By E.B. Solomont

The San Francisco home of Roth Martin, a co-founder of the popular shoe brand Rothy's, is right around the corner from the original Rothy's retail store in Pacific Heights.

Martin and his wife, Emily Martin, paid $8.75 million for the house in 2020, property records show, then embarked on a multiyear, multimillion-dollar renovation of the circa-1908 home.

At the time, the four-story house was a few blocks from their children's school. Now, however, their four teenagers are in boarding school and the Martins have moved to Texas, where Emily grew up. The Martins are now listing the house for $15.495 million.

With a redbrick facade, the house is roughly 7,300 square feet with five bedrooms.

San Francisco-based Rothy's launched in 2016 and makes fabric shoes and bags partly out of recycled plastic bottles. The brand's machine-washable flats have a devoted fan following; Meghan Markle and Katie Holmes have been seen wearing them. In 2021, a Brazilian company took a 49.9% stake in Rothy's in a deal that valued it at $1 billion.

Roth is a San Francisco native. Before launching the company, he ran an art gallery in San Francisco with interior designer Steven Volpe, who worked on the house.

When the Martins bought the house, they had been living in a rental for a few years. The house needed work but "the bones were strong," said Roth. The renovation took the house down to the studs.

The Martins moved into the house in 2023. The home is filled with furniture and art that Roth collected over the years, including a dining-room chandelier he bought at FOG Design + Art, an art fair he helped start. In the living room, a piece made from recycled fabric is a nod to Rothy's.

Last year the Martins moved to Texas, where they are renovating a house built by Emily's great-grandfather in the suburbs of San Antonio. "We are redoing a 100-year-old house," Roth said. "It was the next chapter and something that will be fun for the two of us." He travels to San Francisco and New York for work. The family also has a home in Hawaii where they spend a lot of time.

Selling the house is bittersweet, Roth said, particularly at a time when he feels renewed optimism and energy in the Bay Area. San Francisco's luxury market has had ups and downs in recent years, but has shown strength at the very top. Billionaire Laurene Powell Jobs paid around $70 million for a Pacific Heights mansion last year, setting a record for the city.

"We're a boom and bust city -- we always have been," said listing agent Neal Ward of Compass. From January through March, sales of San Francisco homes priced at $10 million and up hit $191 million, compared with $64 million during the same period in 2024, according to Compass data. "More buyers are out there wanting to purchase and feeling good about what's happening here," Ward said.

Write to E.B. Solomont at eb.solomont@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 07, 2025 15:00 ET (19:00 GMT)

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