129–131 24th Avenue

Seacliff · San Francisco, CA 94121

Built 1903
Single-family house
2 stories
Zoned RH-1(D)
One structure, two lots
Historic status: unevaluated

37.7871, −122.4845 Street View appears here once a Google Maps embed key is configured.

One house of 1903 on the Sea Cliff edge of the avenue, standing across two contiguous lots numbered 129 and 131. A published guide to notable residences ties the address to Ansel Adams; its own permit record is a story about the ground beneath it.

3,240 sq ftBuilding area

8,999 sq ftLot area, combined

9Rooms

One building, two lots and two numbers

The city treats 129 and 131 as a single structure on two parcels. The 131 lot is classed "Single Struct on Multi Lot" and reports zero building area — the building is carried entirely on the 129 lot — and both parcels' assessor records give the location as 129 24th Avenue. This site documents them as one building, which is why the page is titled with the range. The guide that names the address treats 129 and 131 as two separate houses; that account is set out below rather than adopted here.

Permit history

Twelve distinct permits, 1995–2024 — DBI files the shared foundation permits under both lots, so several appear twice in a raw query and are collapsed here. The record's dominant theme is the ground: emergency underpinning of two corners in 1995, larger underpinning of the whole house in 1996, and a stem-wall foundation along the north side the same year. Most of the 1990s permits expired rather than closing out. The largest and most recent work is a 2024 interior remodel with an elevator added.

Jul–Oct 2024

Interior remodel — rebuild the lower-level stair, remodel the sunroom, kitchen, bath and upper bedrooms; revised to add an elevator and equipment room.

Issued Permit 202407166594 Permit 202410082508 $$$ $1,500,000
Oct 2020

Emergency repair of the deck over the garage — structural beams, guardrails, waterproofing, deck surface.

Complete Permit 202010287644 $$$ $56,000 revised
Apr 2004

Build a 7-foot fence along the north property line and remove a shed.

Complete Permit 200404010238 $$$ $900
1998–2000

Matching horizontal additions filed on each lot, both expired; a 2000 renewal was filed for final sign-off.

Expired Permit 9826157S Permit 9826156S Permit 200010173261 $$$ $11,000 / $10,000
Nov 1998

Reroofing.

Expired Permit 9822911 $$$ $5,000
Nov 1996

Construct a stem-wall foundation along the north side of the dwelling.

Expired Permit 9622101 $$$ $11,750
May 1996

Underpin the building to provide stability to the house — filed on both lots.

Expired Permit 9607813 Permit 9607812 $$$ $72,000 / $42,000
Dec 1995

Emergency underpinning of two corners of the house.

Expired Permit 9521143 $$$ $8,000

Assessed value · 2025 roll

Lot 002 (129)$202,707

Lot 002A (131)$154,844

Combined total$357,551

The two parcels are assessed separately. No sale appears on the current roll for either, and the low base across both lots reflects a long-held Proposition 13 base year.

At a glance

ParcelsBlock 1334, Lots 002 & 002A

ConstructionWood frame

Baths3

Historic statusCEQA B — survey result / unevaluated

The guide's account

A published guide to notable residences records 129 as Ansel Adams's childhood home, giving his birth on 20 February 1902, and 131 as a later property with a studio it says was destroyed in a sinkhole. The city data does not separate the two numbers into two buildings, and no source is cited for either claim, so both are carried here as the guide's telling rather than as fact.

Not yet documented: the architect and builder; whether the studio the guide places at 131 was ever a separate structure and what became of it; what the "sinkhole" claim refers to; which of the lapsed 1990s foundation permits was actually built; and any primary-source basis for the Adams residency. Know any of it? Tell us — just describe it in plain words.