Steiner, between Page and Oak
Located in the 400 Block of Steiner, the house pictured above (my photo) and below (thanks, google!) is noteable not for what it has, but for what it doesn’t have: windows!
According to the tax records, the home was built in 1909 and is a single-family home with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. While it is perhaps plausible that the entire front of the middle and top level are each one large bedroom, it still seems a shame to give each bedroom only one window – and relatively small ones at that!
Where are the windows? Source: Google Maps
The home last changed hands in 1990 (per tax records), so it seems that the current owners are quite satisfied with the facade of the home. Building permits indicated that within the last decade a two story “sunroom” was replaced with a three story sunroom, but still…
I’m also having a very challenging time imagining the interior layout of the home. Homes from this era in San Franicsco typically had the hallway on the side, leaving room for a double parlor along the side of the hallway. Putting the hall in the middle makes for lots of little rooms (our lot width is typically 25 feet, and according to the assessor’s map, this lot is exactly that), which don’t exactly help light flow throughout a home.
I have a hunch this home once looked dramatically different… time to go digging for some old photos!
