39 Encanto Avenue
A 1948 Art Deco split-level single-family home on an oversized lot in coveted Anza Vista — on the market for the first time in 48 years. Closed at $2,200,000, $100,000 below list, with the buyers represented by Oliver Burgelman.
39 Encanto Avenue, San Francisco closed at $2,200,000. The 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom Art Deco single-family home sits on an oversized 4,599 sq ft lot in Anza Vista and was on the market for the first time in 48 years. The original 1948 split-level configuration features a chef's kitchen, primary suite with en-suite remodeled bath and dressing room, two additional bedrooms joined by an updated jack-and-jill bath, a downstairs guest suite with private entrance, an attached garage, and a large rear garden. The buyers were represented by Oliver Burgelman, Broker Associate at Vanguard Properties (DRE #01388135).
Why Anza Vista was the right call for these buyers
39 Encanto Avenue is the kind of Anza Vista home that doesn't appear often: a true single-family residence with an oversized lot, a split-level floor plan that gives every bedroom real privacy, and a downstairs guest suite that quietly solves the home-office or in-law question. Held by the same family for nearly five decades, it carried the architectural fingerprints of late Art Deco San Francisco — glass block, decorative crown molding, refinished hardwood floors — alongside thoughtful, recent updates to the kitchen and baths.
For buyers shopping the central north slope of San Francisco — NoPa, Laurel Heights, Lone Mountain — Anza Vista offers a quieter, more residential alternative without giving up access to Geary, USF, Kaiser, the Presidio, or downtown. That combination is what made 39 Encanto the right fit at the right time.
The 104 days on market created an opening. The home was thoughtfully presented, but in a 2020 market still adjusting through the early months of the pandemic, buyer demand for a split-level layout above $2M was thinner than usual. We used that window to negotiate from a position of clarity rather than competition, closing $100,000 under list on a home our clients still own and love.
Three calls that drove this result
Buy-side wins are rarely accidental either.
The neighborhood read
Anza Vista is small — roughly twenty blocks — and inventory moves in handfuls per year. We knew the comps, the typical price-per-foot range, and where this home fit. That meant we could move quickly with conviction when the right property surfaced, instead of second-guessing the opportunity.
The patience decision
The home had been listed at $2,300,000 since February 2020. By the time we engaged seriously, the property had absorbed enough days on market that a respectful sub-list offer carried weight. We didn't rush in — we waited until the seller's expectations and the buyer's number had a real chance of meeting.
The valuation conviction
$2,200,000 was the number our analysis supported, given the split-level layout, the configuration, and the comparable Anza Vista and Laurel Heights sales at the time. We presented that number with the data behind it, not as a discount ask. The listing side recognized it as a real, well-supported offer — and it closed there.
What made this the right Anza Vista home
Anza Vista buyers tend to fall into one of two profiles: people who want quiet residential streets within walking distance of Kaiser, USF, or the Geary medical and academic corridor, and families looking for a true single-family home with a yard at a price point that has become almost impossible to find in Pacific Heights, Cole Valley, or Noe Valley. 39 Encanto answered both. The 4,599 sq ft lot is genuinely oversized for the neighborhood. The split-level layout separates the primary suite from the two secondary bedrooms in a way most flat floor plans can't. The downstairs guest suite with private entrance opens the door to a home office, an aging parent, or a long-term guest without renovating the home. And the large rear garden is the kind of outdoor space most central San Francisco homes simply don't have.
What this would look like if it came up today
Markets shift, but Anza Vista's dynamics hold: tight inventory, persistent demand from buyers priced out of adjacent neighborhoods, and a meaningful premium for true single-family homes with real outdoor space. A home like 39 Encanto coming up today would likely draw stronger initial competition than it did in mid-2020. The strategy would simply recalibrate: more time spent positioning the offer early, less time spent waiting for the market to reset around the property.
What this means if you're shopping Anza Vista — or selling there
If you're looking to buy in Anza Vista, the most important thing to understand is the rhythm: inventory is thin, the neighborhood reads quieter than its NoPa and Laurel Heights neighbors, and the homes that come up tend to fall into two categories — long-held single-family homes that haven't traded in decades, and renovated Art Deco and post-war properties priced for the premium they command. Knowing which category you're looking at, and what each one is actually worth, is the difference between buying well and overpaying.
