Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco is bringing affordable homeownership to Diamond Heights.
In the heart of San Francisco’s Diamond Heights, Habitat is building our latest affordable homes on donated land. The donor, 99 year old Mischa Seligman, was honoring the wishes of his mother who loved San Franciscans and wanted to give back to the city she loved dearly. This development is a prime example of ‘urban refill’. Habitat’s innovative design creates 8 homes on land which previously held only one. This type of development has the potential to make a significant contribution to addressing California’s acknowledged housing shortfall.
We know a Habitat project is well underway when prospective Habitat homeowners join us on site for the first time. The 500 hours of ‘sweat equity’ each family puts in alongside our volunteers is a time-honored tradition and makes a huge difference to our homebuilding effort.
A recent December Saturday saw two new homeowner households arrive to build the homes that they will soon be living in. Check out how Vera & Andrew and Daricka plus her son Evan fared on their first day on the job!
“I feel totally blessed being able to participate in this program, to be a part of it, and to own a little piece of San Francisco. If we didn’t get this opportunity we would have had to move out of the city.”
Construction is well under way at Amber Drive, with completion scheduled for later in 2023. We are thrilled to be bringing affordable homes to San Francisco. These 8 townhomes will be nestled in the beautiful and historic neighborhood of Diamond Heights in the heart of the city.
Mischa Seligman was a retired electrical engineer whose mother, the late activist Maria “Mitzi” Kolisch, lived at 36 Amber Drive in San Francisco for many years. Mischa was determined to carry out his late mother’s wishes to leave her legacy on the city she loved by donating her Diamond Heights house so that more families could make a home in San Francisco.
What was a single-family home on a hillside parcel will now become eight 3- and 4-bedroom townhomes, built by Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco. “She wanted to give something back to the people of the City. I do brag a little bit about that this little house becomes 8 family units and I am very happy about that,” said Mischa about his mother’s home.
We are so pleased that Mischa was able to see construction work begin on this land on Amber Drive before he passed at the age of 101 in April 2022. His extraordinary generosity leaves a legacy for generations of families in San Francisco.
When completed, a permanent tribute to Mischa, his wife Brigitte, and his mother Maria, will be prominently placed on the outside of the development. The plaque, cast in bronze, features a bas-relief image based on a photo of Maria taken by famed San Francisco photographer Imogen Cunningham. This is just one way that we will make sure that the wonderful story of this special family, and history of this unique home, will be passed on to generations to come.
“My mother wanted to give something back to the people of the City. I do brag a little bit about that this little house becomes 8 family units and I am very happy about that.”
MISCHA SELIGMAN
