Tourists flock to the “crookedest” street in San Francisco, but for those who actually want to live along the iconic destination atop Russian Hill, the opportunities are few and far between.
Located towards the middle of the brick-paved, winding stretch of Lombard Street, 2-4 Montclair Terrace has not been on the market in more than 60 years. After its longtime owner died at 102 last year, it’s now the subject of a trust sale asking $5.25 million.
Designer, arts patron and environmentalist Mérí Jaye bought the two-unit 1910 building with four levels, a detached garage, courtyard and private garden in 1962 after 10 years of living in hotels around Europe and New York, according to her obituary. She made her home in San Francisco after she was tapped to do the interior design of the International Building at 601 California, which was the then-headquarters for shipping company American President Lines. She also designed the interiors for several of its freighters.
It took her four years to finish the redesign of her own 5,400-square-foot home, which has a ship weathervane on top, finally moving in with her growing art and book collection in 1966, according to the obituary.
After Jaye died in the home in March 2023, it took some time to get those extensive collections to their recipients, said listing agent Roland Jadryev of Sotheby’s International Realty, as well as prepare the home for sale with fresh paint, redone floors and new lighting fixtures.
Other than those updates, much of the five-bedroom, 4.5-bath property — including its “‘Mad Men’ kitchen,” primary suite soaker tub and wood-paneled pent-floor with views of Alcatraz and the Transamerica Pyramid — are original to Jaye’s mid-century design, and are “waiting for a new owner to realize their own vision for the space,” he said.
Jaye lived and worked in the home as though it were a single-family, but it is actually zoned R-3 for multifamily. It has one unit on the top two levels with three bedrooms and 2.5 baths, another unit one floor below that with a bedroom and two full baths, and a garden studio with a full bath and a wine cellar on the lowest level. There are full kitchens on the middle two floors and a “mid-century modern kitchenette” with a sink and electric stove top built into a wood cabinet on the highest and lowest floors.
“Prospective buyers have been very enthusiastic about the overall feeling of this special property and the multiple environments it provides,” Jadryev said.
There are several entrances, one on Lombard and others on Montclair Terrace, a one-block street that connects Lombard and Chestnut. Montclair has the two-story detached garage and the entrance to the private garden. It has a 100-foot-tall Redwood tree that “creates an atmosphere of being in the woods” and is itself “an icon in the neighborhood and was landmarked by the city to acknowledge its importance,” Jadryev said.
Jaye planted the sapling the same year she bought the home to commemorate the lives of her husband and two young sons, who had died in a plane crash, according to 2017 media reports about the contentious process to have the tree landmarked. The process appears to have stalled until this summer, when it finally became the city’s 26th landmark-protected tree, according to the San Francisco Public Works website.
The home has been on the market for almost two months and Jadryev said the tourist traffic on Lombard could be considered a drawback of its iconic location. But most of the tourists snapping their Instagram pictures are at the top and bottom of the block and “remarkably few at this midway point,” he said, adding that the property is “surprisingly private” since it is separated from Lombard by a green space.
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Since few homes sell on the street, there aren’t many comps. But 45 Montclair Terrace, closer to Chestnut, sold in October 2021 for $3.75 million, Jadryev said, though that home was 2,000 square feet smaller and had comparatively little usable outdoor space.
“To have a quiet garden and separate courtyard of this size in this location is a rarity,” Jadryev noted.