Gavin Newsom’s childhood SF home returns to market

A San Francisco home where Gov. Gavin Newsom lived for part of his childhood is up for sale. 

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The home at 1284 Stanyan St. is listed for $4.5 million and was once owned by Arthur Menzies, Newsom’s grandfather. Newsom’s mother, Tessa Menzies, inherited it after Arthur Menzies’ death, according to Dan Slaughter, the listing agent who last sold the home in 2019, as SFGATE previously reported. 

The young family lived in the house until the 1970s, when it was sold to another family, who then owned the property for more than 40 years. That family said the Newsoms were “very nice” and even remembered Newsom’s “pet otter.”

In 2019, it sold for $2.8 million. 

Now it’s back on the market and comes with recent updates like a modern renovated kitchen and new bathrooms. The secluded two-bedroom, two-bathroom home is surrounded by greenery at the edge of Sutro Forest. The property comprises two lots totaling around 9,600 square feet, and the house is set back far from the street. Clad in redwood from Marin County, the home has a woodsy feel, even though it’s situated in the heart of the city. Built in 1951, it features an open floor plan with wood-paneled ceilings, lots of natural light and a deck. 

The primary suite has a large walk-in closet, a “meditation zone” and views of the Golden Gate Bridge and downtown San Francisco.  

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The rear patio includes seating space and a Japanese soaking tub. A small “cabin” sits on the additional lot, and plenty of open space offers development opportunities such as additional housing or a swimming pool, the listing says. There’s also a gate and space for parking, though the home is within walking distance of Cole Valley’s main artery, Cole Street.  

Newsom’s 2026 memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry,” says his family was living in an apartment on Octavia Street at the time of his birth, though the Stanyan Street home was listed as the residence of Bill Newsom and Tessa Menzies when Bill ran for San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1967 (he lost). A request to confirm that Newsom lived in the home was unanswered as of publication.