Victorians in Pacific Hts.-SF Tour-Alta Plaza Park to Lafayette Park

Paraphrasing William Faulkner from Requiem for a Nun, "The past isn't gone , it's not even past." At least it looks that way in parts of Pacific Heights.
There is available free parking around the neighborhood, be prepared to drive around a little bit, but it is early morning and there are no restrictions on weekends. (Don't park by a meter like those on Fillmore.)

About 2/3s of the way through the tour we'll stop for a break atop Lafayette Park. For restrooms and views and describe the surrounding houses and the saga of Samuel Holladay and his mansion, questionably located atop Lafayette Park.
(Afterwards one of my go to's for brunch is La Mediterranean Cafe at Sacramento and Fillmore. Great food, drinks and service in a cute little iconic SF restaurant. Also Mayflower Market has great picnic items to go.)

Pacific Heights is one of the most affluent neighborhoods in San Francisco. This tour highlights the Victorian architecture, and the architects, builders and people who owned and 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 2.5-3.5 miles. With some typical SF hills for short distances.

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.