Or some sort of sentient thing that stared at buildings, researched buildings, loved buildings. So to get me out of my San Francisco daze, which at this point was almost a month ago, I need to finish up with my list of architectural viewings.

Once a journey is chosen, I can't help myself. It's a little game I play; what would I want to see if I were going to ______. I mean after-all, trips don't allow for much more. These are not deep cultural embedments. Heck, I don't think I spoke more that a couple dozen words to natives when in the city. That can't really be called anything. So in my mind the journey, the travel, is about deep observing. Really the only sense that is fully engaged, encoding, and hopefully storing beautiful memories are the eyes. Sight-seeing is my favorite pastime.

So I made my list, didn't check it twice and early on the last day we headed out to see the sights.

This compact large house (which feels oxymoronic, but works) was between Cow Hollow and Russian Hill.

So a bit of background from "Your Friendly Neighborhood Guide of San Francisco (http://www.friendlyneighborhoodguide.com/neighborhoods/8/San-Francisco):

Cow Hollow is like a younger version of its family oriented neighbor to the south, Pacific Heights, almost as if the young parents picked up and moved up the hill as they aged (which, in fact, many do). Cow Hollow is a Mecca for the young and well off, with a swanky commercial area centered around Union Street, and many pricey rentals with great views or quaint layouts. Unlike its southern neighbor, however, Cow Hollow’s old Victorians perch along steep, rolling hills, rather than on a gentle incline. If you are very good at spotting gradations of wealth, you might notice that Cow Hollow’s well-kept houses and apartments are just slightly less expensive than those of Pacific Heights, but for most of us, this is a distinction without a difference. According to the 2000 census, Cow Hollow is virtually all white with almost 9 out of 10 people being Caucasian, and the rest being largely of Asian heritage.

The Hills were alive and many-named. However, they were not one specific Hill, but rather a section or neighborhood. This area was Russian Hill.

Known for the “crookedest street in the world,” Russian Hill is an upscale residential community offering great views, boutique shops and nearby access to North Beach and the commercial district.
One might best define Russian Hill by its four directional faces. The northern face, with its views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, offers the most picturesque and wind blown vistas. On these streets, you find refurbished Victorians, whose quaint old facades have been remodeled with sleek lines for a modern aesthetic. Bay windows still abound, but now they perch on structures that only faintly resemble their former selves. Tall, older residential buildings also frame the northern face, offering the resident of these older 50’s structures great views in themselves.

One of the modernized or refurbished Victorians. I liked its clean look.

It was difficult for us non-natives to distinguish the line between neighborhoods, especially on these upscale hills. I think we were now on Nob Hill, which besides telegraph hill (in earlier posts a mention of Coit Tower was made, the tourist route of the Hop On Bus) was the only other hill I had heard of or remembered from the past.

Nob Hill has long had a reputation for being the stodgy, upscale neighborhood of San Francisco. In a city filled with high cost neighborhoods, the area has earned the moniker of “Snob Hill,” even though it is no longer considered the most expensive residential area (Sea Cliff has displaced it for that title).

In many ways, Nob Hill embodies some of the worst features of San Francisco—it is noisy, overcrowded, and expensive to both live and visit. As with other areas, parking is difficult and made even more so by steep inclines. Many refurbished Victorians line the streets but you tend to come across a far greater number of older stone buildings. As with Russian Hill to the north, this is largely an enclave for singles and married childless couples, the close quarters of apartments and condos not being conducive to childrearing, despite the high prices.

This was not a steep grade hill like some of the nose-bleed ones we traversed, but a gradual incline (actually we were headed down).

When you come upon these monstrosities you get the feel of "Snob Hill" they were built on purpose to be standouts and examples of great wealth, but there were many places in SF that I just couldn't wrap my head around their $1mill+ price tags.

Ya feel me on this. Like, do you know anyone who has an entryway to their home like this? I don't.

I thought this lower Nob Hill corner building was funky. The trees though, were so odd. It looked as if someone came along and loped off all of their upper branches.

