Not to get too existential on everyone, but where, exactly, is Cow Hollow? This might sound like the dumbest question in the world, but even dumb questions can lead to interesting answers. The reason I bring it up is that our fair city has about as many neighborhood definitions as it does neighborhoods, and the groups defining the boundaries rarely speak to each other… Take, for example, Cow Hollow!

According to the San Francisco Association of Realtors, the Cow Hollow neighborhood is defined as:

The north side of Green street, north to Lombard (including the homes on the south side of Lombard, but not the north side). The east/west boundaries are Van Ness and Lyon. Below is a picture of the SFAR map for Cow Hollow, showing the boundaries with the Marina district to the north and Pacific Heights to the south.

SFAR Cow Hollow Map and Boundaries

The Cow Hollow Association, though, has completely different neighborhood boundaries, which are shown below:

As you can see, the Cow Hollow Association neighborhood boundaries begin further to the south than the SFAR, but do not run as far north. The Cow Hollow Association also uses Lyon as the western neighborhood boundary, but uses Pierce Street (instead of Van Ness) as the western boundary for the neighborhood.

Cow Hollow Neighborhood Association – Different Cow Hollow boundaries

And while all this might seem to be just some guy with too much time pointing out how two maps don’t match, the reality is that the mis-match has some implications for homeowners, buyers, and sellers.

The Cow Hollow neighborhood is subject to neighborhood design guidelines,  which means that you could buy a house that is marketed as being in Pacific Heights only to discover that the property is part of the Cow Hollow neighborhood design guidelines. What are your thoughts on neighborhood boundaries and definitions in San Francisco?

San Francisco Landmark #218
North End Police Station
2475 Greenwich Street between Pierce and Scott in Cow Hollow
Built 1912

The North End Police Station is considered a significant example of the San Francisco neighborhood police stations that were built to replace those lost in the 1906 earthquake and fire. This particular building was built in 1912. For additional photos and a gallery, click any image below:

The San Francisco planning commission considers it to be a miniature example of San Francisco’s Academic civic architecture of the early 20th century, and this particular substyle is Spanish Colonial Revival. The designers of the building included Frederick H. Meyer and John Reid, Jr., two of the three consulting architects responsible for the Civic Center Plan.

Academic Spanish Colonial Revival elements of 2475 Greenwich include the smooth walls, the ceramic tile roof, the arched entry, shaped side parapet, multi-level roofs, tapestry brick, and the wonderful spiky lanterns. The complementary rear building is also Academic style in a mixture of the Spanish Colonial Revival with Arts and Crafts substyles.

This was the district police station for the Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915. It is no longer used as a police station, but is instead a private residence.  According to tax records, the city sold the property to a private citizen in 1996 for $480,000. The tax records also indicate that the property has not changed hands since that time. The lot is now classified as a single family dwelling with seven rooms in total (but only one bedroom), and approximately 4,500 square feet of living space on a 9,300 square foot lot. The tax records also say that it was built in 1900, so I’ll let you decide how accurate San Francisco tax records may (or may not) be.

I think 2475 Greenwich is an incredibly cool building, and while I’ve seen firehouses converted to homes and churches converted to homes, this is the first police station in the city that I’m aware of that is a private residence. Of course, if I’m wrong, I’m counting on you to correct me in the comments below!