RON HENGGELER

March 12, 2008
The Painted Ladies of Alamo Square

PAINTED LADIES
Multicolored paint schemes on San Francisco’s “Painted Ladies” did not become the fashion until the late 1960s.
Originally, Victorians were painted in drab white, gray, black, and brown. The bay-windowed, decorated, redwood-framed Victorian houses, built from the 1870s through the turn of the century, are the city’s most treasured architectural feature. Victorian houses fell out of favor for many years, and thousands that survived the 1906 fire were demolished or underwent alteration with new facades of asbestos sheeting, stucco, plaster, or stone. Much of the origional decorative metalwork was stripped off during World War I and World War II scrap drives. Beginning in the 1960s, many Victorians were restored and renovated and were sold at exorbitant prices. About 14,000 of the original 48,000 Victorians are still standing in San Francisco. The highest concentration of Victorians is in an area bounded by Divisadero Street, Golden Gate Avenue, Webster Street, and Fell Street.
Respectfully taken from SAN FRANCISCO SECRETS by John Snyder Chronicle Books 1999

ALAMO SQUARE
It is believed that some San Franciscans who died in the 1906 earthquake and fire are buried in Alamo Square. A temporary camp was almost set up in the square for those who were left homeless by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The terrace of restored three-story wooden homes on the east side of Steiner Street between Hayes and Fulton Streets across from Alamo Square was built by Irish-born property developer Matthew Kavanaugh in the 1890’s. They were originally sold for $3,500. Kavanaugh, who lived at 722 Steiner from 1892 through 1900, couldn’t have envisioned that a century later his houses would be among the most photographed vantage points in San Francisco, known as “postcard row.” The colorfully painted, elaborate Victorians contrast sharply with the skyscrapers of the Financial District looming in the background. The houses have been the ‘homes’ of characters in the motion pictures Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), The Woman in Red (1984), and Maxie (1985), and the television programs Too Close for Comfort (1980-1986) and Full House (1987-1995).
Respectfully taken from SAN FRANCISCO SECRETS by John Snyder Chronicle Books 1999

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Oculus

A view from Baker Beach (Mile Island Rock in the upper left)

Detail of Fountain of the Turtles in Huntington Park on Nob Hill This fountain is a copy of Rome’s Fontana della Tartarughe (fountain of the turtles) designed by Giacomo Della Porta and Taddeo Landini in 1583. The wife of William H. Crocker (Charles Crockers’ son and founder of the Crocker Bank) discovered this copy of the fountain in a villa outside of Rome and purchased it for her home in Hillsborough, California. When the estate was sold, the sculpture was given to the city of San Francisco by the Crocker heirs. The sculpture was accepted by the Board of Supervisors on Oct. 4, 1954. It was installed in Huntington Park in 1955.

A reflection of Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill

Huntington Park on Nob Hill

Baker Beach

 

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