Sold: 181 Lowell Street

This gracious and private Crocker Amazon home is just steps from transit and restaurants, and is in great condition for new occupants to move right in!  Its You may even feel like you are hosting a cooking show in the stunning subway tiled kitchen with stainless apron sink. The floor plan has a great flow across refinished oak floors from the fireplace graced living room in the front, through the entry hall to the large dining room and kitchen with breakfast nook. The spacious bedrooms are well separated from each other and from the living areas by a side hallway, with the bathroom featuring a separate stall shower in between them. The sunny breakfast nook and rear bedroom have views of the Bay Bridge. Interior stairs lead down to the rear garden, laundry room and basement. The garage/basement has superior over-head height perfect for future expansion of the home (or parking up to four cars!). The rear garden has easy care landscaping and great entertaining space.

Crocker-Amazon has a notably odd name. It reputedly named for the combination of a person (Charles Crocker, who at one time owned the land) and the exotically named street “Amazon,” (which was named for the river Amazon, of course, in a fanciful reach outside of the local area that was part of the Excelsior District’s street naming pattern. The Crocker-Amazon playground was built in the 1930s as a result of the New Deal investment in the country’s infrastructure and today hosts well-lit soccer games on its five fields from early in the morning until well after dark and also has several playgrounds, a baseball diamond, tennis courts, bocce ball, a community garden and a skate park. The neighborhood’s commerce centers around the intersection of Geneva and Mission. You can hang out at the Dark Horse Tavern and then mosey down to The Broken Record for some soul food. Or you can opt for Salvadorian food at Reina’s or El Rincon Latino, or Mexican food at Taquerias Mi Sazon or La Iguana Azul, Peruvian food at Porteño, Cuban food at El Pollo Supremo, or Vietnamese specialties at Teazzert Pho You. There is more but I will let you explore on your own!  And if you can get away from all of the restaurants, it is easy to get to work in the City on BART, Muni or down the peninsula on the freeway.