Hello from San Francisco: A Victorian Homes
Walking Tour and a Lesson about the City
On our second full day in San Francisco the weather gods were not
on our side: the weather was grey and cool, and a major rain and
windstorm was supposed to arrive in the area. After a nice breakfast
at the Queen
Anne Hotel we conveniently joined the Victorian
Homes Walking Tour, led by local expert Jay Gifford right at
our hotel. The Queen Anne Hotel, our home base during this San Francisco
excursion, is a stunning example of Victorian architecture and an
official stop on the Victorian Homes Walking Tour.
Jay Gifford, our knowledgeable local expert
Jay has been a long-time resident of San Francisco since 1979.
After being downsized from his corporate job, he decided to become
a walking tour guide, specializing in the plentiful Victorian architecture
that San Francisco has to offer. On this somewhat dreary-looking
day he must have had about 25 people in tow, all keen to learn more
about San Francisco’s Victorian architectural heritage.
The Queen Anne Hotel, first stop on the Victorian Homes Walking
Tour
After describing the building's interior Jay took our group outside
where he explained the difference between Queen Anne, Italianate
and Stick Style Victorian architecture. He also explained the term
"smothering", which refers to the removal and covering
up of authentic Victorian architectural details as it was often
practiced from the 1950s to the 1970s. Many of the remaining 14,000
Victorian properties in this era have now been restored, and even
homes that were no longer recognizable as Victorian-era structures,
are now being lovingly brought back to their former glory with period
details and architectural features.
Victorian-inspired decor at the Queen Anne Hotel
Along the way we also saw two synagogues, various churches and
apartment buildings from the 1920s. On Laguna Street we stopped
for a great view across San Francisco Bay before we continued our
walk through the affluent Pacific Heights district which features
an eclectic mix of upscale homes. Jay also pointed out the Victorian
homes featured in "Mrs. Doubtfire" and in the "Party
of Five" television show.
Pacific Heights
Two and a half hours later we finished our walk in Cow Hollow on
Union Street, a popular shopping and restaurant area, just as the
first raindrops were starting to fall. We then sat down I a café
with Jay to get a better understanding of San Francisco, its history
and the mentality of its residents. This is where it got really
interesting.
Pacific Heights
I inquired into his personal history. Jay, a graduate in marketing
and Spanish, came to San Francisco in 1979 from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
His original destination was Los Angeles but somehow he got stuck
in San Francisco. Over the years Jay has done a lot of traveling
to places such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Argentina, Peru,
Mexico, China, Australia, Thailand, Russia and all sorts of European
countries. He is obviously a passionate traveller with a knack for
discoveries off the beaten path.
Pacific Heights
His best local experience was a trip to St. Petersburg, Russia,
where he linked up with a local person over the Internet and got
a private car tour all over the city. He explored Poland in a similar
manner, after connecting with a Polish woman who showed him the
city through the eyes of a local. Jay added that people in San Francisco
are generally very worldly and well-travelled. People here love
diversity, and they have a well-developed sense of curiosity.
Pacific Heights
When Jay was downsized in 1996 from his position at IBM, he received
a severance package and decided to completely revamp his life. He
chose a completely new direction and got into the tour guiding business.
After all, he had had numerous visitors from out east over the years
to whom he had been giving tours. Taking it to the next step and
turning his local knowledge into a profession was a logical conclusion.
Jay was finally pursuing his passion.
Pacific Heights
Initially Jay created a long list of tours but found it was difficult
to market such a broad offering. He realized that people truly loved
his Victorian
homes tour, so he decided to focus on this specific tour. He
credits his success to the Internet and added that it took him over
10 years to get into various printed guidebooks. He has held the
price steady at $20 for the last decade, which is feasible since
he has very little overhead and does not spend a lot on advertising.
Today his niece helps him with running the business.
Pacific Heights
His clientele is very diverse and tour participants come from all
over the world although women do outnumber the men. Single female
travelers who do not know which areas of the city are safe enjoy
taking his tour because it introduces them to the real San Francisco
in a safe manner.
