Extreme Real Estate: Homes on a Cliff

Belvedere Avenue home, Belvedere, Calif.

Asking price: $22 million

Listing agent: Lydia Sarkissian, Decker Bullock Sotheby's International Realty, 415-517-7720

This property sits on the westernmost promontory of San Francisco's exclusive Belvedere Island in San Francisco Bay, some two miles north of San Francisco.

The home's three-level yard and big picture windows look out past a sharp drop-off to Sausalito, the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco skyline.

The main house features a master bedroom suite with a fireplace, private terrace and his-and-her bathrooms and dressing areas. There are four additional bedrooms, five more bathrooms and four other fireplaces.

The 0.75-acre gated spread includes a one-bedroom/one-bathroom detached carriage house, a three-car garage and parking for seven additional cars.

Pony up an extra $12 million and you can buy an adjacant parcel of waterfront land down the cliff, providing an extra acre -- plus your own private boathouse and pier.

Belvedere is a town so exclusive that it hosts the San Francisco Yacht Club but doesn't allow any shops or restaurants. You have to go to adjacent Tiburon for that, as well as for ferry service to San Francisco 25 minutes away.