Postcard perfect pads-n-palaces perched atop a hill. Gaze over Cole Valley to the Pacific. Or ramble through Buena Vista Park with your pooch. You’re on top of your game and on top of your hill.
Buena Vista Heights is a relatively small area of San Francisco, encompassing several square blocks above Haight street surrounding the eastern, southern, and western sides of Buena Vista Park. Below Buena Vista Park lies the Haight-Ashbury.
The Buena Vista Park neighborhood shares an MLS sub-district with the geographically small Ashbury Heights. Buena Vista Heights is on the more eastern side of the hill facing Buena Vista Park, while homes in Ashbury Heights are on the more westward-facing side of the hill with a view to Parnasuss Heights over Cole Valley.
Buena Vista Heights Neighborhood Vibe
Classic and quiet. You don’t move here to be seen. You move here to observe. It’s a neighborhood at the top of the hill, with Buena Vista Park on the east side and Cole Valley to the west. If you love hills, you’ll find it’s walkable to Cole Valley and the Haight Ashbury.
Popular Buena Vista Heights Home Styles
Classic Grand Edwardians and Victorians that are fully detached mingle with duplexes, modern takes on classic homes, and a few scattered apartment buildings. Some of central San Francisco’s largest and most distinguished homes, particularly those that front Buena Vista Park on the east side of the neighborhood, can be found in Ashbury and Buena Vista Heights.
Getting Around in Buena Vista Heights
Bring your calf muscles, a bicycle, or a car. There is limited bus service through the neighborhood, but the neighborhood was developed at a time when the original owners would never have wanted “public” transit running through their neighborhood.
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Median sales price is calculated based on sold data and doesn’t account for seller concessions. Median price represents the point at which half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less. In smaller neighborhoods like many of those found in San Francisco, this metric is less likely to be influenced by extremely high or low sales prices that don’t represent the typical neighborhood home.
Days on Market indicates how quickly or slowly homes are selling in the neighborhood. The lower the days on market (DOM), the stronger the market is for sellers, all other things being equal.
The number of homes available for sale in active status at the end of a given month. Fewer homes available for sale may indicate a seasonal trend or market dynamics that favor a seller more than a buyer.
In strong or balanced markets, homes in San Francisco typically sell over asking. In a buyer’s market, homes will sell at list price or slightly under. If a home has had price reductions, the calculation is based on the last listed price.
Price per square foot is most useful when the homes are almost identical in size, age, layout and other factors important to buyers. Our experience suggests it is a more valuable metric in larger condo buildings and less valuable for homes in neighborhoods built with a diverse selection of styles, sizes, and ages.
The neighborhood with steep hills and picturesque streets around Buena Vista Park is called (fittingly) Buena Vista Heights. The northern edge of the neighborhood borders the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. Corona Heights is to the south, Duboce Triangle is to the east, and Cole Valley is to the west. On an SFAR (San Francisco Association of Realtors) MLS (add internal link) map, Buena Vista Heights is identified as neighborhood 5F.
Named for its spectacular views, Buena Vista Park features unexpected relics of history: tombstones. Because this is San Francisco, you’ll encounter headstone fragments integrated into some of the pathway gutters. These stones are what remain after the city moved nearly all o f its cemeteries to Colma in the first half of the 20th Century. The city moved the tombstones and mausoleums of the city’s rich and famous, but not every deceased person’s relatives could afford to pay for the relocation. The remaining headstones were sent to the rubble pile, eventually becoming building materials for the growing city. As you hike the trails of the oldest park in the city, you can still see them used in rain gutters today.
Across the street from the southern edge of the park is 355 Buena Vista East, an architecturally notable building that briefly appears in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. The building, now converted to condominiums, was built in 1928 as St. Joseph’s Hospital and is on the National Register of Historic Places. 611 Buena Vista West, on the west side of the park, was a noteworthy example of the modern architecture work of Cass Calder Smith, though it was significantly modified in 2015.
Buena Vista Park features an extensive network of both paved pathways and dirt trails, connected by the occasional stairway to help hikers reach the top of its steep terrain (where the best views await). Visitors should be mindful of the park’s resident coyotes, particularly when walking their dogs.
At the park’s central peak, you’ll discover a tranquil, grassy lawn where city dwellers frequently engage in yoga, picnics, or guitar strumming. Scattered throughout the park, lookout points and benches offer perfect vantage points to savor the captivating views, including of downtown San Francisco, the San Francisco Bay, and the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. Active locals make good use of the park’s two public tennis courts, and children are welcome at the playground. Just a short walk down the hill, Haight Street features plenty of quirky shops and good dining as well.
Homes atop the hills that surround this treasured park attract view seekers, dog lovers, and dog-loving view seekers. With an above-the-fray feel, this lofty and peaceful neighborhood is the backdrop for well-tended homes notable for their size, views, or historical significance.
Like many San Francisco neighborhoods, Buena Vista Heights was fully developed as a neighborhood long ago and is essentially complete. There is occasional in-fill development on smaller lots and the redevelopment of smaller homes and buildings into larger developments. You can consult with planning and building department resources to check open and pending neighborhood permits and proposed developments (or just let your friendly Jackson Fuller Real Estate agent do it for you).
Scroll up to see our market charts showing current neighborhood prices and other real estate trends for Buena Vista Heights. These charts are updated dynamically as new data becomes available. Reach out to us to learn more about prices, trends, and possibilities in Buena Vista Heights.