What we've learned about San Rafael
Terra Linda is the reason this page reads differently from the rest of the county. Several hundred Eichlers went up there in the fifties, and they are still doing what they were designed to do: floor-to-ceiling glass on two sides, an open atrium in the middle, and radiant heating tubes buried in a concrete slab under the floor. No basement, no attic, nothing to hide dust in. Everything shows, which is why owners there tend to book on a fixed schedule and expect glass to be part of it.
Then the city changes character every mile. Dominican has broad older houses under redwoods with staircases and hardwood on three levels. Gerstle Park keeps its Victorians and their radiators. Along the Canal the stock is apartment buildings with shared laundry and small kitchens. A crew that treats all of that as one job gets it wrong somewhere, so we quote from what your home actually is rather than from a district average.
The housing stock in San Rafael
There is no single building type. The mid-century tracts north of the Civic Center run 1,200 to 1,800 square feet on slab, with terrazzo or vinyl over concrete, mahogany paneling and a great deal of exposed glass. Older neighborhoods south of downtown add basements, plaster walls, steep interior stairs and clawfoot tubs. Canal-area units are compact, carpeted and stacked. Hillside houses near Peacock Gap and Loch Lomond catch bay wind and the salt that comes with it.