Discover Forest Hill, San Francisco: Homes, History & Local Life
Forest Hill’s heart is the Bernard Maybeck clubhouse at 270 Castenada Avenue, built in 1919 as a gathering place for the newly established neighborhood. Maybeck, who ranked ninth in a top-ten AIA poll of the greatest American architects, designed the clubhouse in the Arts and Crafts style he applied most famously to the Palace of Fine Arts: a Great Room with a soaring wood-beamed ceiling, original mica lamp shades, a brick-surrounded gas fireplace, and handcrafted details that have been maintained through more than a century of community use, per the . Willie Mays lived at 54 Mendosa Avenue, hosted block parties for neighborhood children, and threw autographed baseballs out the window to kids who yelled “Say Hey!” from the street, per the Forest Hill Association history. That combination of architectural seriousness and human warmth is a reasonable summary of what Forest Hill is.
Is Forest Hill right for you?
Forest Hill is one of San Francisco’s eight master-planned residence parks, situated between the Inner Sunset to the north and West Portal to the east, with the Forest Hill Muni Metro station underground at the base of the neighborhood’s slope. Boundaries roughly follow Seventh Avenue/Laguna Honda Boulevard to the north and east, Taraval Street to the south, and 14th Avenue to the west, per Wikipedia. There are no multi-unit buildings or condominiums in Forest Hill by desig. Every structure is a single-family home.
How do you get around Forest Hill?
The Forest Hill Muni Metro station serves the J Church, K Ingleside, L Taraval, M Ocean View, and N Judah lines, putting downtown SF about 15 to 20 minutes away by light rail. The station was originally built in 1916 to 1918 as part of the Twin Peaks Tunnel and is the oldest subway station west of Philadelphia and east of Istanbul. West Portal Avenue, with additional Muni connections, is a short walk away. I-280 access via Laguna Honda/De Wolf is practical for Peninsula car commuters.
Walk Score: 68. Transit Score: 72. Bike Score: 53. Source: walkscore.com, Forest Hill.
The Walk Score of 57 reflects the neighborhood’s hillside residential characte. Most daily errands require driving or taking the Muni to West Portal or the Sunset.
For a two-career household, Forest Hill is outstanding for anyone who commutes downtown via the Muni Metro (direct from the Forest Hill station, no transfer) and practical for I-280 Peninsula car commuters.
The history of Forest Hill
The Newell-Murdoch Company purchased the land from the heirs of Adolph Sutro and filed subdivision maps in 1912-1913, per the Western Neighborhoods Project’s Forest Hill history. Landscape architect Mark R. Daniels designed a formal entrance with a grand staircase on Dewey Boulevard, framed by ornamental balustrades, urns, and embellishments from Sarsi studios. The developers donated 21 building lots to the City of San Francisco in October 1912 to facilitate construction of what would become the Forest Hill/Laguna Honda Muni station, betting that the Twin Peaks Tunnel would bring commuters to the door.
The first house was completed in February 1914. World War I slowed construction, and by 1918 only about 60 homes had been built. Bernard Maybeck built the Forest Hill Clubhouse in 1919. The majority of today’s Forest Hill homes were built and sold in the 1920s and 1930s by the Lang Realty Company, the same firm that developed Balboa Terrace.
Forest Hill integrated in the 1960s, as prominent African Americans including Willie Mays and City Supervisor Terry Francois, who had served as the local NAACP head, made their homes in the community, per the Western Neighborhoods Project. Today it has a significant Asian population.
The Forest Hill Muni station underwent a $6 million renovation in 1985, upgrading it to match newer stations while preserving its historic architecture.
What does the housing look like in Forest Hill?
Detached single-family homes are the only housing type by deed restriction and design, ranging in size from approximately 1,800 to 4,000 square feet on lots of 3,000 to 6,000 square feet. The architectural range in Forest Hill is unusually wide: alongside standard Spanish Colonial and Mediterranean stucco homes are significant Arts and Crafts, Tudor, Prairie Style, and custom architect-designed houses. Maybeck’s homes in the tract are notabl. A Prairie Style 1916 house at 35 Lopez Avenue was named one of the most architecturally significant homes in SF, per the .
