For the first time in nearly 50 years, a grande dame on one of San Francisco’s most exclusive streets has come to market — and it may not be available for long. 

After launching 38 Presidio Terrace this week, Sotheby’s agent Mary Lou Castellanos said her first brokers open house was “crazy,” with more than 100 agents coming through. She had three showings by Wednesday and more scheduled through the weekend. 

The fervent immediate interest is not the norm for a home with a $12.5 million price tag. 

Then again, Presidio Terrace isn’t just any San Francisco street. Located just south of the Arguello Gate to the Presidio, in the posh Presidio Heights neighborhood, it is one of the city’s few privately owned roads and certainly its most prominent. 

Residents enjoy private security daily from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m., a level of perceived safety that has attracted public figures like the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein and onetime Mayor Joseph Alioto, as well as Rep. Nancy Pelosi, to purchase homes on the circular drive over the years. Plus, there are just 36 lots — and once someone buys one, they tend not to let it go. 

“It’s a generational purchase,” Castellanos said. “It's a forever home.” 

That was the case for the longtime owner of 38 Presidio Terrace, who lived in the five-bedroom, 3.5-bath home, built in 1911, for 48 years. After she died, her children spent the summer readying the home for a fall debut. The renovations included replacing the kitchen countertops, painting the top floor, resurfacing the cracked garage, changing out light fixtures, sanding and staining floors, and redoing the primary bathroom, including removing a “ginormous” built-in tub. 

“It was like a boat. It was insane,” Castellanos said. 

Original details, such as the intricate and unpainted woodwork in the entry, living room and dining room were left intact. The home was designed by the beaux arts architect George Schastey Jr. for the daughter and son-in-law of a dry goods magnate, according to the home’s marketing materials. It has a scored plaster facade meant to look like stone and a columned portico at the entry. 

The marriage of the stately features — including 12-foot ceilings on the main floor and an 800-square-foot living room with a working fireplace — and the recent updates has created a true “wow home,” according to the agent. 

“People have said it feels like you're driving up to the White House,” she said, with an “estate, grand feeling” more typical of Piedmont than Presidio Heights. 

Adding to the property’s appeal: There’s room to expand. The nearly 6,000-square-foot home has an unfinished lower level that could add 2,300 square feet of living space. Additionally, it sits on about a third of an acre, making it one of the largest lots in the enclave. The biggest drawback may be that the house is at the rear of the property, with lawns on the sides and front — a potential issue for young families who would prefer a more traditional backyard. 

Those young families have been popping up more and more, Castellanos said, an indication that there is a generational turnover taking place. Three homes traded quickly on the street last year, even as the overall luxury market was still recovering from a lull that began as interest rates rose precipitously in late 2022 and only just started picking up again. 

Presidio Terrace is so sought after that it’s not really indicative of what’s going on in the larger market, she added. 

“It’s an anomaly,” she said. “Presidio Terrace is its own market.”