Our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group had a strong turnout of 49 walkers and three K-9 best friends at the Exedra on a sunny morning this Wednesday.
We try to get to every safe walking Piedmont street during the year, but we hadn’t been to some of the streets west and north of Dracena Park. This part of Piedmont, like a lot of Piedmont, was developed after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake through the 1920s. We thought it would be fun to see the streets and consider some of the homes on them. Zillow research of a random set provided when they were built, their sizes, and estimated selling prices. One home at the end of the walk at 73 Manor Drive was actually for sale. With information shared about the other homes, we could have fun guessing its listing price.
However, before we started walking some background information was shared. In 2020 Piedmont’s population was 11,270. Wikipedia says there are 3,924 housing units in Piedmont (with an average household size of 2.81) of which 3,801, or 96.9%, are occupied. Piedmont has 3,358 (88.3%) owner-occupied housing units, and 443 (11.7%) renter-occupied housing units. The median price of all Piedmont homes sold in the last 12 months was $2,550,000, or $979/sq. ft., and prices are up 1.0%, or $24,000, since July 2023. Zillow and Redfin had 14 single-family Piedmont homes currently for sale. In July, there were 20 homes on the market, which was a 20% decrease from June, so the summer selling season was winding down. Rocket Homes said the average sale time was 18 days in July 2024.
With this new knowledge, we started off down Magnolia and Hillside Avenues, crossed Oakland Avenue, went down to and across Carmel Avenue (one home had a great catus garden in the front yard) to Blair and Ricardo Avenues for our first randomly selected house to consider. Architect Jim Kellogg called it a “bungalow beauty.” It is a 3 bedroom/3 bath built in 1907 with a Zillow estimated value of $2.4 million. The next Ricardo house up the street by pure coincidence was Sharona and Jack Fischrup’s original clapboard brick exterior home of 33 years. Then it was up to and down Arroyo Avenue to York Drive and a 5 bedroom/3 bath near the corner that was built in 1959. It’s on right-of-way land made available when the Key System trains stopped running. Zillow says it’s worth $2.4 million. Further up York was a 1922, 5 bedroom/7 bath worth $3.9 million, but it was being completely remodeled so who knows what it is worth. We went down Cambridge Way to Manor Drive for our last home before the actual For Sale home and our guessing. This last one was built in 1915, has 3 bedrooms and 3.5 baths, and is worth 3 million Zillow-imaged dollars.
Finally, just up the street was the house with a real For Sale sign in the front yard. It is a 3/3 of 2,521 square feet built in 1921. The Zillow realtor’s description, which some walkers thought was AI generated, proclaimed, “Welcome to this romantic Tudor style home on a serene, tree lined street. The home has just enjoyed a massive renovation that brings it into the 21st Century, while preserving the 100-year-old craftsmanship we love. Truly, it’s never been better. Stunning woodwork, generously sized rooms, and enchanting details are enhanced by the sublime updates, like new designer kitchen and baths with premium finishes and appliances, etc. etc. … This home warms the heart and inspires good living." All the walkers fell for the flowery language and guessed more than the listing price of $2,295K. Thankfully, no one had brought their checkbook, and it was a good thing because the seller’s attorney just happened to be visiting the house.
It was all in fun, but time for us to make our return to the Exedra. We went back happily via Holly Place, a hidden 272-foot path from York to Ricardo, and then a delightful walk through Dracena Park to Park Way, Hillside and Magnolia Avenues.
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