$1.6 Million Homes in California – The New York Times

San Francisco | $1.595 MillionA condominium unit in a Victorian house built in 1900 and recently renovated, with two bedrooms and two bathrooms

This house, which now contains two residential units, was built in 1900 and recently renovated by Jeff Schlarb Design Studio. (Mr. Schlarbs studio occupies the buildings ground-floor commercial space.) It is in the Presidio Heights neighborhood, within walking distance of well-known restaurants, the Sacramento Street Shopping District, known for its concentration of high-end design stores, and the Laurel Heights campus of the University of California, San Francisco. The Presidio, an 18th-century Spanish fort and the beloved outdoor space that surrounds it, is four blocks away.

Size: 1,435 square feet

Price per square foot: $1,111

Indoors: A short staircase leads from the ground level to the units front door and a foyer with a frosted-glass window and refinished hardwood floors. Down a hallway is an open living-and-dining area with graphic wallpaper on one wall, a marble fireplace and sliding-glass doors that open to a deck. The dining space flows into a windowed kitchen with marble counters, room for a breakfast table and an adjacent pantry space.

The bedrooms are also off the main hallway. Closest to the living area is a guest room with three windows and space for a queen-size bed. Across the hall is a bathroom with a stall shower and a single vanity.

At the end of the hall is the master suite, with a decorative fireplace and a bay of windows looking out at the Victorian houses across the street. A small adjoining room could be used as an office or a nursery. The en suite bathroom has a double vanity and a combination tub and shower.

Outdoor space: Off the main living area is a deck with space for a small table and chairs, and south-facing views of the San Francisco skyline.

Taxes: $19,459 (estimated)

Contact: Missy Wyant Smit, Compass, 415-203-7747; missysmit.com

The section of the Hollywood Hills surrounding Laurel Canyon is known for its privacy: Many of the homes are on twisty, dead-end streets, and driveways are so steep its easy to miss them. This house is on the outskirts of the Mount Olympus neighborhood, which is equally private, but within walking distance of the Sunset Strip. Central Hollywood is 10 minutes away by car, and downtown Los Angeles is a 30-minute drive.

Size: 1,324 square feet

Price per square foot: $1,171

Indoors: A steep driveway leads to the front yard, which is landscaped with succulents. Stairs paved in terra-cotta ascend to the front door, which opens to a small foyer. A wide, arched doorway divides the entry from the living room, which has dark wood floors and stucco walls.

The owner, who bought the house in 2018, updated it but retained much of its 1920s charm, including the centerpiece of the living room: a fireplace with a brick hearth and its original plaster ornamentation.

Two sets of French doors open to a street-facing balcony. Above, overlooking the living area, is the dining room, with its own small patio. Behind it is the kitchen, which was refreshed by the owner several years ago. White cabinets with white marble counters line the walls, and a laundry nook is tucked into one corner.

The hallway behind the living and dining rooms connects two of the bedrooms and one of the bathrooms. The master, which has two walk-in closets, looks out onto the street and has access to the rear patio. The second bedroom, currently used as a den, also has access to the patio. Between the bedrooms is a bathroom with a copper vanity and a glass-walled walk-in shower.

The third bedroom is down a hallway behind the kitchen. It has room for a queen-size bed, and access to a bathroom with a walk-in shower.

Outdoor space: Nearly every room in the house is connected to outdoor space. Off the living room is a front-facing patio with a Spanish-tile floor and a roof overhang for shade. Along the back of the house is a larger patio that could be used as an outdoor dining room. A third small patio, accessible through one of the bedrooms, has a terra-cotta fountain. The attached garage holds one car.

Mendocino, on the North Coast of California, was founded in the 1850s as a logging community. This house was built by a lumberman named Charles Cavanaugh, and sits next to Mendocino Presbyterian Church, built in 1868 and one of the oldest continuously operating Protestant churches in California. Today, the community attracts artists and weekenders, drawn by the ocean views and abundance of bed-and-breakfasts and cozy restaurants. The small-town seaside vibe of Mendocino was immortalized on the television series Murder, She Wrote, where it stood in for coastal Maine.

This property backs up to about 75 acres of parkland and is within walking distance of Big River Beach, where the Big River meets the Pacific Ocean. San Francisco is about a three-and-a-half-hour drive to the south.

Size: 1,700 square feet

Price per square foot: $938

Indoors: Turning onto the driveway from the street takes you past a garage and a cottage used as an art studio. A wooden footpath leads from the cottage to the main house.

The front door, inset with a marine-themed stained-glass window, opens into a living room with a fireplace, hardwood floors and white-painted ceiling beams and crown molding, as well as French doors that open to a deck. A half bathroom sits between the fireplace and a staircase to the upper level.

To the right of the living room is an open dining and kitchen area. Built-in storage forms a window seat along one wall, and a marble breakfast bar faces the kitchen, which has new stainless steel appliances and a farmhouse sink, as well as a separate bar area and wine refrigerator. A small hallway off the kitchen leads to the laundry room, a walk-in pantry and a door to the yard.

On the second level, at the top of the stair landing is a bathroom with a double-vanity topped in white marble and a separate shower and soaking tub. Just down from the bathroom are the two bedrooms. The master has a wall of windows looking out over the deck to the ocean in the distance; the second bedroom, has sloped ceilings and space for a full-size bed and a desk.

Outdoor space: Off the living room is a large deck with a hot tub, overlooking the beach. There are three additional structures on the property: a guest cottage with room for two beds; another cottage, closer to the street, that could be used as a home office or an art studio; and a detached garage with space for two cars.

Taxes: $17,688 (estimated)

Contact: Kira Meade, Mendo Sothebys Internationals Realty, 707-357-2194; movetomendocino.com

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$1.6 Million Homes in California - The New York Times