Buyer, dream big! A 611-square-foot home with an intriguing backstory recently hit the market for $898,000.

The one-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage in San Francisco was built it 1907 and is said to be one of the original “earthquake shacks” built by the city to house refugees of the devastating 1906 earthquake.

In the aftermath of the quake, the city built 5,300 small, rent-to-own cottages for those who needed housing. After paying off a new home, the owners were required to move their cottages away from the refugee camp to another part of the city. A handful of those dwellings, including this charmer, still exist today.

“Originally, it was down in the Glen Park valley and moved up to Congo Street sometime when building [after the fire] started up again,” says listing agent Paul J. Andreini. “No documentation exists, and it may be folklore, but that’s what [the seller] told me.”

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The seller, who Andreini refers to as “Mr. G,” purchased the home in 1959 for $800 and has since used it as a rental space.

The modest residence comes with refinished hardwood floors, central heating, a basement laundry room, and an adjacent yard.

611-square-foot cottage in San Francisco

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Living room

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Bedroom

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Bathroom

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Backyard deck

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A petite pad with potential?

We’ve seen our fair share of diminutive dwellings with eye-popping price tags—especially in the City by the Bay. This 640-square-foot home, also an original “earthquake shack,” was offered at $1.38 million and sold for just shy of $1.5 million. And who can forget the teardown shack that was listed back in 2015 for $350,000 (a bargain by San Francisco standards!) and most recently sold for $622,000?

Even so, it’s impossible to look at this current listing and the price per square foot (which is $1,470, by the way) and not roll your eyes. But, as is the case with many unique properties, it’s still worth considering what could be.

“People and agents get caught up in the price per square foot—they don’t see the potential,” says Andreini, who suggests buying the property for $900K and investing another $800K into a remodel.

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One idea Andreini shares is to relocate the 611-square-foot structure to the property’s backyard and use it as an ADU, then build a contemporary dwelling in front. Another possibility is to leave the cottage as the third-level primary en suite and build a two-floor expansion on the rest of the lot.

Of course, as fun as it is to “play architect,” Andreini urges buyers to do their homework.

“Buyers must first do their due diligence before making an offer, if they’re planning to get creative,” Andreini wrote in a concept drawing he shared with us. “We recommend talking to a local architect, one familiar with the San Francisco Planning Department.”

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The post Former San Francisco ‘Earthquake Shack’ Is Now a $900K House—Would You Purchase It? appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Landowners in Stinson Beach, California, are in dispute with local authorities over trying to build home on the beach. Neighbours are concerned about the project

Sea levels in the area are expected to rise(Getty Images)

A family is gearing up for a battle with their future neighbours because they want to stop them renovating and old shack, even though they have owned the land for nearly nine decades.

The shack is located on a popular and picturesque part of Stinson Beach, California where Brian Johnson, 65, hopes to build a two-storey, 1,488-square-foot house on the plot on 21 Calle del Onda. Now consisting of a chimney surrounded by overgrown plants, the shack is a relic of the Smith family’s summer getaway spot built in the 1930s.

Its descendants, including Johnson, have run headlong into a legal dispute despite the approval of the Marin County Planning Commission in an August decision. Neighbours are concerned about the project and people in government at the state and local levels are concerned about the changing environment.

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The plans are up for a review on Tuesday(MarinCounty.org)

Johnson says the development of the project has cost $335,000 and it passed a number of environmental reviews. “It’s not like we’re building an oil refinery or a nuclear power plant on the coast,” he said to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Consultant to the owners – Brian is a majority owner – Steven Kinsey said it was odd the ” last 80 feet” of the beachfront were being “treated differently” in the area where houses line up along the sand dunes.

Some view the area as environmentally important and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy calls it one of the “best swimming beaches in northern California.” Marin County is also considering a dune restoration project in the area costing a possible $50 million.

The shack is located on a popular and picturesque part of Stinson Beach, California where Brian Johnson, 65, hopes to build a new house(Gado via Getty Images)

“This is an environment that is changing,” commission member Don Dickinson said. Dickinson, who voted against the proposal, added: “Maybe it’s changing more rapidly than some people thought.”

Rising sea levels now threaten the historic community along with flooding from a creek nearby and there are further concerns around the septic tank needed at the property after storms damaged the area last winter. Now, a decision by the Marin County Board of Supervisors is due on Tuesday.

Opposition to the project can be found among locals like Scott Tye, the Vice Chair of the Marin chapter of the conservation group Surfrider Foundation. “The (California) Coastal Act says you don’t sacrifice important natural habitat for the development of the property for a commercial residential structure… Particularly if it’s one of the few left standing,” he said.

The California Coastal Commission has also said in a letter to the Marin County Planning Commission that it has “significant concerns regarding potential impacts to environmentally sensitive habitat areas, including dune habitat; (and) siting this development in such a hazardous area”.

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The post Neighbours block shack renovation plans regardless of household proudly owning land for 90 years appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.