic Club, on unincorporated county land north of Northgate Avenue, and the Lake Merced Golf Club, which fills the land between Fairway Drive and the freeway. Membership in either is separate from owning a home.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
City and county parcel records count about 3,350 single-family parcels inside this guide's outline, about 90 of them already recorded with an accessory dwelling unit. Lots are small and very even: measured from the parcel map, the median is about 3,400 square feet and the middle half fall between about 3,330 and 3,610. The city's General Plan describes the houses as generally split-level detached homes on lots of 3,000 square feet or more, and nearly every house lot is zoned R1 (single-family residential).
Mayfair Avenue is the spine, with about 500 houses on the city's address list. Southgate Avenue, Lake Merced Boulevard and John Daly Boulevard carry the through traffic. North of John Daly the curving streets include Wilshire, Westdale, Westlawn, Lake Vista, Lake Forest, Cliffside and Belmont, and the northwest corner (Glenwood, Northgate, Garden Grove, Fairmont, Weston, Westmont and Eastgate) backs onto the Olympic Club. A narrow arm of Westlake runs down the west side of Broadmoor along Mayfair, Southgate, Pinehaven and Lake Meadow, and another sits south of Broadmoor on Alpine, Baldwin, Crestline, Maywood, Ocean Grove, Westfield, Fairview, Palmdale and Montrose, ending at Westmoor and Eastmoor Avenues. Fairway Drive and the north end of Park Plaza Drive, beside the golf club, carry their own small planning code in the city's records.
Westlake also holds a lot of rental housing. The city's address list shows about 2,800 apartment units, mostly in large complexes on Poncetta Drive, Coronado Avenue, Crestwood Drive, Park Plaza Drive, Palmcrest Drive, Lake Merced Boulevard and Forest Grove Drive, on R3-zoned land around the shopping center. County records show no condominium parcels inside the outline, so nearly everything that comes up for sale is a detached house. On lots this size there is little room to spread out, so check permits, setbacks and the garage-level rooms before planning an addition.
streets in westlake
- Mayfair Ave
- Southgate Ave
- Lake Merced Blvd
- John Daly Blvd
- Wilshire Ave
- Westdale Ave
- Westlawn Ave
- Glenwood Ave
- Northgate Ave
- Fairlawn Ave
- Westbrook Ave
- Cliffside Dr
- Lake Vista Ave
- Belmont Dr
- Park Manor Dr
- Pinehaven Dr
- Montrose Ave
- Oakmont Dr
- Garden Grove Dr
- Fairmont Dr
- Eastgate Dr
- Fairway Dr
- Park Plaza Dr
- Poncetta Dr
- Coronado Ave
- Palmcrest Dr
- Alpine Ave
- Baldwin Ave
- Ocean Grove Ave
- Westmoor Ave
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Westlake
- shopping
Westlake Shopping Center
The shopping center Doelger built for the tract sits in its middle, between John Daly Boulevard, Lake Merced Boulevard and Southgate Avenue (public maps).
- park
Westlake Park
Westlake Park is on Lake Merced Boulevard north of John Daly Boulevard, about 0.4 mile straight-line from the shopping center. The city's Recreation Services office is at 111 Lake Merced Boulevard.
- landmark
Westlake Library
The city's branch at 275 Southgate Avenue lists more than 60,000 items, an 11-computer lab, a document scanner, Wi-Fi and printing.
- landmark
Broderick-Terry Dueling Place
State historical landmark at 1100 Lake Merced Boulevard, registered June 1, 1932; public maps show a small landmark park at the site near the county line.
- park
Lake Merced and Fort Funston
Both are across the line in San Francisco: Lake Merced lies just north of the county line, and Fort Funston, a National Park Service site on the bluffs, is about 1.8 miles straight-line from the middle of Westlake.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Census school-district maps put all of Westlake in the Jefferson Elementary School District and the Jefferson Union High School District. Public schools inside the area are Westlake Elementary (80 Fieldcrest Dr) and Marjorie H. Tobias Elementary (725 Southgate Ave). Benjamin Franklin Intermediate (700 Stewart Ave) is next door in Broadmoor, and Westmoor High (131 Westmoor Ave) is just south across Westmoor Avenue. Attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with each district.
Getting around
- Daly City BART is about 0.9 mile straight-line from Westlake Shopping Center and about 0.5 mile from the Wilshire Avenue blocks at the north end; John Daly Boulevard runs straight to it. Colma BART is about 1.4 miles straight-line from the shopping center.
