Exploring the City...and Environs

I was in San Francisco last Friday night to see an outstanding concert by Steven Wilson, a brilliant British guitarist/songwriter/sound engineer/singer...and probably more!  Suz and I stayed at the Hotel Tomo in Japantown, four blocks from the legendary Fillmore, the concert venue.  The hotel features anime murals in every room, friendly service, good food, and handy parking, all for a reasonable price.  Definitely a keeper!

The hotel is located in an old neighborhood that fortunately was not touched by the 1906 fire, which was contained a few blocks to the east along Franklin Street and Van Ness Avenue.  Thus, there are many classic Victorian homes within an easy walk.  From what I've read, the Victorians, though beautiful and ornate, were not as complicated to construct as it may seem.  Many of the homes, in fact, were basically built from kits, that came complete with fancy, but mass produced woodwork such as you can see around the windows of this home.  Blow up the pic for better detail.

In the 1890s the Queen Anne style came into vogue, featuring round towers and curved windows...I can only imagine how much these panes of glass cost nowadays.  I don't recall ever having been in one of these round towers, but they seem cozy to me.

A block of fine Victorians on Webster Street.  Being standard architecture, and built from kits, these were originally only middle class homes, priced comparatively modestly by 1870s/80s standards.  Now, any nicely renovated Victorian is worth over a million dollars.

These Vics are more elegant than the ones in the above pic.  They're on California Street, a bit west of Nob Hill.  Almost all the surviving Victorians in SF have now been nicely renovated.  Some people have made a living doing that.  They would perhaps buy a rundown house for, say, 300K, spend two years and another 300K renovating it, then sell it for a million.  Net result...400K profit for two years' hard work.  Not bad.

Before the concert I roamed the Marin headlands.  This was a favorite pastime 1990-94, when I lived in the Bay Area...don't get to do it nearly as often now, so whenever I have the opportunity I jump on it.  I got lucky and was able to get some pics of the GG Bridge with this large container ship passing underneath.

This is Tennessee Beach, a few miles north of the Golden Gate.  The beach is named after a ship that was wrecked here around 1850.  The red cliffs and sand remind me a little of Red Sand Beach in Maui.  This is a wilderness beach...you have to hike a mile and a half to reach it.  I first did the trek in 1977, shortly after the area had been saved from development.  Some real estate people wanted to build a huge community named Marincello here, with 16 story apartment towers and shopping malls.  Fortunately, the conservationists gained the upper hand and the region was added to the large swath of parkland in West Marin.  Marin and Sonoma counties have everything.  The 101 corridor is highly urbanized, with all the modcons.  Farther west the countryside is peaceful and pastoral, with lots of dairy cows.  There are plenty of wineries, and groves of redwoods.  And both counties have fine mountains with spectacular views.  All within an easy drive of San Francisco, one of the world's great cities!

This house is in Petaluma, which also features lots of fine Victorian architecture.  Like San Francisco, there are also plenty of Mediterranean and Craftsman homes.  This one is a hybrid...the basic design is Craftsman (early 20th century) but the round tower is Queen Anne style (late 19th).  Perhaps the buyer liked the old round tower feature but wanted a modern home overall.  Notice the fine front porch...perfect for reading, drinking wine, dozing, strumming the guitar, or watching the town pass by.  I could live here!

I also roamed the slopes of Mount Tamalpais, a favorite hangout since the 1980s.  Here's a shot of Stinson Beach from the lower slopes of the mountain.