Stonestown, San Francisco: Homes, History & Local Life

When Stonestown opened on November 6, 1952, it was the fourth largest apartment and shopping center complex in the United States, built on former cabbage fields on the western shore of Lake Merced. The Stoneson brothers, Ellis and Henry, spent the late 1940s negotiating with The City and with their future neighbor, San Francisco State University, to secure 67 acres and build what the SF News called “a small city rapidly springing up west of 19th Avenue,” per the Western Neighborhoods Project’s Stonestown history. The residential streets around the mall still carry that postwar suburban DNA, which is exactly why some buyers seek them out and others overlook them entirely.

Is Stonestown right for you?

Stonestown, as an SFAR sub-district, covers the residential streets immediately surrounding the Stonestown Galleria, roughly bounded by Eucalyptus Drive to the north, 19th Avenue to the east, SFSU’s campus to the south, and Buckingham Way to the west. It is a neighborhood built for convenience: the mall, SFSU, Lake Merced, and Fort Funston are all within walking or cycling distance. The buyer profile skews toward families who want a quieter, more suburban-feeling pocket of The City with practical access to the west side’s parks and institutions, without committing to the smaller homes or fog-heavy outer blocks of the Sunset. SFSU proximity generates consistent rental demand for anyone buying a duplex or multi-unit property here.

How do you get around Stonestown?

The neighborhood is well-served by Muni. The M Ocean View light rail line has stops in the immediate area and connects to the SFMTA metro system, reaching downtown in approximately 25 to 35 minutes. The 28 19th Avenue bus runs along 19th Avenue. The 23 Monterey and 57 Parkmerced lines provide additional connections. There is no BART station in the neighborhood. The nearest are at Balboa Park (connecting via Muni) or Daly City (accessible via the 28 line).

Walk Score: 87. Transit Score: 68. Bike Score: 66. Source: walkscore.com, Stonestown.

For a two-career household, Stonestown works particularly well for transit-reliant downtown commuters via the M Ocean View, and for car commuters using 19th Avenue/I-280 to the Peninsula. The neighborhood is far enough west that Caltrain access requires either driving to 4th and King or connecting via Muni, which adds substantial time. Partners with opposite commute directions may find the tradeoffs manageable with one car in the household.

The history of Stonestown

The Stoneson Development Company broke ground on the project in 1949. The original complex included 28 smaller apartment buildings and four 10-story towers of 90 apartments each, plus an open-air shopping center designed by architect Welton Becket, who designed the Emporium department store and the overall center, per SF News reporting cited in the Western Neighborhoods Project. The first major tenant, the Emporium, opened July 16, 195. The official grand opening followed on November 6, 1952. Between 3,000 and 3,500 people lived in Stonestown from the start.

For decades, the mall anchored the west side of The City with a reliable department store, grocery, and community gathering function. By the early 1980s, it still looked much as it had in the 1950s. Architect John Field redesigned and reopened it as the Stonestown Galleria on October 28, 1987, adding a second level, a glass atrium, and marble floors that gave it the enclosed-mall feel it has today.

The current and most significant chapter in Stonestown’s history is now underway. In mid-2024, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve developer Brookfield Properties’ plan to convert approximately 27 to 30 acres of surface parking around the mall into a mixed-use neighborhood of up to 3,491 housing units, 20 percent of which will be affordable, per the SF Controller’s Economic Impact Report and The Voice of San Francisco. The $2 billion project, planned in six phases over approximately 25 years, will add a retail main street along 20th Avenue, 6 acres of parks and plazas, a senior village with 200 units, a childcare center, and connection improvements to transit. The mall itself remains open throughout. This is the largest SF housing proposal since the Parkmerced plan filed in 2011.

What does the housing look like in Stonestown?

Detached single-family homes on the residential streets of the Stonestown neighborhood, including Winston Drive, Buckingham Way, and the surrounding blocks, are mostly 1951 to 1955 postwar construction: stucco-clad, two-story homes with garages, moderate-sized lots, and the kind of functional layouts (three bedrooms, one and a half to two and a half baths) that have aged well. These homes are generally better maintained than they look from the street. Stonecrest Drive, immediately adjacent, has a large 4-bedroom home listed at $4.5M at the top end of the market, showing the range.

