From earthquake shack to million-dollar home
This house was only supposed to last a few years, which means it should have fallen apart about ... oh, a century ago or so.
Instead, it's on the market for more than a million bucks.
That's San Francisco real estate for you.
The cottage on Prentiss Street in the Bernal Heights neighborhood is actually made up of two so-called refugee shacks, built for those left homeless after San Francisco's catastrophic 1906 earthquake and fire. About 5,600 petite houses, painted green to blend in with the city parks where they were hastily plopped, were essentially given away to any occupant who could haul them away after the camps had served their purpose.
Three sizes of the one-room shacks existed, none of which had a kitchen or bathroom. The Prentiss Street cottage combined the smallest version, 14 by 10 feet, with another that was 14 by 18, according to Emily Landes in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Perhaps 100 of the shacks remain, according to SFGate -- many of them, like this one, combined into two. You can still see the shack shape along the roofline and the facade over the garage, though neither the porch nor the windows are original.
In 2009, the home underwent a major remodel. The square footage more than doubled, from 550 square feet to its current 1,300 square feet. But three out of the four shack walls remain, Landes reports, including its historic facade.
Listing agent Jodi Campion told Yahoo Homes that she expects multiple offers.
Also from Yahoo Homes:
• Meryl Streep seeks to sell midcentury modern for 50% markup after one year
• Artist couple's home is a 60-year-old time machine
• Thousand-year-old estate becomes a modern flip in only its second time on market