Pacific Heights
To put his tour and the city into context, Jay provided us with
a comprehensive overview of San Francisco’s history during
the Victorian era. People flocked to San Francisco from all over
the world during the Gold Rush from 1849 onwards. Many abandoned
their ships along the shoreline, which ended up being used as landfill
and expanded the northern shoreline. In the 1860s Comstock silver
led to a boom in silver mining and lots of money flowed into the
city. Many of the Victorian row houses were built in this era, and
the city’s population grew rapidly. Upscale hotels and fancy
mansions went up during the second half of the 19th century.
Pacific Heights
The earthquake of 1906 reshaped the city completely. Fires broke
out, water mains ruptured, and houses were burning towards the ocean.
A fire barrier was set up at Van Ness Avenue where houses were blasted
to stop the advancing flames. This explains why so much of the Victorian
housing west of Van Ness was preserved while the area east of this
major thoroughfare had to be rebuilt.
A great view twards teh Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands
Rebuilding after the earthquake was quick. The 1915 Panama-Pacific
International Exposition exuberantly celebrated the rebirth of this
city. The Palace of Fine Arts is the only remaining building of
this complex and still enchants visitors today with its classical
structures. To this day San Francisco is renowned for its stunning
well-preserved Victorian architecture. The “Painted Ladies”
on Alamo Square, also known as “Postcard Row”, are perhaps
the best known example of Victorian houses. Almost 50,000 homes
were built in the Victorian and Edwardian styles in San Francisco
between 1849 and 1915. Many of the mansions on Nob Hill were destroyed
by the 1906 earthquake, but thousands of them survived, particularly
in the western and southern parts of San Francisco.
Pacific Heights
As the local expert, Jay also filled us in on the unique mindset
of Northern Californians. For example, when he first started giving
tours residents in some of the upscale homes in Pacific Heights
would invite him inside to familiarize him with their homes. Some
of the homeowners brought cookies or offered their restrooms to
Jay’s tour groups. This is a very unique mindset, and Jay
added that San Francisco has always had a more collective spirit
than many other places.
Pacific Heights
We had already heard about and experienced the European flair of
this city, and Jay elaborated on this further. People love to walk
everywhere, or they take public transit. Food and living a balanced
lifestyle is very important to the locals. Nowadays a lot of young
people are moving into San Francisco, which adds a new dynamic to
the city.
Victorian-inspired horticulture
San Francisco is a city with many diverse neighbourhoods. From
the ethnic spirit of Chinatown to the gay community in the Castro,
the Spanish-inspired Mission District to the young professionals
in the Marina District, San Francisco offers a myriad of flavours,
to mention just a few. Many consider it the most liberal and tolerant
city in the entire Unite states. As an example, Jay explained that
medical marijuana is legal here. Aggressive panhandling is being
addressed with new social programs geared towards rehabilitation.
A $1 tax on restaurant bills has gone towards financing a local
health tax. The minimum wage in San Francisco is higher than in
other places. This was the second time in two days that we heard
San Francisco being referred to as a “compassionate city”.
A “live and let live” attitude prevails here that allows
people of the most different kinds of background to coexist peacefully.
View of Cow Hollow in the rain
Jay had provided us with an excellent overview of San Francisco’s
past and present. After we said goodbye we finally capped the afternoon
off with a late lunch at a French café called "La Boulange"
on Union Street where I enjoyed a delicious butternut squash soup
followed by an open faced sandwich garnished with hummus, avocado,
cucumber, tomato and bean sprouts. San Francisco is definitely a
town for foodies.
My scrumptious soup at La Boulange
After our
Victorian adventures we took the bus back to the Queen Anne
Hotel in the rain. Since the Queen Anne was fully booked tonight
we were going to relocate to the downtown Handlery Hotel and looking
forward to an exciting
evening of entertainment at Asia SF, a popular downtown restaurant
and night club that features its world renowned gender illusionists.
An exciting evening was awaiting us…