If you own in Anza Vista and are starting to think about selling, the inverse holds. Well-prepared single-family homes here can command real premiums, but pricing and prep have to align with how the local buyer pool actually evaluates the home. The same property listed two different ways can produce meaningfully different outcomes.
That's the part of the process — on either side of the deal — that I focus on most.
"Oliver knew this neighborhood cold. He told us what the right number was, why it was the right number, and held the line. We've been here ever since."39 Encanto Avenue buyers
Thinking about buying or selling in Anza Vista?
Anza Vista trades on local knowledge, neighborhood rhythm, and the right read on each individual home. These are the three reads I'd point you to first.
Anza Vista at a glance
39 Encanto Avenue is one data point. The neighborhood pattern gives it context.
About 39 Encanto Avenue
An original 1948 split-level single-family home on an oversized Anza Vista lot, on the market for the first time in 48 years. 39 Encanto Avenue offers three bedrooms and three full bathrooms across approximately 2,250 square feet, with a formal entry leading into an elegant living room with corner fireplace and an adjoining family-sized dining room featuring original Art Deco details — glass block, decorative crown molding, and refinished hardwood floors. The expansive kitchen has bright white quartz counters. A short flight of stairs leads up to a generous primary bedroom with en-suite remodeled bath and dressing room, plus two additional bright bedrooms joined by an original updated jack-and-jill bath with newly refinished tile. The lower level includes a guest suite with remodeled bath and private entrance, an interior-access one-car garage, and immense storage. The 4,599 sq ft lot is anchored by a large, lovely rear garden — rare for this part of the city.
Key features
- Original 1948 split-level single-family home on a 4,599 sq ft lot — oversized for the neighborhood
- 3 bedrooms and 3 full bathrooms across approximately 2,250 square feet
- Elegant living room with corner fireplace and adjoining family-sized dining room
- Original Art Deco details: glass block, decorative crown molding, refinished hardwood floors
- Expansive kitchen with bright white quartz counters
- Primary suite with en-suite remodeled bath and dressing room
- Two additional bright bedrooms joined by an original updated jack-and-jill bath
- Lower-level guest suite with remodeled bath and private entrance — ideal for home office, in-law, or long-term guest
- Interior-access one-car garage plus two additional outdoor parking spaces
- Large, lovely rear garden — uncommon for this part of San Francisco
Location: Anza Vista, San Francisco
Anza Vista is one of San Francisco's quieter, more compact neighborhoods — a tight residential pocket of roughly twenty blocks bounded loosely by Geary to the north, Masonic to the east, Turk to the south, and the western edge of the University of San Francisco campus. Despite its central location, it reads more residential than its NoPa and Western Addition neighbors, with a housing stock anchored by late-1940s and early-1950s Art Deco and post-war single-family homes — built in a concentrated burst after WWII — on a smaller scale than the dense Victorians and Edwardians to the east.
That Art Deco DNA runs through the neighborhood's character — the same design vocabulary that shaped Art Deco jewelry, furniture, and interiors of the era shows up in Anza Vista homes as glass block, decorative crown molding, stepped geometric massing, and clean stucco facades. 39 Encanto Avenue is a particularly intact example.
Close to 39 Encanto Avenue, residents have easy access to the shops and restaurants of Divisadero and Laurel Village, Kaiser Permanente's major medical campus, USF, the Presidio, and a quick route to Geary for downtown or the western neighborhoods. For a property like 39 Encanto — oversized lot, split-level privacy, downstairs guest suite, real garden — Anza Vista is the perfect setting.
Transaction summary
| Status | Closed |
|---|---|
| Closed price | $2,200,000 |
| List price | $2,300,000 |
| Below list | −$100,000 (−4.35%) |
| Days on market | 104 |
| Close date | July 20, 2020 |
| Configuration | 3 Bed | 3 Bath | 2,250 sq ft | Single-Family Home |
| Lot size | 4,599 sq ft |
| Year built | 1948 |
| Key features | Split-level layout, primary suite with dressing room, lower-level guest suite with private entrance, large rear garden, attached garage |
| Neighborhood | Anza Vista, San Francisco |
| Buyer's agent | Oliver Burgelman, Vanguard Properties |
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Frequently asked questions
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