Victorians in Pacific Heights - SF Tour- Alta Plaza Park to Lafayette Park

Please note some slight changes: The earlier start time at 10am and switching from the East to the West side of the Park where we meet on the sidewalk at the intersection of Jackson St. & Pierce St., SF, next to the west-side of Alta Plaza Park. The houses in the photo above, are across the street from the east-side of the Park.
It is a row of seven 19th Century, "housing track" Victorians by the Real Estate Assoc., 1875, two not shown. They are flat front Italianate style alternating with slanted bay Italianate. A famous actor owns one of these. (If interested remind to mention who the actor is.) After our climb up and over the Park to the other side, we'll see these gems.
Another addition is including some local tales of "urban gossip" and legend in our briefings.
There is available free parking around the neighborhood and no restriction on weekends. (There is always parking on the very steep streets and usually around Alta Plaza Park for example.) To find a spot quickly look on the steep hilly street of Pierce between Jackson & Pacific Ave.
The tour is a little longer than previously with some new additions. After the tour visit Fillmore St. where there are lots of shops, restaurants, coffee houses, bars and bakeries..
You're welcome to join me for lunch. My go to places are La Mediterranee or Janes across the street at Fillmore & Sacramento St.

About midway through the tour we'll stop for a break atop Lafayette Park. The strange 19th century tale of Samuel Holladay and how he got away with building his mansion on the highest point in Pacific Hts., even though his residential real estate "empire", was atop and within Lafayette Park itself. This true tell will be told with some old photos.
They'll be restrooms at the Park and views and we'll describe the surrounding heritage Victorian houses.

Pacific Heights is best known for being one of the most affluent neighborhoods in San Francisco. This tour highlights the architecture, and the people who built, occupied and maintained these grand properties. About 30 of which will be on our tour with a few sentences of information about each property.

The walking tour is 3.5-4.0 miles. With the usual SF hills. I'll be making a memento, video slideshow, using the app, "Relive", which I'll send to everyone who attended, later in the evening.

Looking at a San Francisco Victorian, what to look for:
(There are five Styles)

1. Flat front Italianate- (earliest Victorians).
2. Italianate with slanted bay windows.
3. San Francisco Stick Style (also called East Lake). Simpler square bay windows now used. Overall more elaborate decoration.
4. Queen Anne Tower House&Witches Cap, with angled or rounded bay windows & front gable
5. Queen Anne Row House"Cottage", 1, 1-1/2 or two stories. Large front gable. Possible moon-gate entry.

• Features & "Gingerbread"
• Floral Decor-Garlands (one of many types of decorations known as *"Gingerbread")
• Fish scale&Diamond shingles-
• Towers & Witch's Cap-
• Stained Glass or Beveled Glass-
• Carvings of grotesque faces-
• Sunbursts- often painted gold color, half or full.
• Gables (Queen Anne's) in a variety of material- (mainly redwood)
• Newel Posts and Finials on Tower tops and roof peaks-

We'll see clusters of Victorian homes systematically built for the average working person by a development company, "The Real Estate Assoc." THEA, in business from 1870 to 1880. Not quite magnificent but many still standing.

Periods
1860 - 1870s Italianate: Buildings were vertical in emphasis with rounded classical detail. Earliest had flat windows, with false roof fronts.
1880s Stick Style (also called East Lake): Squared off bay windows appear.
Late 1880s and 1890s Queen Anne : Gingerbread would be applied to both the Stick and Queen Ann styles in San Francisco. Sloping roofs appear. With gables and towers.
Rooflines in the Queen Anne were irregular, combining the witches hat rooftop on a rounded or octagonal tower.
If you would like a scholarly and detailed explanation with photos, click.