Octagon House in contract at discount

One of San Francisco’s last remaining octagon-shaped homes has found a buyer after about a year on the market and just over $2 million in price cuts.

The historic landmark first came to market in May 2021 with an asking price of $8.6 million. It went into contract this week, after a price cut to $7.8 million last fall and another big slash to $6.5 million in February. Given the long marketing period, it’s likely the home went for less than the latest ask, but the final sales price will not be revealed until after the close.

(Zillow)

Though the exact date of construction is unknown, the home is thought it have been built in the 1850s as part of a trend of eight-sided homes from that era, according to city planning information from the 1970s, when the home received landmark status. It is one of the oldest still standing in Russian Hill, and is just a few blocks south of the famed “crooked” section of Lombard Street.

(Zillow)

Known locally as the Feusier Octagon House, after the family who owned it from the 1870s to the 1950s, it is the only eight-sided home still standing in San Francisco being used as a private residence. The McElroy Octagon House about a mile east in Cow Hollow was built in 1861 and has been a museum since 1952, when it was saved from demolition and moved across the street by a preservation group.

The Russian Hill home is currently configured as two units, according to the listing, with the upper unit arranged as a two-bedroom, 2.5-bath. There are several “salons” on the main floor and the kitchen is one flight up on the same floor as the bedrooms. There is also an octagonal cupola. The upper unit is described as “vacant,” indicating that the lower level two-bed, one-bath unit with the “primary kitchen” is rented, which may have been one of the stumbling blocks for potential buyers who hope to utilize all of the over-5,000-square-foot home.

There is also a detached “carriage house” garage with room for a home gym or art studio, according to the listing.

(Zillow)

Both of the units have access to the “park-like” grounds on the over 9,000 square foot property; the extra-wide, sunny south-facing lot was surely a selling point to the new owners.

The previous owners, Iran and Howard Billman, bought the home for $2.8 million in 1998, after “the earth literally swallow[ed]” their Seacliff home due to a 16-foot-diameter sewer collapse in the Presidio, according to Iran’s 2015 obituary. She lived in the Octagon House “until it became impractical,” with the family first listing the home for sale in 2012 for $5.2 million, before renting it out.

Read more

New York

8-sided San Fran house hits market for $1M a side

San Francisco

San Francisco’s famed eight-sided house takes an $800K price cut

San Francisco

SF’s famed octagonal house gets $1.3M price chop