Architecture
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Stained Glass Windows Add Color To A 1905 Victorian Home
As you may know, or may have read from my previous blog posts about Victorian houses in the Western Addition, The Painted Ladies, and The Westerfield House, San Francisco is a literal showcase for Victorian architecture. Victorian houses both grand and modest were built in San Francisco during a huge growth spurt which started around 1880. While Victorian homes elsewhere in the United States and in England were built from a variety of materials, stone and brick were not widely available in San Francisco, and certainly not in the quantities that were needed, so wood was the predominate building material. Wood elements and features were ordered from catalogs, and every…
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Victorian Houses in the Western Addition And Fillmore Neighborhoods of San Francisco
Stunning victorian homes in the Fillmore and Western addition neighborhoods of San Franciso
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The Westerfield House Victorian Mansion On Alamo Square
The Victorian architecture movement that can be seen in great glory in San Francisco includes both relatively modest homes as well as grand ones. And some of the grands ones are so stunning and well, large, they really take your breath away! Well at least if you are an architecture buff like myself, otherwise they may not even show up on one’s radar? I spotted the silhouette of the Westerfield house’s tower one night a few weeks ago, as I was combing the neighborhood for a supermarket, and it was both haunted mansion and architectural splendor, even from afar and in the dark. I knew I had to return by…
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The Painted Ladies Victorian Row Houses On Alamo Square, San Francisco
Above: The very famous row of comparatively humble Victorian row houses who lucked out with their position in the foreground of the view of downtown San Francisco. The painted ladies victorian row houses are one of those tourist attractions that I have to admit I may have only visited once or so when I lived in San Francisco. A huge mistake friends, as the location of the painted ladies also includes the amazing Alamo Square, which I wrote about here. Plus, truly, the view of the San Francisco skyline, assuming it isn’t fogged in, is wonderful! Though the term painted ladies generally refers to this famous location, the term is…
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Alamo Square Park In San Francisco Is A Must Visit!
Above: A view of the well know “painted ladies” and the San Francisco skyline, from Alamo Square Park One of the unexpected highlights of my recent stay in San Francisco was a visit to Alamo Square, a residential neighborhood and park in in the Western Addition nieghborhood. The park is located on a hill, and had gorgeous landscaping, including very tall dramatic cypress trees, making it all in all an amazing location. Alamo Square Park, consists of four city blocks at the top of a hill overlooking much of downtown San Francisco, with a number of large and architecturally distinctive mansions along the perimeter, including the “Painted Ladies”, a well-known…
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San Francisco’s Wealth Of Architectural Detail
If you happen to be an architecture buff or just love architectural history, then San Francisco is certainly a must visit kind of place. I’ll admit I lived in San Francisco for a few years, but never quite realized the richness of design and detail seen with so many of the historic buildings. It also may be that Market street, the home to many historic buildings was either to seedy to venture on, or too crowded to allow pausing to take a look. On our visit the downtown looked like a Sunday (empty) on a weekday due to the Pandemic, and that may have allowed me to take that closer…
