Private gated street in SF draws high interest from luxe home buyers

One of San Francisco’s few private streets has an active home market, with three homes listed on Presidio Terrace, two of which have already gone into contract — a stark contrast to the luxury slowdown in the rest of the city.

A listing for almost $18 million at 23 Presidio Terrace and the two pending deals — 5 Presidio Terrace with a nearly $8 million ask and 18 Presidio Terrace with a nearly $15 million ask — come after only a handful of sales in the last five years on the exclusive Presidio Heights cul-de-sac. 

Compass agent Nina Hatvany has represented buyers and sellers on the street in the last few years and said via email that the address has “tremendous cachet” for luxury buyers as it is a gated neighborhood with a security guard, “a rare commodity in San Francisco.” It also has only 36 lots, each with a large home, so “the neighborhood feels expansive and safe, as well as being beautiful.” 

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“I think the rapid interest in these two homes is a testament to the feelings of safety and security that being within the gates of Presidio Terrace gives at a time where more people are worried about petty street crime,” she said. “Also, the pricing was reasonable for both homes relative to their size and condition. So the good news is that a well-priced and desirable home can still sell quickly even at these higher price points.”

In general, the city’s luxury market has seen more inventory than usual with sales still slow, she said, a divergent trend from the paltry offerings in the rest of the San Francisco market. 

“There is an enormous amount of choice compared with what we are used to seeing and that is definitely a reflection of the current state of the luxury market,” she added. 

Top-priced listing

The newest listing on the private street — where the British Consulate has its San Francisco base and Sen. Dianne Feinstein and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi once lived — is 23 Presidio Terrace. Owned by Decorist founder Gretchen Hansen and her fintech CFO husband Lee, the four-story, 9,500-square-foot Edwardian was designed in 1910 by Julius Krafft, and “re-envisioned” by the Hansens in 2013, according to listing agent Neal Ward of Compass. 

Gretchen Hansen said via email that she collaborated with several designers who worked for Decorist, the online home design company she sold to Bed Bath & Beyond in 2017, and which shuttered last fall. They used a combination of neutral colors and vintage art, furniture and fixtures for a “fresh modern approach” to the interiors. The Hansens are also selling a Sonoma Mountain home on 6.5 acres that they recently finished building, with an asking price of $12.5 million.

With an ask of $18 million, 23 Presidio Terrace is currently the most expensive listing on the street, though 18 Presidio Terrace, which listed a week earlier at just under $15 million, is not far behind. The 1909 Georgian has more than 10,000 square feet and also underwent an extensive remodel after it was purchased by venture capitalist Alfred Giuffrida and his wife Pamela Joyner in 2006, according to deed and permit records. It went into contract Sept. 26 after just two weeks on the market.

Listing agent Neill Bassi of Sotheby’s International Realty declined to comment on the listing or sale but Joyner told Architectural Digest in 2021 that the couple had filled the home with more than 150 pieces of their 400-plus collection of African-American art, which influenced their other decor choices. 

“What we sit on in the home is now a function of what hangs on the walls,” Joyner, a trustee of both the San Francisco and New York City Museum of Modern Art, the J. Paul Getty Trust, and the Art Institute of Chicago, told the magazine at the time.

Bassi also represents the third listing on the street, 5 Presidio Terrace, a relative bargain at $7.9 million for more than 5,000 square feet on a quarter-acre lot with a koi pond. It was the long-time home of East Bay developer Robert Young, who died in 2014, and his wife of 50 years, Jacqueline, who died last fall, according to property records and their obituaries. Listed on Sept. 11, the home was in contract 11 days later. Bassi also declined to comment on that listing. 

Hatvany said that all three homes have positive qualities, but that 5 Presidio Terrace differs from the other two in that it needs updating and is priced accordingly.

“While 18 and 23 Presidio Terrace will probably have overlapping buyers, only buyers with an appetite for renovation will be interested in #5,” she said.

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