Merced Manor, San Francisco: Homes, History & Local Life

Merced Manor’s developers in the 1930s called it “The White City,” a reference to the stucco-finished, uniformly painted homes they were building on what had been, until a few years earlier, a combination of sand dunes and working ranches on the western edge of San Francisco. The houses they built there, commissioned from contractors including Fernando Nelson, George James Elkington, and Arthur Jacob Herzig, are two-story detached “manors” with rear garages accessed by shared alleyways, a distinctive suburban configuration that was quite rare in The City and remains a defining feature of the neighborhood, per Wikipedia’s Merced Manor history. The white stucco is still there on most blocks.

Is Merced Manor right for you?

Merced Manor is a small, quiet, upscale residential neighborhood on the west side, between Stern Grove to the north and Lake Merced to the south. The buyer profile is families and professionals who want a large, detached, well-maintained 1930s-1940s home with a rear garage, minimal street noise, and proximity to Lowell High School, one of the most academically competitive public high schools in California. NeighborhoodScout places the median at approximately $2,195,000, higher than 92.5 percent of California neighborhoods and 98.6 percent of all US neighborhoods.

How do you get around Merced Manor?

The M Ocean View Muni Metro line travels along 19th Avenue with a stop at Stonestown Mall, then heads northeast through the West Portal tunnel to Civic Center, Union Square, and the Financial District in about 30 minutes, per the StreetAdvisor community guide. The 23 Monterey bus runs east/west along Sloat Boulevard. The 28 19th Avenue runs north/south along 19th Avenue. There is no BART station in the neighborhoo. The nearest is Daly City BART, reachable via the 28 bus. I-280 is accessible via 19th Avenue/Junipero Serra, making Peninsula car commuting practical.

Walk Score: 79. Transit Score: 64. Bike Score: 74. Source: walkscore.com, Merced Manor.

For a two-career household, Merced Manor works well for anyone using the M Ocean View to the Financial District (roughly 30 minutes) and for I-280/19th Avenue Peninsula car commuters. Transit commuting to BART requires connections that add time. This neighborhood rewards car ownershi. Most homes include garages.

The history of Merced Manor

The land that became Merced Manor was part of the Rancho Laguna de la Merced, a one-half-square-league territory granted in 1835 to José Antonio Galindo, whose subsequent sale to Francisco de Haro preceded decades of legal disputes involving San Francisco’s Gold Rush-era land rush, per Wikipedia. The Greene family farmed the land from the 1840s onward, planting Australian eucalyptus around the property in 1873. Their ranch became the precursor to Stern Grove.

By the 1920s, the area was leased to farmers. In the early 1930s, developer-contractors began buying lots and building the “manor” homes that define the neighborhood today. Arthur Jacob Herzig started on 21st Avenue around 1932, building two-story redwood-framed stucco homes starting from $6,750. He offered buyers choices between named designs: “The Devonshire” (Tudor revival with a jutting bay window) and “The Priscilla” (storybook style with an arched inset window and front-door turret). The firm Fernando Nelson and Son, which built prolifically across San Francisco from the 1890s through the 1930s, built many of the houses on Merced Manor in the mid-1930s, per the Western Neighborhoods Project’s Fernando Nelson profile. Fernando Nelson died in 1953 at 93, and the business closed shortly after.

The Merced Manor Reservoir on Sloat between 22nd and 23rd Avenues was built in 1936 to hold 9.5 million gallons of Hetch Hetchy water, per SFGATE. Its pump house is built in a decorative temple-like Art Deco style, out of all proportion to its utilitarian function.

What does the housing look like in Merced Manor?

Detached single-family homes are the only significant housing type in Merced Manor. These are two-story stucco homes built from the early 1930s to early 1940s, primarily in Spanish Revival, Mediterranean, Tudor Revival, and storybook styles by Herzig, the Nelsons, and Elkington. Unlike most Sunset District homes, Merced Manor houses are detached from one another with alleyways between them, and garages are accessed from a shared rear alley rather than from the front street. This gives the neighborhood’s residential blocks a distinctive open character. Main entrances are typically on the second story. Homes generally range from 1,400 to 2,500 square feet on moderately sized lots with front yards.

