Lakeside, San Francisco: Homes, History & Local Life

The October 1936 issue of California Homes magazine introduced Lakeside to potential buyers as a neighborhood “for the man of means.” The Stoneson brothers, Ellis and Henry, described it as “close to your executive offices both in the matter of distance and the matter of time due to the Twin Peaks Tunne. Close to your favorite golf course and bridge club.” They were not underselling it. They buried all utilities underground and installed signature white picket fences throughout, then called it the “Aristocrat of Home Developments,” per the Western Neighborhoods Project’s Lakeside District history. It sold homes for $9,000 to $15,000, expensive for a country still recovering from the Depression and on the eve of World War II. Henry Stoneson built his own $60,000 mansion at 100 Stonecrest Drive in 1941, which sold in 2025 for $4 million. The pitch has held up.

Is Lakeside right for you?

Lakeside is one of the least-known good neighborhoods in San Francisco. It sits between St. Francis Wood to the east, Pine Lake Park to the west, Ocean Avenue to the north, and Sloat Boulevard to the south, a quiet residential enclave with single-family homes, driveways, and garages on streets where underground utilities mean no power poles interrupt the rooflines. The buyer profile skews toward families who want space, quiet, and good schools without going to Marin. SFSU and City College are nearby, so there is consistent rental demand for anything income-producing, but the neighborhood itself is almost entirely owner-occupied single-family.

How do you get around Lakeside?

The K Ingleside and KT Ingleside-Third Muni Metro lines run along Ocean Avenue, connecting Lakeside to West Portal, the Balboa Park BART Station, and downtown. The M Ocean View provides another downtown connection. Bus lines including the 29 Sunset and 23 Monterey provide additional coverage. There is no BART station directly in Lakesid. The nearest is Balboa Park, reachable via the K/KT line in about 10 minutes.

Walk Score: 87. Transit Score: 68. Bike Score: 66. Source: walkscore.com, Stonestown (the closest walkscore.com analog for the Lakeside residential blocks).

For a two-career household, Lakeside is particularly practical for Peninsula commuters: 19th Avenue to I-280 is one of the better car-based connections from the west side of SF to Caltrain or South Bay jobs. Downtown Muni commuters have the K/KT line to Balboa Park BART or West Portal. The neighborhood is quiet enough that it rewards the lifestyle trade-off if you have a car and need south-county access.

The history of Lakeside

The land that became Lakeside was open land southwest of the Twin Peaks ridge, part of the former Rancho San Miguel territory. Development had been slow to arrive there because transit was sparse. When the Stoneson brothers identified the site in the mid-1930s, the Twin Peaks Tunnel had already been running for two decades, making downtown commutes viable, and they had already built Stonestown next door. Architect Harold G. Stoner designed many of the early homes, and the Stonesons created a complete planned community with a commercial strip called Lakeside Village at 2501 Ocean Avenue, where Bowerman’s Drugs anchored a “rocket-ship colonial” building that still stands, though now occupied by medical offices, per the Western Neighborhoods Project.

Construction ran from 1936 to 1950, and the neighborhood filled in steadily through the late 1940s as the adjacent San Francisco State Teachers College (now SFSU) was established on the land immediately to the west. The Stonesons, recognizing the university’s draw, began advertising their newest Lakeside subdivisions as “College City.” Villa d’Este, the Italian neighborhood restaurant at 2623 Ocean Avenue that opened in 1978 under Ramon Oropeza Sr., became one of the neighborhood’s most cherished institutions for 44 years before closing in June 2022 when Oropeza retired, per SFGATE. It was, in the Western Neighborhoods Project’s description, operating “as a neighborhood dinner house just as long” as the original commercial tenants.

What does the housing look like in Lakeside?

Detached single-family homes are the defining type of Lakeside, and they are what buyers come for. Architect Harold G. Stoner designed many of the early homes in Spanish Revival, Tudor Revival, and Art Deco styles, with stucco facades, red-tile elements, arched entryways, and the underground utilities that give the streets their unusually uncluttered appearance. Homes typically run 1,800 to 2,800 square feet on standard to generous lots with front yards, rear gardens, and attached or detached garages. The signature white picket fences that the Stonesons installed as part of the development’s brand remain a consistent visual feature on many blocks. Current pricing runs from approximately $1.5M for a well-maintained 3-bedroom to $2.5M and above for larger homes.