- Junipero Serra Boulevard (SR 1) and I-280 run along the east edge. Skyline Boulevard (SR 35) runs along the west edge, north into San Francisco and south to Highway 1 toward Pacifica.
- Public transit maps show SamTrans 120 and 122 on Lake Merced Boulevard and Southgate Avenue, SamTrans 110 on John Daly and Skyline Boulevards, and Muni's 28 and 58 reaching Daly City BART by way of John Daly and Lake Merced Boulevards. Check SamTrans and Muni for current routes and times.
- State Parks lists a Bay Area Ridge Trail segment starting on Mayfair near the Skyline Boulevard and John Daly Boulevard intersection, at Westlake's west edge.
- Lake Merced's shoreline paths and Fort Funston (about 1.8 miles straight-line from the middle) are the nearest large open spaces, both in San Francisco.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Westlake: what we check
Buying here
- Check the state seismic hazard maps for the parcel. About 550 single-family addresses, plus the shopping center and most of the big apartment blocks, are in a mapped liquefaction zone (mainly Coronado Ave, Lake Merced Blvd, Crestwood Dr, Palmcrest Dr, Park Plaza Dr, Westdale Ave, Southgate Ave, Mayfair Ave, Glenwood Ave, Wilshire Ave and Westpark Dr), and about 65 near Eastmoor Ave, Terrace View Ct, Southgate Ave, Mayfair Ave and 87th St are in an earthquake-induced landslide zone. Either one must be disclosed, and state law calls for a site-specific geotechnical investigation before most new development in a zone; ask the city what your project needs.
- The northwest corner (Glenwood Ave, Northgate Ave, Garden Grove Dr, Fairmont Dr, Weston Dr, Westmont Dr, Eastgate Dr and the north end of Mayfair Ave) and the Westpark Dr, Lakeview Dr and El Portal Way blocks near Lake Merced are inside the state Coastal Zone on the Coastal Commission's map. Exterior work there may need a coastal development permit from the city, so check the parcel before you design.
- CAL FIRE's 2025 local fire hazard map puts about 210 houses on the west edge (Mayfair Ave, Glenwood Ave, Westbrook Ave, Northgate Ave, Park Manor Dr, Fairlawn Ave and Wildwood Ave) in a Moderate fire hazard severity zone; no part of Westlake is mapped High or Very High. Check the address and the natural hazard disclosure.
- Confirm the jurisdiction. Westlake is city land, but Wildwood Ave, Beechwood Dr, Stoneyford Dr, Bradley Dr and 87th St have both Daly City addresses and unincorporated Broadmoor addresses, and county land means county permits. County records show which side of the line a parcel is on.
- Most houses are around 70 years old. Budget for an inspection of the foundation, electrical panel, roof and sewer lateral, and pull the permit history for any finished rooms on the garage level. No address in Westlake is in a FEMA flood zone.
Selling here
- Buyers compare floor plans more than lots here, since most lots are close to 3,400 square feet. Lead with the layout, the garage and any permitted additions or ADU, and have the permits ready.
- Order the natural hazard disclosure early and say plainly whether the parcel is in the liquefaction zone, the landslide zone, the Coastal Zone or the Moderate fire zone.
- Give straight-line distances to Daly City BART, Westlake Shopping Center, the Westlake Library and Westlake Park; they are the everyday draws.
- On the streets that touch Broadmoor, confirm in county records that the house is in the city, and say so in the listing.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Westlake questions, answered
When was Westlake built?
Building began in 1948, the year the land was annexed to Daly City, and a preservation group dates the last of it to 1962. Census estimates put about two-thirds of the homes in the tracts covering Westlake in the 1950s.
Is Broadmoor part of Westlake?
No. Broadmoor Village is unincorporated San Mateo County land that Westlake surrounds on its north and west sides. It has its own police district and its own guide.
Can you buy a condo in Westlake?
Rarely. County records show no condominium parcels inside this guide's outline. The multi-unit buildings along Poncetta Dr, Coronado Ave, Park Plaza Dr and nearby streets are apartment complexes, about 2,800 units on the city's address list.
How far is BART?
Daly City BART is about 0.9 mile straight-line from Westlake Shopping Center and about 0.5 mile from the north end of Westlake. Colma BART is about 1.4 miles from the shopping center.
Which MLS area matches this guide?
Mostly the MLS area 'Westlake'. That MLS area also covers the blocks west of Skyline Boulevard, which are in our Westlake Palisades & the Skyline Coast guide. A few Fairway Drive and Park Plaza Drive sales by the golf club may be filed as 'Broadmoor'.
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Thinking about Westlake? 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.
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