Architectural, Cultural sights in San Francisco
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A
Cliff House
At the north end of Ocean Beach, the recently rebuilt and sadly soulless Cliff House overlooks the splendid ruin of Sutro Baths, where Victorian dandies once converged for bracing baths and workouts.
reviewed
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B
Grateful Dead House
Like most of the members of the Grateful Dead, this Victorian sports more than just a touch of gray – but back in the 1960s this was the candy-colored flophouse where Jerry Garcia and bandmates blew minds, amps and brain cells. The mom-and-pop flower shop up the block has done brisk business selling bouquets left on the steps here ever since Jerry’s membership in the Dead took a turn for the literal, but the new owners would be most Grateful if you paid your respects to the great man with a donation to a neighborhood nonprofit.
reviewed
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C
Hunter S Thompson Crash Pad
How this building survived Hunter S Thompson’s tenancy here in the mid-’60s is anyone’s guess. On the otherwise unremarkable bay-windowed facade, you might notice the odd bullet hole – mementos of parties that invariably degenerated into Hell’s Angels orgies and shoot-outs. Gonzo journalism was born when the inimitable Thompson narrowly survived to tell the tale in his book Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, and state his motto: ‘When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.’
reviewed
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D
Jack Kerouac’s Love Shack
This modest house on a quiet alley was the source of major literature and major drama from 1951 to 1952, when Jack Kerouac shacked up with Neal and Carolyn Cassady and their baby daughter to pound out his 120ft-long scroll draft of On the Road. Jack and Carolyn became lovers at her husband Neal’s suggestion, but Carolyn frequently kicked them both out – though Neal was allowed to move back for the birth of their son John Allen Cassady (named for Jack, and Allen Ginsberg).
reviewed
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E
Nobby Clarke Mansion
Built in 1892 by a wealthy attorney who recognized the weather was sunnier in this part of town than atop fashionable Nob Hill, this gorgeous turreted mansion went uninhabited after its construction: Snob Hill socialites dubbed the house ‘Nobby Clarke’s Folly, ’ and his wife refused to move in. It served briefly as a hospital; now it’s an apartment building. Spot the disco ball in the top-turret window and you’ll definitely know that you’re not on Nob Hill.
reviewed
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F
Octagon House
Crafty architects are always trying to cut corners on their clients, and here architect William C McElroy succeeded. This is one of the last examples of a brief San Franciscan vogue for octagonal houses in the 1860s, when it was believed that houses catching direct sunlight from eight angles were good for your health. Three afternoons a month you can peruse the collection of colonial antiques and peek inside a time capsule McElroy hid under the stairs.
reviewed
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G
Haas-Lilienthal House
A grand Queen Anne–style Victorian with its original period splendor c 1882, this family mansion looks like a Clue game come to life – Colonel Mustard could definitely have committed murder with a rope in the dark-wood ballroom, or Miss Scarlet with a candlestick in the red-velvet parlor. One-hour tours are led by volunteer docents whose devotion to Victoriana is almost cultish.
reviewed