Multi-unit and attached properties are rare in the Lakeside residential core. Ocean Avenue and its commercial strip contain a small number of mixed-use buildings, but the neighborhood proper is single-family. The 94132 zip code includes Lakeside, Lakeshore, and Stonestown, giving some zip-code-level data additional context but also adding nois. Buyers should focus on street-level comps rather than zip-level averages.

Where locals eat, drink, and shop in Lakeside

Lakeside Village along Ocean Avenue at 19th provides the closest small commercial cluster to the neighborhood, with a few longtime restaurants, a coffee shop, and small specialty retail. For the broader weekly rhythm, residents draw on Stonestown Galleria a short drive west (Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Target, food hall), the Ocean Avenue corridor between Phelan and Frida Kahlo Way (Cantonese, Lao, Italian, retro burgers), and the West Portal Avenue strip a short drive north.

TPC Harding Park and Lake Merced Park form the neighborhood’s western boundary and are the defining open-space anchors. Most Lakeside households build their week around the Stonestown-Ocean Avenue-Harding Park triangle.

Lakeside Pros:

• Among the most architecturally coherent planned neighborhoods in SF: 1930s and 1940s single-family homes with underground utilities, consistent setbacks, and signature landscaping
• One of SF’s safest and most family-oriented neighborhoods, consistently low crime, strong school options including Lowell High School within reach
• 19th Avenue/I-280 access makes it one of the better SF neighborhoods for Peninsula car commuters
• K Ingleside light rail on Ocean Avenue connects to Balboa Park BART and downtown without a car
• Lakeside Village at Stonestown Galleria, Lake Merced, Stern Grove, Fort Funston, and the SF Zoo are all within minutes

Lakeside Cons:

• Walk Score of 78 reflects the neighborhood’s suburban character. Ocean Avenue has a commercial strip but it is not the kind of walkable density that lets you run daily errands entirely on foot
• The dining scene within Lakeside itself is limited. Villa d’Este’s 2022 closure left a real gap, and the corridor is still rebuilding its restaurant identity
• No BART directly in the neighborhoo. The K/KT ride to Balboa Park adds transit time for anyone needing BART connections
• The neighborhood’s quiet, suburban character is its selling point and its limitatio. Buyers who want urban edge will be disappointed

What’s the Lakeside market doing?

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Lakeside is a neighborhood where street and block matter more than zip-level averages. A home on Stonecrest Drive is not the same market as a home on Lakeshore Drive, and understanding which blocks are priced appropriately requires knowing the history of each. I have sold on the west side for over two decades. Reach out when you are ready.

Lakeside frequently asked questions

What is Lakeside like to live in?

Lakeside is one of the least-known good neighborhoods in San Francisco. It sits between St. Francis Wood to the east, Pine Lake Park to the west, Ocean Avenue to the north, and Sloat Boulevard to the south, a quiet residential enclave with single-family homes, driveways, and garages on streets where underground utilities mean no power poles interrupt the rooflines.

Who is Lakeside right for?

Francis Wood to the east, Pine Lake Park to the west, Ocean Avenue to the north, and Sloat Boulevard to the south, a quiet residential enclave with single-family homes, driveways, and garages on streets where underground utilities mean no power poles interrupt the rooflines. The buyer profile skews toward families who want space, quiet, and good schools without going to Marin. SFSU and City College are nearby, so there is consistent rental demand for anything income-producing, but the neighborhood itself is almost entirely owner-occupied single-family.

How do you get around Lakeside without a car?

Lakeside has a Walk Score of 87, Transit Score of 68, and Bike Score of 66. The K Ingleside and KT Ingleside-Third Muni Metro lines run along Ocean Avenue, connecting Lakeside to West Portal, the Balboa Park BART Station, and downtown. The M Ocean View provides another downtown connection.

What kind of homes are in Lakeside?

Detached single-family homes are the defining type of Lakeside, and they are what buyers come for. Architect Harold G. Stoner designed many of the early homes in Spanish Revival, Tudor Revival, and Art Deco styles, with stucco facades, red-tile elements, arched entryways, and the underground utilities that give the streets their unusually uncluttered appearance.

What’s one thing people don’t know about Lakeside?

The land that became Lakeside was open land southwest of the Twin Peaks ridge, part of the former Rancho San Miguel territory. Development had been slow to arrive there because transit was sparse.