The house

As most of you are now aware through the Facebook, Steve and I have recently entered contract on a house. After years of watching the market, scoping out open houses, obtaining broker's licenses, and multiple failed offers, we found this 4-bedroom, 2-bath single family home in the Inner Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco.

The house is a Stick/Eastlake-style Victorian home. In the main level of the house, many of the original period details have been preserved, although the kitchen and bathroom have been updated.

The rooms on the lower, garage level were added in the 90s, so they have a more modern layout. Although many homebuyers come to San Francisco specifically to seek out its older Victorian charm, Steve and I both prefer more contemporary-style homes, so we immediately decided that we would live in the bedrooms on the lower level. The official master bedroom with master bath attached is on the main level, but the closet is microscopic (as the Victorians owned very few clothes), so we decided that room would serve better as a guest room. The other smaller bedroom on the main level is right by the front door, so we will probably use that room as our office. In addition to these bedrooms and the kitchen, there is also a living room, formal dining room, and family room on the main level. This is already more rooms than we know how to furnish!

There are two more bedrooms on the lower level along with a bathroom and laundry closet. Steve and I plan to live in the larger of the bedrooms and use the smaller bedroom as the nursery. The highlight of the downstairs is an enormous playroom that leads out into a deck and backyard!

A yard for Ruby to play in is something we dared to dream for a house in the city, and although it's not nearly the size of the backyards of our suburban childhoods, it is actually quite sizeable by city standards. It even has a lemon tree so Ruby can set up lemonade stands on the street!

Although we have seen many homes on our search that have been more modern and designed more to our taste, we knew immediately that this house would be perfect for Ruby. It has plenty of play areas and extra room for us to grow into. However, the best and possibly most important feature of this house is the location.

The house is in the Inner Richmond, which is the neighborhood just north of Golden Gate Park. The neighborhood is quite similar to our current neighborhood, the Inner Sunset, in that there are also many great, affordable, ethnic restaurants and groceries as well as a relatively large Asian population. However, due to its location on 3rd Ave. and California, the house is at the intersection of several other neighborhoods.

Just half a block north, on the other side of California Street, is the prestigious Lake District, known for its large single family homes. It's really a neighborhood created by real estate agents to market the area to affluent families and separate it from their humbler Inner Richmond neighbors. However, it has definitely made the area a great place for families.

Two blocks to the east, past Arguello Blvd. are the even more prestigious Laurel and Presidio Heights neighborhoods, also the part of the city with by far the highest concentration of baby/children's shops. This is where Day One, our favorite baby store that also offers classes and groups for new parents, is located, along with an array of baby and maternity boutiques on the chic Sacramento Street. Laurel Village, at the center of Laurel Heights, also offers a couple of very nice grocery stores with high-quality produce and delis. For these reasons, we have probably frequented these neighborhoods more than any others in the city since Ruby was born.

While the same house half a block north or two blocks east would have definitely been out of our price range, this house is just a short walk to the main drags of Laurel and Presidio Heights, while still giving us access to the Richmond restaurants, which is essential as we have been spoiled by the easy access and plentiful variety of take-out options in the Sunset. What is also quite appropriate about this house is that it sits at the intersection, both literally and figuratively, of the predominantly Asian Richmond neighborhood and the predominantly White Lake and Presidio/Laurel Heights neighborhoods. In this way the house is on a macroscopic scale what I have always felt I have been on a microscopic scale within my own person!!

On top of all this, the house is in close proximity to four fantastic playgrounds: Rossi Playground, Mountain Lake Park, Laurel Hill Playground, and Julius Kahn. While it is not quite as close as our current place, it is still a walkable distance to Golden Gate Park, so we can still take advantage of the De Young and Cal Academy museums. Thinking to the future, the house is also in close proximity to some of the best public elementary schools in the city, giving us the option of staying in the city long-term. We have already begun thinking of this house as Ruby's House, as everything about it is really tailor-made to fit her. I suppose that's what we've been looking for all along.