Pacific Heights 1870s Victorian with 3,000-square-foot “secret garden” listed after TikTok-driven estate-sale frenzy

A historic San Francisco home enters the market after a social-media moment

A late-19th-century Victorian residence in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights has been listed for $5.995 million, months after an estate sale at the property drew unusually large crowds and online attention. The six-bedroom, four-bath house stands at 2101 Divisadero Street and dates to the 1870s, placing it among a shrinking group of large, intact Victorian-era homes in the city.

The recent attention traces back to 2025, when the family of longtime owner Anne Thornton held an estate sale that became a widely shared social-media event. Visitors described long waits and crowd-control measures, including signs directing foot traffic and wristbands used to manage entry.

Ownership history and why the property stands out

The home is notable not only for its age and size—about 5,700 square feet—but also for a feature that is rare in dense North Side neighborhoods: an adjacent, roughly 3,000-square-foot garden lot. The outdoor space, described by the family as a long-used garden and gathering area, sits beside the main structure and contributes to an unusually deep, L-shaped footprint for the block.

Publicly described history indicates the home has had only two family owners. In the 1880s, it was purchased by physician Michael Fottrell. The Thornton family bought the house in 1974. The property survived the 1906 earthquake, and the residence is described as retaining period-era elements alongside later updates.

From private estate to public spectacle

The 2025 estate sale occurred after Anne Thornton’s death in 2024, as the family prepared the home for transfer and eventual sale. The event offered furnishings and household items accumulated over decades—an inventory that, combined with the home’s preserved interior, became central to its viral appeal. The surge in attention turned what is typically a local, transaction-oriented event into a neighborhood-scale gathering that required basic crowd management.

What is included in the listing

• Asking price: $5.995 million
• Location: 2101 Divisadero Street, Pacific Heights
• Scale: roughly 5,700 square feet; six bedrooms; four bathrooms
• Outdoor component: approximately 3,000-square-foot garden lot next door
• Marketed condition: presented as move-in ready following updates made after the 2024 inheritance

Context: a high-end neighborhood where space is the premium

Pacific Heights remains one of San Francisco’s highest-priced residential markets, where large interiors and substantial outdoor space are both limited and closely scrutinized by buyers. Recent years have also shown that the visibility created by social platforms can reshape how properties enter public awareness, accelerating attention well before open houses and traditional marketing cycles begin.

The listing arrives at a moment when scarcity—not just of homes, but of usable outdoor acreage—can materially influence how a property is evaluated in San Francisco’s luxury market.