Pacific Heights we learned was the "it" place, at least according to recorded voice in my ear on the Hop on bus. It was also a vaguely familiar name for an area of SF. We actually stayed near here, but on the tourist end/border of Cow Hollow.
Friendly SF also told me this:

Pacific Heights

Summary: Pacific Heights is an upper-class family neighborhood with great schools, family homes, and great panoramic views of the bay.Pacific Heights is the prime destination for San Franciscans looking for the ideal city neighborhood in which to raise kids. It is primarily a residential enclave just far enough away from crime-ridden areas like the Tenderloin to give families a feeling of relative security. Although Pacific Heights is on a slope, the grades here are gentle enough where kids could, in theory, ride their bikes and walk to school, although given the current climate in childrearing these activities are a thing of the past. Although Victorians largely rule the day here as in much of the city, the architecture is far more varied, including mission and chateau style homes.

So this was my real reason for hitting this neighborhood. It is literally on the edge of Pacific H. + the Presidio. The Swedenborgian Church at 2107 Lyons St. is an 1894 construction by Architect Arthur Page Brown. It was so quaint, this little tiled and brick church, this place that if I could've gotten inside I would've been able to see some of the Arts + Crafts movement era furniture that I adore. I desperately wanted to go in, but alas it was closed :(

Oh you know I just love these brown placards!

So it being a Saturday,...

The gates were locked and entry was not made. Just peeks through the bars. The church is really now merely a Chapel mostly used for weddings, but when founded it was based on the teachings/beliefs of Emmanual Swedenborg

A famous Swedenborgian was Helen Keller (who knew? Well, now I do!)

Here is the link to all things Swedenborgian Church of SF:http://www.sfswedenborgian.org/tour/tour.asp

Next up was 3778 Washington Street, now called the Russell house, built in 1952 by Erich Mendelsohn

Although much of it was shaded, we did find a few places to peak in at this very cool architectural design. Structurally, the main floor consists of a steel frame platform. Above this level, the house was built with the typical local wood-frame construction and finished with Californian Redwood siding.

One of my favorite real estate blog sites for structures, "Curbed" pointed me to this cool home.

The Russell House, the only house by Erich Mendelsohn in the Bay Area, built between 1947 and 1952 by the late Madeleine Haas Russell on the site of her childhood home in Presidio Heights (she was the great grandniece of Levi Strauss).
Mendelsohn was a successful and influential German-Jewish architect in the nineteen-twenties, bridging the nascent Expressionist movement and moving towards Streamline Moderne.
He wound up in the Bay Area around 1940, working in the office of John E Dinwiddie and teaching at Berkeley

I wondered who lived there now ( The building is still in hands of the same family and remains in its original state.) and what it was like inside. Some stuff I gleaned from surfing: The house has four floors and two wings forming an "L" that create a large ground-level patio. This patio occupies the full length of the lot, extending under the main wing of the house and becoming a terrace with a view of the Bay at the north end. The east-west wing contains kitchens, utility rooms and other service areas on the 1st level as well as a lower level garage underneath. Mendelsohn capitalized on the magnificent existing views of the San Francisco Bay and Golden Gate Bridge from this elevated site, by laying out along the north-south direction the main wing that contains dining and living areas, and bedrooms respectively, on the top 2nd and 3rd levels. The most striking and dramatic element of the house, located at the northwest corner of the top level, is the master bedroom's circular sitting area with bay windows overlooking the San Francisco Bay. What a view!

Now this is where I am confused. Some call this area "Presidio Heights," although this was not a named area on our map. I got this from an Airbnb site:

Most of the traffic in Presidio Heights can be attributed to wistful visitors admiring the neighborhood’s prestigious homes. Wide, quiet streets and expansive, lush gardens line the front entrances of Presidio Heights’ immaculate residences. Located just south of the Presidio, this convenient neighborhood is near some of San Francisco’s most coveted green space and immersive hiking trails. Presidio Heights offers ethereal seclusion amid the hustle-bustle of SF urbanity.

