{"id":234170,"date":"2026-03-24T14:34:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T14:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/234170\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T14:34:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T14:34:14","slug":"inside-a-cole-valley-compound-with-a-secret-garden-and-a-hideaway-hot-tub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/234170\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside a Cole Valley compound with a \u2018secret garden\u2019 and a hideaway hot tub"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Daniel Rabin bought 238-240 Alma St. in 2012, he was a single guy drawn to the prime Cole Valley location and the potential to turn an old carriage house behind the duplex into a standalone home. He finished the renovation of what became 242 Alma in 2019, by which point he was married and on the cusp of starting a family.<\/p>\n

The couple moved into the newly built backyard house, a two-bedroom, two-bath with double-height ceilings, and rented the two units in the renovated 1921 duplex out front to a series of tenants. The last of those tenants vacated at around the same time the couple had their third child, in October, and the need for more space won out over their beloved location across from Grattan Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had reached the end of our life in that building,\u201d said Rabin. <\/p>\n

The family of five moved to Mill Valley, and the compound Rabin built came to market this month at $3.2 million. Though it was also offered as three tenancies-in-common, a single buyer quickly gobbled it up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AThe duplex at the front of the lot was built in 1921 but updated throughout. | Source: Courtesy Open Homes Photography<\/p>\n

During its two weeks on the market, the new-construction home, with its \u201csecret garden atmosphere\u201d and private patio drove buyers\u2019 interest with its modern style, hot tub with outdoor shower just off the downstairs bedroom, and secluded location behind the duplex, listing agent David Cohen of City Real Estate said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Most people who were interested in the standalone home wanted to buy all three units. On the TIC front, he heard by far the most interest from folks fond of the smallest and most affordable unit: a one-bedroom, one-bath on the ground floor of the duplex asking just under $500,000 for 600 square feet. <\/p>\n

He got calls about that unit from all over the Bay Area \u2014 Peninsula and East Bay buyers looking for a pied-\u00e0-terre, first-timers drawn to the affordable price tag, and parents hoping to buy the unit for their college-age kids. Apparently, they were undeterred by the fact that the duplex\u2019s garage and patio are both deeded to the rear unit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AThe hot tub and outdoor shower off the rear home\u2019s ground-floor bedroom. | Source: Courtesy Open Homes Photography\"ModernThe private patio between the front duplex and rear home. It can be accessed via a side entrance or the garage in the duplex. | Source: Courtesy Open Homes Photography\"AThe lower bedroom in the rear home can be tucked away behind a sliding wall. | Source: Courtesy Open Homes Photography<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have a backyard, but you walk a couple blocks, and you\u2019re at the biggest park in San Francisco,\u201d Cohen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Interest in TICs generally dips alongside the overall market, since the ownership model and financing are typically more complex than for condos. But when the market is as competitive as it is now<\/a>, TIC values pop right back up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the market\u2019s hot, people tend to forget about any perceived flaw with a property: 100 stairs to the front door, being on a busy street, or a TIC,\u201d he said. \u201cRight now, people are valuing them pretty close to condominium pricing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even with the uptick in TIC demand, the novelty of buying a ready-made compound in a coveted neighborhood like Cole Valley sealed the deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"WhiteThe kitchen of the smaller duplex unit, which was a big hit with TIC buyers. | Source: Courtesy Open Homes Photography<\/p>\n

Cohen stayed mum on the number of offers, sale price, or buyer but noted that during the marketing process, he heard from siblings who wanted to spread out across the three units and parents interested in living in the modern home while housing their young adult children in the two units out front. There were also groups of friends who imagined creating a co-living space<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s so special about this property is the flexibility,\u201d Cohen said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Daniel Rabin bought 238-240 Alma St. in 2012, he was a single guy drawn to the prime…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[74552,388,11853,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-234170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-cole-valley","tag-real-estate","tag-residential-real-estate","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}