Where locals eat, drink, and shop in Forest Hill
Forest Hill has no commercial district within its boundaries. The West Portal Avenue corridor is a short walk or drive south and is the daily-use commercial anchor for the neighborhood.
West Portal holds a four-block strip running between Ulloa and Vicente with neighborhood Irish bars, Italian wine bars, Thai kitchens, bakeries, a long-running independent bookstore, and the kind of family-restaurant rhythm that supports the surrounding hill blocks. Gold Mirror Italian Restaurant (1969) is the closest historic anchor. The Forest Hill Clubhouse at 381 Magellan is the neighborhood’s quiet historic landmark, a 1919 Bernard Maybeck building that hosts community events and weddings.
Forest Hill Pros:
- Forest Hill Muni Metro station at the base of the neighborhood provides the most direct light rail connection to downtown of any SF residential enclave, about 15 to 20 minutes with no transfer
- One of only eight master-planned residence parks in San Francisco, with no condos or multi-unit buildings by design, maintained by an active association
- The Bernard Maybeck clubhouse is one of the finest Arts and Crafts buildings in Northern California, and the community that uses it actively is genuine
- The architectural diversity of Forest Hill exceeds most residence parks, with Arts and Crafts, Prairie Style, and custom architect-designed homes alongside standard Spanish Colonial stock
- Low traffic by desig. Limited entry points from arterials reduce through-traffic significantly
Forest Hill Cons:
- Walk Score of 57 is the most constrained of the West of Twin Peaks residence park. Reaching daily commercial needs requires the Muni or a car
- The neighborhood’s steep hillside terrain makes walking between levels demanding, and on-street parking is limited
- No commercial amenity within the neighborhoo. All errands require leaving
- Premium pricing for a neighborhood where the primary amenity is the Muni station, the Maybeck clubhouse, and the architectural inventory
What’s the Forest Hill market doing?
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Forest Hill’s market is one of the most opaque in The City because sales are so infrequent. Buyers need to understand individual building history, condition, and position within the neighborhood rather than relying on any aggregate metric. I have sold on the west side for over two decades. Reach out when you are ready.
Forest Hill frequently asked questions
What is Forest Hill like to live in?
Forest Hill is one of San Francisco’s eight master-planned residence parks, situated between the Inner Sunset to the north and West Portal to the east, with the Forest Hill Muni Metro station underground at the base of the neighborhood’s slope. Boundaries roughly follow Seventh Avenue/Laguna Honda Boulevard to the north and east, Taraval Street to the south, and 14th Avenue to the west, per Wikipedia.
Who is Forest Hill right for?
There are no multi-unit buildings or condominiums in Forest Hill by desig. Every structure is a single-family home.
How do you get around Forest Hill without a car?
Forest Hill has a Walk Score of 68, Transit Score of 72, and Bike Score of 53. The Forest Hill Muni Metro station serves the J Church, K Ingleside, L Taraval, M Ocean View, and N Judah lines, putting downtown SF about 15 to 20 minutes away by light rail. The station was originally built in 1916 to 1918 as part of the Twin Peaks Tunnel and is the oldest subway station west of Philadelphia and east of Istanbul (https://en.wikipedia.
What kind of homes are in Forest Hill?
Detached single-family homes are the only housing type by deed restriction and design, ranging in size from approximately 1,800 to 4,000 square feet on lots of 3,000 to 6,000 square feet. The architectural range in Forest Hill is unusually wide: alongside standard Spanish Colonial and Mediterranean stucco homes are significant Arts and Crafts, Tudor, Prairie Style, and custom architect-designed houses. Maybeck’s homes in the tract are notabl.
What’s one thing people don’t know about Forest Hill?
The Newell-Murdoch Company purchased the land from the heirs of Adolph Sutro and filed subdivision maps in 1912-1913, per the Western Neighborhoods Project’s Forest Hill history. Landscape architect Mark R.
