See Pink Painted Lady, 1890s Victorian on famed San Francisco street listed at $3.5M

An 1880s Victorian house, known as the Pink Painted Lady on San Francisco’s famous Postcard Row, has hit the market for $3.55 million.

The iconic home at 714 Steiner Street is part of a row of seven Queen Anne and Victorian-style homes known as the “Painted Ladies,” or the “Seven Sisters.” The row of houses is featured in the introduction to the long-running sitcom “Full House.” The Pink Painted Lady residence has its own Instagram account with nearly 20,000 followers.

“The building remains a significant contributor to the Alamo Square Historic District due to its high level of integrity relative to its period of significance (1892–1929),” according to the property’s marketing material. “As one of the famed ‘Seven Sisters’ designed and built by Matthew Kavanagh, 714 Steiner Street is an exceptional example of the Queen Anne style of architecture in San Francisco, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire one of the iconic Painted Ladies on San Francisco’s celebrated Postcard Row.”

Kavanagh constructed the homes within a three-year period, beginning with his own residence at 722 Steiner St.

The seller is Leah Culver, a senior Twitter engineer, who purchased the house in January 2020, according to a Compass real estate firm representative. With her priorities and work circumstances changing since buying the home, Culver doesn’t have the time to restore the property, a Compass representative said in an email.

The home’s interior requires some renovation. It is listed at the same price for which Culver bought it, and the sale includes plans and approved permits to restore the two-unit building as submitted by David Armour Architecture.

Culver told the Wall Street Journal that she wants to make sure the buyer will restore the house to its former glory.

“I really want to find a buyer who cares about San Francisco, and this property and the location,” she told the newspaper.

The building plans call for creating a large upper unit spanning 2,996 square feet with five bedrooms and four total bathrooms. The lower level will be an 845-square-foot, two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment with a separate entrance and laundry that could be used for an in-law unit or for rent.

The green rolling hills of Alamo Square can be seen from the oversized window bays at all three levels of the house. From the kitchen at the back, the dome of City Hall can be seen, and the second and third floors hold striking views of the downtown skyline.

It is rare for a Painted Lady to come on the market. They are often owned by the same family for decades. Culver said 714 Steiner was owned by the same family for nearly 60 years. It was in disrepair.

“It is with a heavy heart that I’ve decided to sell the Pink Painted Lady,” Culver wrote on a post on the home’s Instagram account she runs. “This was an extremely difficult decision that I have been considering for several months. I’ve come to realize that I do not have enough time or resources to dedicate to truly restoring this home with the care and attention to detail that it deserves.”

The listing agent is Nina Hatvany of Team Hatvany at Compass.