Transaction volume is thin enough that a single sale can significantly move the median.

Where locals eat, drink, and shop in Merced Manor

Merced Manor has limited commercial amenity within the neighborhood itself. The neighborhood is residential, with daily life running primarily to Stonestown Galleria a short drive west, the Ocean Avenue corridor a short drive east (Cantonese, Lao, retro burgers, Italian, Whole Foods), and the West Portal Avenue strip a short drive north.

The nearest cluster within walking distance is on West Portal Avenue and around the Junipero Serra Boulevard intersections, with a few small Indian, sandwich, and casual dining spots. Most Merced Manor households build their week between Stonestown and Ocean Avenue for groceries and family-restaurant pickup, with West Portal serving the broader strip-dining options.

Merced Manor Pros:

• Distinctive 1930s-1940s detached manor homes with rear-alley garages: rare street configuration giving each home more privacy and light than typical attached SF housing
• Lowell High School, one of the most academically competitive public high schools in the state, is immediately adjacent on Eucalyptus Drive
• Quiet, low-traffic residential streets with tree cover and the open character created by the alley-garage design
• M Ocean View to the Financial District in roughly 30 minutes, and I-280 access for Peninsula car commuters
• Proximity to Stern Grove, Lake Merced, Fort Funston, the SF Zoo, TPC Harding Park, and the Olympic Club

Merced Manor Cons:

• Transaction volume is very thi. Median prices swing dramatically between years based on a small number of sales, making it difficult to track value trends precisely
• No BART access without multiple connections. Daly City BART via the 28 bus is the closest option
• Commercial and restaurant amenity within the neighborhood is minima. Most dining and grocery requires a drive or transit to Stonestown, Ocean Avenue, or West Portal
• The neighborhood’s insularity, the selling point for many buyers, means limited walkable amenity and a character that feels suburban rather than urban
• Walk Score varies significantly by bloc. The western reaches near 26th Avenue are considerably less walkable than the eastern edge near Stonestown

What’s the Merced Manor market doing?

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Merced Manor’s market moves in blocks: the specific alley configuration, lot width, and block position matter more than citywide averages. I have worked the west side for over two decades and can tell you which streets tend to trade above their square footage and which ones do not. Reach out when you are ready.

Merced Manor frequently asked questions

What is Merced Manor like to live in?

Merced Manor is a small, quiet, upscale residential neighborhood on the west side, between Stern Grove to the north and Lake Merced to the south. The buyer profile is families and professionals who want a large, detached, well-maintained 1930s-1940s home with a rear garage, minimal street noise, and proximity to Lowell High School, one of the most academically competitive public high schools in California.

Who is Merced Manor right for?

NeighborhoodScout places the median at approximately $2,195,000, higher than 92.5 percent of California neighborhoods and 98.6 percent of all US neighborhoods.

How do you get around Merced Manor without a car?

Merced Manor has a Walk Score of 79, Transit Score of 64, and Bike Score of 74. The M Ocean View Muni Metro line travels along 19th Avenue with a stop at Stonestown Mall, then heads northeast through the West Portal tunnel to Civic Center, Union Square, and the Financial District in about 30 minutes, per the StreetAdvisor community guide (https://www.streetadvisor.

What kind of homes are in Merced Manor?

Detached single-family homes are the only significant housing type in Merced Manor. These are two-story stucco homes built from the early 1930s to early 1940s, primarily in Spanish Revival, Mediterranean, Tudor Revival, and storybook styles by Herzig, the Nelsons, and Elkington. Unlike most Sunset District homes, Merced Manor houses are detached from one another with alleyways between them, and garages are accessed from a shared rear alley rather than from the front street.

What’s one thing people don’t know about Merced Manor?

The land that became Merced Manor was part of the Rancho Laguna de la Merced, a one-half-square-league territory granted in 1835 to José Antonio Galindo, whose subsequent sale to Francisco de Haro preceded decades of legal disputes involving San Francisco’s Gold Rush-era land rush, per Wikipedia. The Greene family farmed the land from the 1840s onward, planting Australian eucalyptus around the property in 1873.