Inherited an Old San Francisco House? Do Not Tear Out the Original Details Before You Sell

The little cabinet nobody can explain

If you grew up in an older San Francisco house, there is a good chance the kitchen had a tall, narrow cabinet on an outside wall. The shelves were wooden slats instead of solid boards. If you looked closely, there was a small screened vent near the bottom and another near the top.

Your mother or grandmother probably kept onions in it, or the good wine. It has a name. It is called a California cooler.

What a California cooler is

A California cooler is a refrigerator from before refrigerators. It is a cupboard built into an exterior wall, with vents that let outside air move through it.

The way it works is simple. Cool air comes in through the lower vent. Warmer air rises and leaves through the upper vent, like a small chimney. The slatted shelves let the air pass over everything inside. The Alameda Old House History blog has a clear description of the design in a January 22, 2014 post.

Some homes built between 1890 and 1930 have one, according to a January 7, 2021 article in The Takeout that drew on SFGATE's reporting. In San Francisco, the fog and mild weather kept the cabinet at roughly 50 to 65 degrees outside of winter. That was cool enough for fruit, vegetables, eggs and pies. Meat still went in the icebox. SFGATE even found plans for building one in a 1923 issue of Popular Mechanics.

Few of them survive. They were plastered over, boxed in, or torn out in kitchen remodels over the decades.

Why I am telling this to families with an inherited home

When a parent passes and the family home goes to the children, the first instinct is often to "clean it up" before selling. Gut the kitchen. Pull the old built-ins. Paint the woodwork white. It feels responsible.

In an older San Francisco house, that instinct can cost you money. The details that look dated to the family are often the ones a buyer cannot find anywhere else.

A sale from last week that makes the point

On October 7, 2026, a house at 2 Sixth Avenue closed for $15,000,000. It had been listed on September 17 at $7,999,000, according to the Compass public record. SFGATE reported the sale on October 7 as $7 million over asking.

The house was built in 1914. It has four bedrooms and 4,490 square feet on a 9,233 square foot lot, on a cul-de-sac off Lake Street next to the Presidio. According to SFGATE, one family owned it from 1914 until 1984, and the sellers were in their 90s.

The listing agent, Maureen Terris of Compass, pointed to three things, SFGATE reported: the location beside the Presidio, the large lot, and the home's original details, such as its redwood trim, which set it apart from renovated homes.

Location and lot size did most of the work in that sale, and I would not pretend otherwise. But nobody removed the 1914 woodwork to get it ready, and it sold for nearly twice the list price.

What to keep

If you have inherited an older home in San Francisco, here is what I would leave alone until someone who sells these houses has walked through it:

The California cooler, if it is still there. Unpainted redwood or fir trim, wainscoting and doors. Built-in buffets, china cabinets and bookcases. Pocket doors, even if they are stuck. Original hardware, light fixtures and push-button switches. Fireplace tile and mantels. Clawfoot tubs.

You can always take something out later. You cannot put back hundred-year-old redwood.

What is usually worth doing instead

Clear the house out. Clean it thoroughly. Fix what is broken or unsafe. Handle the garden. Let in the light. Those steps almost always pay for themselves. A full remodel done in a hurry by heirs who will never live there often does not.

Every house is different, and some do need real work before they go on the market. The point is to decide with numbers, not with a dumpster.

For executors, trustees and attorneys

If you are administering an estate or trust, you have a duty to get the best result for the beneficiaries, and you will be asked to justify what you spent. A walk-through before any demolition, and a written comparison of selling as-is, selling after light preparation, and selling after renovation, gives you a record for that decision.

I am a Realtor and probate real estate specialist with Compass, working in San Francisco, Marin and the Northern Peninsula. I am not an attorney, and this is general information, not legal advice. If you have a family home to deal with, I am glad to walk through it with you before anything gets removed.

Sources: SFGATE, October 7, 2026; Compass public listing record for 2 6th Avenue, San Francisco, read October 12, 2026; The Takeout, January 7, 2021, citing SFGATE; Alameda Old House History, January 22, 2014. This article is general information, not tax or legal advice.