Our History

Monterey Heights took shape in the 1920s as one of San Francisco's residence parks — planned garden neighborhoods on the slopes of Mount Davidson designed around curving streets, landscaped entries, and generous single-family homes. The Monterey Heights Homes Association was established in 1920 to steward the new tract, and has run continuously — as a volunteer-led organization — for over a century.

The association's founding mission still reads well today: to promote the general welfare of the residents of Monterey Heights; to urge improvements and the beautification of the tract; to guard against the encroachment of anything that would mar the beauty or lower the high standard of the neighborhood; and to foster a spirit of neighborliness.

A century later, the original character survives: period Spanish Revival and storybook-style houses, mature street trees, and streets that follow the contours of the hill rather than the city grid.

Have photos, documents, or stories from the neighborhood's past? The newsletter team would love to feature them — write to [email protected].