There are only two dozen or so vintage firehouses left in San Francisco. Built around the turn of the 20th century in the Mission Revival style, the structures housed horse-drawn equipment and the city’s first steam-powered engines before gradually being decommissioned over the decades.
One in the Mission turned into a beloved dive bar. An architectural firm snapped up another on Pacific Avenue for its offices. And the fictional San Francisco teen Mia Thermopolis (played by Anne Hathaway in “The Princess Diaries”) lived in a firehouse in the Excelsior before ascending to the throne of Genovia. (That property was sold in 2015 for $1.85 million).
Now another rare piece of history is up for grabs. This month, a famous firehouse in Noe Valley was listed for sale for an asking price of $7.9 million.
Located at 3816 22nd St., the firehouse was built in 1909 and converted into a single-family residence in the 1960s when powerhouse art couple Mark Adams and Beth Van Hoesen turned it into their home studio.
The couple purchased the property in a public auction in 1959 for a paltry sum of $7,500, which even adjusted for inflation would still be regarded as a steal in San Francisco’s highly competitive housing market.
According to property records, the five-bedroom, six-bathroom house was last sold for $5.3 million in 2017. The sellers this time, a private San Francisco family, lived on the property with their kids before moving elsewhere in the city, said listing broker Claudia Siegel of Compass.
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“This is not the type of listing where you just throw the keys in a lockbox and have people tour themselves,” Siegel told The Standard after conducting her first showings over the weekend. “You want to be there to talk them through all the original features and unique history.”
Those features include a giant “Engine No. 44” embossed above the sliding garage doors out front. A functioning fire pole, which connects the property’s bottom two floors, is still there, in addition to oversize zinc doors throughout, an original fire bell, and the metal spiral staircase.
Adams and Van Hoesen lived on the property for nearly 46 years, hosting legendary San Francisco artists like Ruth Asawa and Wayne Thiebaud before moving into an assisted living facility. Adams, known for designing the stained-glass windows at Temple Emanu-El and Grace Cathedral, died in 2006. Van Hoesen, renowned for her animal prints, died in 2010.
After the couple vacated the property, a local investment group purchased the home and completed a total renovation. The entry level now has a family room with a wet bar, as well as an office and a two-car garage. Underneath sits a gym, which can fit an entire squat rack, row machine, and stationary bike, according to marketing materials provided by Compass.
“What artist wouldn’t want to live in a converted firehouse?” Siegel said. “[Adams and Van Hoesen] actually did it before it was considered hip and trendy.”
Upstairs is where the property really starts to justify its price tag. The second floor comes with a stunning kitchen and dining room, ideal for hosting parties, while the third floor houses three spacious bedrooms, a balcony leading to an outdoor deck, and a laundry room. At the top of the property is the master suite, complete with its own deck, and a lookout tower that has a 360-degree view of the city.
The house also includes an elevator, a separate catering kitchen, a garden room, a wine cellar, and an intercom system.
“This is a special block,” Siegel said of the neighborhood, which is unobstructed by overhead cable lines since they are tucked underground. “If you want a trophy property that no one else in the city is going to have, it doesn’t get much better than this.”