Bespoke San Francisco House Has Views For Days and Flair to Spare

Located just to the north of Twin Peaks and southeast of UCSF and Mount Sutro, San Francisco’s Clarendon Heights neighborhood is decidedly lacking in coffee shops, grocery stores, and chic boutiques. Making up for the altitudinous enclave’s dearth of shopportunities, however, are its jaw-dropping views, which span from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oakland Bay Bridge and beyond. But as of this writing, there is one home on the market in the pricey nabe where the interior views are just as dazzling as the exterior ones.

Originally constructed in 1926, the three-story residence has been extensively re-constructed and customized by its longtime owners, Henry Navas and Deborah Robbins. Even its driveway and garage door have been artistically embellished. In the words of the listing, “As original as a fingerprint, every hinge is hand forged; every window’s stained glass unique to the room; the vision for the home was crafted over a lifetime of travel, curiosity, and exploration.”

From the looks of it, Navas and Robbins, both of whom passed away in 2022, appear to have been particularly fond of India, Morocco, Spain, and Indonesia. All throughout the 2,680-square-foot home, you’ll find intricate tile work, highly detailed woodwork, carved archways and niches, and lots and lots of vibrant colors in unusual combinations.

A set of ziggurat-tiled stairs leads one flight up to the coffered-wood front door and the home’s main level. Just past the threshold is the robin’s-egg-blue living room with box-beam ceilings imbued with laser-cut abalone and turquoise inlays, stained-glass-accented picture windows, a sizable fireplace embellished with Islamic star tiles, and walls of built-in bookcases. There are also two carved archways, one leading to the formal dining room, the other to the spacious, open-plan kitchen. Here, the cavalcade of over-the-top features include stained-glass French doors, a hammered-copper sink, an eclectic array of wood cabinets with individual inlay designs, and a six-burner oven in contrasting shades of blue that echo the living room’s palette.

Up another flight of tiled stairs (or one could take the elevator!) are the home’s two bedrooms. Both feature exuberantly tiled baths, but the sumptuous primary suite also encompasses a library with a fireplace and a Moroccan-style lounge with built-in seating and a bank of casement windows framing cinematic vistas.

Even more expansive views are on offer one floor up, on the rooftop deck. Other exterior spaces include a backyard patio and petite redwood deck built around the trunk of a massive redwood tree.

Listed with Compass agents Todd and Kim Wiley, the one-of-a-kind property is asking a shade under $4.5 million.