Cece Real Estate Home Love Letter 9/16

I love my house, and if Kahlil Gibran wrote about houses I would have hired him to write a love poem about mine. And, of course, it’s #10. As in she’s a 10. Or as in #10 Downing Street in London. But this is better than the British prime minister’s residence. After all, this is San Francisco. I love San Francisco, and I love my home on Levant Street in this city that has a million stories of love affairs. Let me count the ways I love this neighborhood and location, and if perfection can be reached between homeowner and home, this is it.

First I have talk about my love’s corporeal setting. The mind will come later. This house is in the Buena Vista neighborhood, considered by those in the know as one of the most peaceful and quiet in the city. It really is. I’ve been in a lot of neighborhoods in SF and Buena Vista is downright contemplative, yet within minutes you can walk to uber exciting, bustling street scenes. I’ve heard it has a reputation for being “San Francisco’s Best Kept Secret” and since SF has a lot of great secrets I’d say that’s pretty good praise. It’s also on the cusp of the Corona Heights neighborhood. So this puts me and my #10 within trysting distance to Buena Vista Park and Corona Heights Park, and all the assignation perks these areas afford homeowners.

I’m a kind of map guy and I have to say I love the fact that my love is about right smack in the center of San Francisco, with equidistant driving to any part of the city. I find that very attractive in terms of cuddly closeness.

I have to say, speaking of cuddle qualities, that the walking with #10 is amazing. It’s a combination of breathy exercise and shifting, charming, sometimes panoramic views. If I want to jump on MUNI to ride to distant shores the MUNI stop is only two blocks away from #10. And just to make things interesting one of those two blocks is reputed as being the longest block in SF—maybe in the whole country is what I’ve heard. Other lovers’ promenading destinations are a half mile walk to the Panhandle and a down hill mile to Golden Gate Park’s Kezar, a world class stadium and track, and a convenient east-side entrance to GG Park for runners and bikers. I happen to love neighborhood walking, and this is where my love’s mind comes in. From #10 you can walk to Cole Valley, to the Haight, to the Castro. Just point a compass and set out in a direction and walk and you’re going to run into fascinating, cultural and cerebral places and people. Basically, my love and I live in a SF sea of great food and scenes.

I really love my #10’s parking situation. She’s pragmatically beautiful. Parking is a concern in SF, which my #10 solves with charming conversation with cars. In fact parking is such a major issue that when my #10 and I consider going over to a friend’s place we just can’t go because we’re wise enough to know there’s no parking for miles and miles. However #10 has a welcoming garage spot, and quite often there’s a parking spot or two right in front of #10. That sense of accommodation gets me at hello. Guests coming for gatherings never have to park more than 150 feet away. Also my #10 happens to be on a street that doesn’t have street sweeping or 2 hour limits. So, amazingly, guests can park their cars on Levant Street all day and night.

I love the way my house doesn’t sit in the fog. I love fog. Well, at a distance I love it. I don’t love living in it, and neither does #10, and remarkably the fog stays away from her as if there’s some kind of fog barrier that pushes off west of #10. West of my house and a ways uphill the fog will roll in and the winds will kick up and the temperature will drop five degrees. But #10 sits pleasantly protected from all this dreariness. My house and I are microclimate snobs and we’re proud of it.