Attached homes and multi-unit buildings include the original Stonestown apartment towers and smaller apartment buildings from the 1952 development, which are rental units and not typically available for individual purchase. Some two-unit buildings exist on the edges of the district, and SFSU proximity generates ongoing rental activity.

Condominiums are limited in the existing neighborhood but the Brookfield redevelopment will add substantial condo and rental product over the next decade, substantially changing the character of the neighborhood around the mall perimeter.

Where locals eat, drink, and shop in Stonestown

The Stonestown Galleria at 3251 20th Avenue is the commercial anchor of the neighborhood and the largest indoor shopping center on the west side of The City. Following a major renovation, it has become a meaningful daily-life destination with a Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Target, a renovated food hall, an AMC theater, and a wide retail mix.

Outside the mall itself, Stonestown is residential, with Lake Merced Park immediately west and SF State University immediately south. The Lakeshore Plaza Shopping Center at Sloat and 19th provides additional grocery and family-retail options a short drive south. Most weekly errands anchor at the mall.

Stonestown Pros:

• Walk Score of 97 at the Galleria reflects exceptional day-to-day convenience for residents: Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Target, medical offices, and a Farmers Market all within the mall complex
• M Ocean View light rail makes downtown accessible without a car in roughly 25 to 35 minutes
• Adjacent to Lake Merced, Fort Funston, and the Olympic Club, with San Francisco State University walking distance away
• Postwar single-family homes on Winston Drive and surrounding streets offer solid square footage and garage parking at west-side prices
• The Brookfield redevelopment represents significant long-term upside for neighborhood density, walkability, and retail variety as phases are completed

Stonestown Cons:

• Housing inventory is extremely thin, with very few single-family homes trading in any given yea. Buyers may wait months to find the right property
• The Brookfield redevelopment, while positive long term, means years of construction activity adjacent to the residential street. Noise and disruption are a real near-term trade-off
• BART access requires Muni transfers. Caltrain commuters face a longer door-to-door time than in neighborhoods closer to 4th and King
• The neighborhood’s identity is tightly bound to the mall comple. It lacks the independent street-level commercial and restaurant scene of more established SF neighborhoods
• Fog is a consistent feature of this part of The City, particularly in the morning hours from June through September

What’s the Stonestown market doing?

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Stonestown is one of the few SF neighborhoods where the next five to ten years are likely to look different from the last five, because of the Brookfield project. If you are buying here now, you are buying into a neighborhood on the verge of a significant change in density and amenity. I have sold on the west side for over two decades and can give you a clear-eyed read on what that means for any specific property. Reach out when you are ready.

Stonestown frequently asked questions

What is Stonestown like to live in?

Stonestown, as an SFAR sub-district, covers the residential streets immediately surrounding the Stonestown Galleria, roughly bounded by Eucalyptus Drive to the north, 19th Avenue to the east, SFSU’s campus to the south, and Buckingham Way to the west. It is a neighborhood built for convenience: the mall, SFSU, Lake Merced, and Fort Funston are all within walking or cycling distance.

Who is Stonestown right for?

The buyer profile skews toward families who want a quieter, more suburban-feeling pocket of The City with practical access to the west side’s parks and institutions, without committing to the smaller homes or fog-heavy outer blocks of the Sunset. SFSU proximity generates consistent rental demand for anyone buying a duplex or multi-unit property here.

How do you get around Stonestown without a car?

Stonestown has a Walk Score of 87, Transit Score of 68, and Bike Score of 66. The neighborhood is well-served by Muni. The M Ocean View light rail line has stops in the immediate area and connects to the SFMTA metro system, reaching downtown in approximately 25 to 35 minutes.

What kind of homes are in Stonestown?

Detached single-family homes on the residential streets of the Stonestown neighborhood, including Winston Drive, Buckingham Way, and the surrounding blocks, are mostly 1951 to 1955 postwar construction: stucco-clad, two-story homes with garages, moderate-sized lots, and the kind of functional layouts (three bedrooms, one and a half to two and a half baths) that have aged well. These homes are generally better maintained than they look from the street.

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

The Stoneson Development Company broke ground on the project in 1949. The original complex included 28 smaller apartment buildings and four 10-story towers of 90 apartments each, plus an open-air shopping center designed by architect Welton Becket, who designed the Emporium department store and the overall center, per SF News reporting cited in the Western Neighborhoods Project (https://www.outsidelands.org/stonestown.php).