{"id":464497,"date":"2026-09-15T13:44:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T13:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/464497\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T13:44:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T13:44:24","slug":"another-rare-sf-eichler-hits-the-market-this-time-for-3-5m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/464497\/","title":{"rendered":"Another rare SF Eichler hits the market, this time for $3.5M"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Francisco’s Diamond Heights neighborhood, with its vertiginous landscape near Twin Peaks, was one of the last neighborhoods<\/a> in the southern part of the city to be developed. As late as the 1950s, most of the area was still open land, with steep angles that presented challenges to builders and architects.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the neighborhood would lure developer Joseph Eichler<\/a> and architect Claude Oakland. The iconic duo created about 100 homes in Diamond Heights<\/a> between 1962 and 1964 – the only Eichler single family dwellings in SF – designed to take advantage of the sloping terrain and revel in its panoramic views. Now, one of these gems, 190 Amber Drive<\/a>, is for sale, asking $3.495 million.<\/p>\n

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The backyard at an Eichler home at 190 Amber Drive in San Francisco’s Diamond Heights. (Open Homes Photography)<\/p>\n

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A view of the outdoor patio at an Eichler home at 190 Amber Drive in San Francisco’s Diamond Heights. (Open Homes Photography)<\/p>\n

With so few built, all Eichlers in Diamond Heights can claim themselves as rare. But 190 Amber still stands out: The house is detached on three sides, allowing for additional living space, thus the home’s generous size, 2,534 square feet. And with a nearly 6,000-square-foot lot – twice that of its neighbors – the home boasts an expansive, tiered backyard, which features both sitting and dining areas, a garden and a hot tub, all overlooking unobstructed views of Glen Canyon and Mount Davidson.<\/p>\n

When the current sellers purchased this home in 2017, the original listing price was $1.795 million, so their significant overbid – $2.450 million – easily put them on top among the hopeful buyers. Since 2017, Eichler fever<\/a> has only gotten hotter: In March 2026, another Diamond Heights Eichler<\/a> sold for $1 million over asking. Will 190 Amber Drive break that record?<\/p>\n

The house has four bedrooms and two and a half baths, making it substantially larger than a typical Eichler<\/a> of that era. And though it still looks like a home Eichler and Oakland would have delivered, the dwelling currently on the market is the result of careful renovation.<\/p>\n

In an email, listing agent Lamisse Droubi of the Droubi Team at City Real Estate said that this restoration, which cost $900,000, had one rule: “Don’t ruin the Eichler.”<\/p>\n

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A bedroom at an Eichler home at 190 Amber Drive in San Francisco’s Diamond Heights. (Open Homes Photography)<\/p>\n

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A work area at an Eichler home at 190 Amber Drive in San Francisco’s Diamond Heights. (Open Homes Photography)<\/p>\n

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A bedroom at an Eichler home at 190 Amber Drive in San Francisco’s Diamond Heights. (Open Homes Photography)<\/p>\n

The current owners lived in the home for two years before changing anything, in order to better understand the house and plan what to change – and what not to. They worked with SF architect Roberta Wahl, founder of Plum Architects<\/a>, to design a custom Henrybuilt kitchen<\/a> (contemporary, for sure, but still true to midcentury design), and connect it more seamlessly to both the outdoor garden and the indoor dining room, as well as upgrade appliances and fixtures.<\/p>\n

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The kitchen at an Eichler home at 190 Amber Drive in San Francisco’s Diamond Heights. (Open Homes Photography)<\/p>\n

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The dining room at an Eichler home at 190 Amber Drive in San Francisco’s Diamond Heights. (Open Homes Photography)<\/p>\n

Though the couple preserved the home’s original mahogany paneling, they chose matte gray concrete in the downstairs living area and added warm oak to the stairway and upper bedrooms. The result is a unique and custom home that complements every aspect of the Eichler-Oakland aesthetic.<\/p>\n

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A living room at an Eichler home at 190 Amber Drive in San Francisco’s Diamond Heights. (Open Homes Photography)<\/p>\n

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A stairway at an Eichler home at 190 Amber Drive in San Francisco’s Diamond Heights. (Open Homes Photography)<\/p>\n

