The 174-year-old “Abner Phelps House” at Oak and Divisadero streets is considered the oldest house in San Francisco, and it has just changed hands, with plans to make it the headquarters of local music promoter Noise Pop Industries.

A fun San Francisco fact is that a 174-year-old house at 1111 Oak Street is considered the oldest house in San Francisco. Or as the National Registry of Historic Places describes it, it’s the “oldest unaltered residence in San Francisco,” meaning it hasn’t been torn down or remodeled. It’s known as the Abner Phelps house, named for its original owner, and was reportedly shipped here in pieces from New Orleans.

It’s been moved around Oak and Divisadero streets a few times over the centuries, and is no longer a residence, but instead now serves as office space. And it was listed for sale this past January.    

On Tuesday, the Chronicle reported the place has found a buyer for $2 million. They noted this buyer was affiliated with “a company linked to an artist management firm.”

We now know that management firm is Brilliant Corners Artist Management, with clients including Death Cab for Cutie, Toro y Moi, and last month’s hit Outside Lands act the Postal Service. And the buyer is that firm’s founder Jordan Kurland, the manager of local music promoter Noise Pop Industries (of Noise Pop Festival fame), and a member of the Stern Grove Festival board of directors.  

In a separate Chronicle interview, Kurland said the property will now serve as headquarters for both Brilliant Corners Artist Management and Noise Pop.

“Our lease was up at our space in the Mission and we had spent some months looking for a new space,” he told the Chronicle. “The possibility of buying was in the back of my mind given the state of the current real estate market but wasn’t what I initially set out to do. When I saw the listing for the Abner Phelps House I was, of course, curious, and once I toured it I was sold.”

The house is reportedly 3,483 square feet, with three levels, and a balcony on the uppermost level. It’s equipped with five parking spaces, and Kurland told the Chronicle he hopes to find another tenant in the arts or music scene.


One remaining question is the fate of the big Hearts in SF heart that sits on the front lawn. It’s one of those oversize hearts placed around San Francisco every year in February, and then sold in a fundraiser for the SF General Hospital Foundation. The Chronicle reports that the building’s previous owner was “uncertain about the future of the large metal heart sculpture in the front yard.”

Related: ‘Full House’ House Back on the Market, Asking $6.5 Million [SFist]

Image: San Francisco Heritage via Facebook