Albion Castle is for sale
2011-02-16 03:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
archershipshttp://atlasobscura.com/place/albion-castle
Built in 1870 by John Hamlin Burnell, a young English immigrant with plans for a brewery to supply the over 800 saloons serving the growing city. Beer was already a popular choice in San Francisco, with several local breweries already competing for business. But Burnell's new property had a secret advantage: An underground aquifer that provided pure cold water, perfect for brewing - not to mention free. He built himself not only the workspaces for the Albion Porter & Ale Brewery, but also a castle home. Although relatively petite and built into a hillside, it features a distinctive tower built from stones pulled from cargo ship's ballast, modeled after Norman fortifications Burnell loved back home.
Under the castle, Burnell dug out two stone cisterns, each capturing 8,000 to 10,000 gallons of spring water per day. The 200 foot pools are accessed
by a cave entrance, and still provide fresh clean water today.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/scavenger/detail?entry_id=71368
http://www.socketsite.com/archives/2009/09/care_to_get_your_castle_on_a_resto...
http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Francisco/881-Innes-Ave-94124/home/21925213
Only $1.5 million. :)
Chris
no subject
Date: 2011-02-17 12:07 am (UTC)I have to wonder, since the place has been on the market for 1.5 years already, if it must have some major structural issues.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-17 12:56 am (UTC)Given that it's a 140 year old castle, it probably does have some issues. It also is a designated historical landmark, which restricts what you can do with it.
But I think the biggest factor is the location. Bayview/Hunter's point has a number of housing projects, and a lot of crime. The median list price of surrounding homes is about $280 K.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-17 12:18 am (UTC)??/??/2001 $2,100,000 (sale)
11/20/2009 $2,950,000
03/05/2010 $2,400,000
04/23/2010 $1,900,000
06/24/2010 $1,799,000
01/15/2011 $1,499,000
no subject
Date: 2011-02-17 12:22 am (UTC)I got the numbers from Zillow before I saw your Redfin link has the same information.
The price is coming down so fast it's hard to lend any credibility to the asking price (still). It dropped $200,000 last month and another $100,000 four days later!?
no subject
Date: 2011-02-18 01:34 am (UTC)