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A seating area at an Eichler home at 190 Amber Drive in San Francisco’s Diamond Heights. (Open Homes Photography)<\/p>\n

Especially with so much of it, the outdoors had to be as extraordinary as the indoors. For their oversized lot, the owners sought out the multi-award-winning firm Terremoto,<\/a> which transformed the exterior into a landscape for both entertainment and solitude, a sanctuary that seems to float between the city and the forested hills.<\/p>\n

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Soaking tub at an Eichler home at 190 Amber Drive in San Francisco’s Diamond Heights. (Open Homes Photography)<\/p>\n

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The backyard at an Eichler home at 190 Amber Drive in San Francisco’s Diamond Heights. (Open Homes Photography)<\/p>\n

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Outdoor firepit at an Eichler home at 190 Amber Drive in San Francisco’s Diamond Heights. (Open Homes Photography)<\/p>\n

Such a cutting-edge house is perfectly at home in a neighborhood like Diamond Heights, which was part of a forward-looking, multi-location San Francisco redevelopment plan back in 1950. Previously designated with the anodyne name of “Redevelopment Area B,” this 332-acre region spread across four hills – Red Rock, Gold Mine, Fairmount and Billy Goat Hills. The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency proposed the name “Diamond Heights” because Diamond Street would become integral to the proposed neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Early attempts at development in this hilly area were small in scale and, for the most part, unsuccessful. Despite San Francisco’s burgeoning population and growing demand for housing, as far back as the mid-1860s when the area was designated the Fairmount Tract, lot sales mostly stalled. The slump was likely due to streets with grades of 20 to 35%, making getting around, whether in horse-drawn carriages or later powered means, a struggle.<\/p>\n

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The front exterior of an Eichler home at 190 Amber Drive in San Francisco’s Diamond Heights. (Open Homes Photography)<\/p>\n

By July 1955, the redevelopment agency declared that the current state of Diamond Heights was unacceptable, calling it “blighted,” with lots laid out with little regard to the topography. Instead, the agency envisioned something new, “a city within a city”: homes and apartment buildings would be “offset by open spaces for recreation \u2026 coupled with churches, schools, stores, businesses, and public transit,” to quote FoundSF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Several innovative designers flocked to the area to answer the agency’s call, Oakland among them, but also Arthur Gensler and Joseph Esherick, who ultimately designed the Diamond Heights Village<\/a> condo development; the award-winning firm of Fisher-Friedman Associates<\/a>; and Beverly Willis<\/a>, who designed the original San Francisco Ballet Building.<\/p>\n

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The living space at an Eichler home at 190 Amber Drive in San Francisco’s Diamond Heights. (Open Homes Photography)<\/p>\n

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A bathroom at an Eichler home at 190 Amber Drive in San Francisco’s Diamond Heights. (Open Homes Photography)<\/p>\n

Eichler<\/a> had been building homes in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1949. Diamond Heights, with its steep angularity, was well suited to his basic aesthetic, in which open floor plans framed in wood and glass took full advantage of their natural settings. The hilly neighborhood offered a unique canvas for this signature midcentury modern style. To succeed in this landscape, Eichler brought along Oakland, who closely shared his design vision and worked with him the most<\/a> over the developer’s career.<\/p>\n

Diamond Heights represented Eichler’s first project in a redevelopment program<\/a>. There were just a few floor plans to choose from for these two-story or split-level homes, which centered on three streets: Amethyst Way, Amber Drive and Cameo Way. The list price at that time for these jewels in the new neighborhood with the glittering name: $34,950 to $46,500.<\/p>\n

More Real Estate<\/p>\n

– No one wants to buy LA’s most famous midcentury house<\/a>
– Bay Area power couple’s historic Sausalito houseboat is for sale<\/a>
– A Getty-designed SF penthouse is asking $20 million<\/a>
– 1 of 15 Eichlers in Bay Area neighborhood hits market for $2.8M<\/a><\/p>\n

Read all of SFGATE’s real estate coverage here<\/a> or sign up for<\/a> SFGATE’s UnReal Estate Newsletter.<\/p>\n

This article originally published at Another rare SF Eichler hits the market, this time for $3.5M<\/a>.<\/p>\n