Update 7 March 2024: The list price of 1111 Oak Street has been reduced to $2,500,000.
 
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San Francisco’s oldest “unaltered” residence, the Abner Phelps House at 1111 Oak Street, is on the market. But if you haven’t seen it in the usual listing feeds, that is because it is not in residential use. This 170+ year old landmark has in fact functioned as offices for more than half a century — and it is listed for sale as commercial real estate. Configured today as five separate work areas on three levels plus a kitchen, three baths, and five off-street parking spaces, this National Register property beckons a preservation-oriented buyer to create a magnificent forever home once again.

1111 Oak Street is offered at $2,995,000.

Abner Phelps was a resident of New Orleans for many years and a colonel in the Mexican-American War, and visited San Francisco in 1849 before settling there with his children and second wife in 1852. Their homestead extended from the base of Buena Vista Hill northward into part of modern-day Panhandle Park. Decades later, Divisadero Street would run alongside the property; it was merely a path serving as the western boundary of the city in the 1850s. The house remained with the Phelpses until the 1930s.

According to family legend, as declared by a descendant in 1961, Phelps purchased the home in New Orleans and had it shipped around Cape Horn to ease his homesick bride. The house looks the part, designed in a vernacular Louisiana style — high-pitched gable roof with dormers, tall basement, veranda and second-floor balcony — with contemporary gothic and classical revival ornamentation. However, there has been no evidence found in either San Francisco or New Orleans to support this story, as romantic as it may be.

An account published in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1934 claims that the house was built by John Middleton and Sons in 1850 of lumber brought around the Horn from Maine. The house and 160 acres of land was then purchased by Phelps in 1852 for his bride, and gifted to her in a deed drafted in her native French tongue. Discrediting this Maine origin story, restoration later confirmed redwood framing which suggests local construction. Moreover, no documentation exists to certify details of the deed.

An early watercolor painting of the Abner Phelps House, looking to the southwest with Buena Vista Hill at left and Mount Sutro in the distance at center.

As San Francisco grew, homestead lands were subdivided and development pushed west. The Abner Phelps House was relocated on its plot to 329 Divisadero Street when the roadway was graded in the 1890s. It was moved again by Phelps’ children in 1904 toward the center of the block and turned to face south. This repositioning allowed them to erect a shop at the front of the property (321 Divisadero) which was managed by Phelps’ two daughters. Finally, in 1978, the house was moved 80 feet north and rotated 180 degrees, placing it at the center of a new Phelps Place Historic Plaza and giving it the 1111 Oak Street address.

The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. It had fallen into a greatly deteriorated state by that time, hidden from view and reached only via a small alley from Divisadero Street. Historic accuracy was paramount in the restoration of that followed, provided minor alterations for its new use as offices. Inside and out, as much of the original material as possible was preserved and otherwise recreated where appropriate. The property was removed from the National Register for having been relocated in 1978, but was added again the following year.

Within the constraints of state and local preservation laws, 1111 Oak Street is an attractive candidate for conversion back to its original residential function. And, in this moment when there is little demand for office space and a growing need for housing, there is reason to believe SF Planning would favor such a proposal. A variety of non-residential uses may also be permitted according to the Divisadero Street Neighborhood Commercial Transit zoning district. Of course, any prospective buyer is advised to consult with municipal authorities, real estate attorneys, architects, and other qualified professionals before making plans.