Inside one of San Francisco's iconic Painted Ladies homes that's a 'fixer-upper' and on sale for $2.75 million

Katie Canales

Jan 10, 2020, 23:03 IST

Inside one of San Francisco's iconic Painted Ladies homes that's a 'fixer-upper' and on sale for $2.75 million

Katie Canales/Business Insider/Courtesy of Joshua Rushton of Coldwell Banker

The Painted Ladies home at 714 Steiner Street, the house with pink-red trim in the middle, needs some serious TLC.

One of San Francisco's iconic brightly-colored Painted Ladies Victorian houses is for sale for $2.75 million.
The home at 714 Steiner Street is outfitted with the beloved architecture associated with the city, but the property's listing agent told Business Insider that it's a "fixer-upper." A full interior restoration is needed.
The row of Painted Ladies homes has become one of the city's most popular tourist attractions, thanks in part to its appearance on the sitcom "Full House" that first aired in the late 1980s.
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There are seven homes comprising San Francisco's iconic Painted Ladies row, and one of them is for sale for $2.75 million.

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The home at 714 Steiner Street has all of the elements of that quintessential San Francisco charm: the pointed roofs, the crown molding, the ornate detailing, the opulent colors. But the century-old house is also badly in need of a complete interior renovation.

The home's listing agent, Jeremy Rushton with Coldwell Banker, told Business Insider that the property is a "fixer-upper."

Photos show peeling paint, dusty windows, grimy walls, and discolored tile flooring. The famous abode will likely need to have updates to its plumbing and electrical systems and full remodeling of its kitchen and bathrooms, Rushton said. The ownership history of the home is complicated, according to Rushton, and this is the first time it's landed on the market in decades.

The row of Painted Ladies along Alamo Square Park has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city. Their namesake originated in a 1978 book about the city's signature architecture, and the site was popularized in part by its appearance in the sitcom "Full House."

Painted Ladies homes on the market are a bit of a rarity - only two were listed in the past ten years, Rushton said. In a city with a housing crunch, and with its status as an unofficial San Francisco landmark, it will likely find a buyer despite its needed renovations, even if it's used as a second home, a trend among some deep-pocketed San Francisco homebuyers.

Take a look inside one of the famous, brightly-colored Painted Ladies homes.

The home at 714 Steiner was built in the late 1800s. This is the first time that the home, painted in a deep yellow with pink-red trim, has been listed on the market in decades.

When people think of San Francisco architecture, this is what comes to mind. The ornate detailing, the colorful facades, and the pointed roofs are all indicative of that quintessential Victorian charm.

The satisfyingly staggered row of seven homes has many names. The Painted Ladies may be the most well-known moniker, named after a 1978 book about the city's many Victorian and Edwardian-style homes.

It's also been called Postcard Row — the septuplet of houses show up on city postcards and other paraphernalia in almost any gift shop you stumble into. Another name used for the homes is Seven Sisters, the oldest of which is the blue home to the far left on the corner.

The homes sprung into the global consciousness in part through their appearance in the sitcom "Full House," which first aired in the late 1980s.

Since then, the homes have become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city, right up there with the Golden Gate Bridge and the Transamerica Pyramid Building.

That tourist attraction is something the future owners of the home at 714 Steiner are going to have to keep in mind.

It's fairly rare for one of the seven Painted Ladies to land on the market — two were listed in the 2010s, including one in 2014 that sold for $3.1 million.

And Rushton said despite its famous status, it's definitely a fixer-upper.

It needs a full restoration, including the replacement of plumbing and electrical wiring.

It also needs a full remodeling of the kitchen and bathrooms.

A fixer-upper selling for $2.75 million may sound unreasonable to some, but keep in mind that the San Francisco real estate market is not typical.

There's a high demand for housing within a city with limited stock, making it more competitive to buy a home and driving prices up as a result.

The demand for housing is so high that homes dubbed as fixer-uppers land on the market all the time with multimillion-dollar price tags.

Tack on the fact that this fixer-upper, in particular, is one of the most iconic historic homes in the city and the property likely won't sit idly on the market for long.

There are technically two units in the home. It used to be a single-family home before becoming two separate units in the 1960s, Rushton said.

Photos show two different kitchens and multiple rooms that could be used as bedrooms in the house.

There are also photos of at least two full bathrooms, both of which need quite a lot of work.

One of the bathrooms is outfitted with panels of mirrors and delicate towel rings bedecked in gold-colored mermaid figurines.

Throughout the rest of the house, photos show paint peeling, dusty windows, discolored tiles, and grimy walls and window frames.

But two trios of those beautiful big bay windows facing the park are there. There's an alcove of windows on the second story ...

... and one on the first story.

There's also the crown molding, the antique fireplaces ...

... and the uniquely pentagonal shaped rooms. This is the top-floor space.

The room's occupants would get that sweeping view of the park.

And downtown San Francisco can be seen from the backyard patio.

Rushton said he wouldn't be surprised if the home sells for more than its asking price of $2.75 million.

The selection of real estate in San Francisco is tight, and buyers with the means to purchase property often pay above the listing price, and in cash.

He said the buyer will likely be someone who stumbles across an opportunity to own an iconic piece of San Francisco history.

Another thing that Rushton said wouldn't surprise him would be if the future owners make this house their secondary home.

It's a common trend among some deep-pocketed Bay Area homeowners that use the city's properties as their pied-à-terre.

Facades in San Francisco are highly regulated, so Rushton said any work that the future owners wish to do on the exterior would likely be limited.

He said that as far as he's aware, they would be able to update the paint job with any color they want. If that's the case, fingers crossed they opt for a bright shade that matches its neighbors.

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