I visited San Francisco for under three days, a quick stopover on my means dwelling to the Philippines after spending 5 months in New Orleans. I performed vacationer to the max; I biked throughout the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and took the ferry going again, ate at Fisherman’s Wharf, hopped on a cable automotive, tried to go on a day journey to Yosemite Park (the tour I booked by no means picked me up), and met up an outdated pal.
In fact, I additionally walked round and checked out the town’s Painted Women. Since I by no means acquired to write down about my go to, right here’s a visitor publish from fellow blogger Karen Warren.
***
One of many pleasures of San Francisco is its historic structure. In fact, the town is filled with the spectacular fashionable buildings that you’d anticipate in any American metropolis.
Nevertheless, there are additionally rows of effectively preserved Victorian homes. They appear to be in every single place, on the lengthy avenues and nestling between the distinctive buildings of Japantown. However probably the greatest locations to see historic homes is round Alamo Sq., dwelling of the well-known Painted Women.
Victorian Homes on Alamo Sq.
The gold rush in California led to an enormous increase in home constructing within the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Virtually 50,000 houses had been constructed throughout this era. Many of those had been destroyed within the 1906 earthquake, and others had been subsequently pulled down, however a number of nonetheless stay.
Top-of-the-line locations to discover Victorian home structure is Alamo Sq., a historic district stuffed with largely unspoiled mansions. The homes had been designed by many various architects, giving rise to a wide range of types. Most of those buildings are multi-storeyed with basements, reflecting the life-style of rich households on the flip of the twentieth century.
The Sq. is on the prime of Alamo Hill, named for the only cottonwood, or alamo, tree that when stood there. This space was as soon as a watering gap for path horses, however in 1856 a public park was created on the summit of the hill. There’s nonetheless a park right here, very talked-about with canine walkers and with vacationers who can benefit from the spectacular views throughout the town (on a transparent day you possibly can even see the highest of the Golden Gate Bridge).
San Francisco’s Painted Women
Lots of San Francisco’s Victorian and Edwardian homes had been painted in vibrant colours (one critic described them as “loud” and “uncouth”). Nevertheless they progressively wanted repainting and over time most of them had been lined with battleship gray (utilizing Navy-surplus paint left over from the First World Struggle).
It was not till 1963 that the artist Butch Kardum painted his personal home in vibrant shades of blue and inexperienced. Different artists began to repeat him and the “colorist motion” was born.
Probably the most well-known of those coloured homes are the so-called Painted Women on Steiner Avenue, alongside one aspect of Alamo Sq.. This can be a group of homes constructed within the Nineties, now every painted in a distinct coloration. Typically generally known as “Postcard Row”, the Painted Women have come to be seen as a logo of San Francisco.
Look intently at these homes and you will note that they aren’t in truth equivalent. They boast a wealth of authentic architectural particulars, subtly completely different in every home. The Painted Women have usually featured in movies, adverts and TV applications, together with the collection Full Home. Like all the historic houses of Alamo Sq., these homes recall a long-forgotten age.
Featured photograph by Aleah Taboclaon.