So here is the across the street neighbor to the Russell house + it's for sale if you are interested!

Originally constructed in 1902 as a stunning replica of the Le Petit Trianon in Versailles France, 3800 Washington Street is San Francisco Landmark 95 and one of the City's most grand estates. Estate grounds are nearly 2/3rds of an acre with a main home of apx. 17,895 sqft. and 2,618 sqft. guest home. Each room is grand in its proportion with soaring ceilings and copious windows. There are 9 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, 4 kitchens, 9 fireplaces, elevator access to all levels and a grand ball room with period detailing. Le Petit Trianon is an irreplaceable estate on enormous grounds. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a San Francisco Landmark and a prominent piece of San Francisco's most exclusive neighborhood. This home was once owned by Tech Entrepenuer of CNET fame, Halsey Minor and the asking price=was $25M, but is now down to a more manageable $20M!

The place was looking shabby, especially the Maple side, which contains an adjoining 2,000 square foot guesthouse and a vacant lot (125 Maple St.) that's currently being used as the property's big backyard. But this beauty bit of flora alludes to a once proud past.

Next chunk of a chunky big brick building (there were far more than I thought sprinkled throughout the city) was this church/temple. Congregation Sherith Israel ("loyal remnant of Israel") is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States. It was established during California’s Gold Rush period and reflects the ambitions of early Jewish settlers to San Francisco. Today it is a congregation widely known for its innovative approach to worship and lifecycle celebrations and is part of the movement of Reform Judaism. Its historic sanctuary building is one of San Francisco's most prominent architectural landmarks and attracts visitors from all over the world. (1905)

And moving right along to much ogled Haas-Lilienthal House at 2007 Franklin St. The Haas-Lilienthal House was designed by Peter R. Schmidt in 1886. As the only period era home open to the public in San Francisco, the house beautifully exemplifies upper-middle class life in the Victorian era. Built in the Queen Anne style, the house features prominent open gables, varied styles of shingles and siding, and a turreted corner tower topped by a “witches cap” roof. Built of redwood and fir, the house withstood both the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes with only minor damage. No we did not have time for a tour, but we have been in more than our share of old Victorians. I was curious if this Haas house was related to the more moderne Mendelsohn house built for a Haas. And with a little click and search found my answer, "Yes."
http://www.sfheritage.org/haas-lilienthal-house/

About 48,000 houses in the Victorian and Edwardian styles were built in San Francisco between 1849 and 1915.

Moving on up (well actually it was really on down into the belly of the beast- The Tenderloin). Let's just say then, moving on...

Although the silly Hop On bus lingers in this area for some morbid curiosity tourist gawking of how the other half lives, I wanted to go back and find the awesome work of affordable housing that thanks to my pal Joanne, I am always now on the lookout for.

by Golden Gate Ave in the Tenderloin district the scenery had changed.

In 2001, with a rare chance to build housing from the ground up in the dense Tenderloin neighborhood home to many of the City’s SRO hotels, TNDC immediately knew the population it wanted to serve on this infill site. With 4,000 children in the community, there was a tremendous demand for family housing and very little existed nearby. With $23 million in financing from multiple sources – along with a prayer to St. Joseph, the patron saint of real estate – TNDC was able to realize its long-standing dream of providing quality family housing on a once vacant parking lot adjacent to its headquarters.
Curran House, named after Sister Patrick Curran of the Sisters of Mercy, is a 67-unit complex where nearly 60% of the apartments are two bedrooms or larger, rises from a lot that’s long and relatively shallow, wedged between older apartment buildings on three sides. Tenants enjoy a rooftop garden with benches, tables and raised gardening beds. The ground-floor community room faces onto a peaceful interior courtyard with a small waterfall. In addition, the complex includes units set-aside for homeless households, for which there is on-site access to supportive services, including an after school program and a social worker. As a transit-oriented development, the building has no parking, with the basement level instead housing offices for the organization and street frontage devoted to space for local nonprofits.

Curran House reminded me of Berlin and European Modernism Social Housing Estates where some of the great architects for that period of 1910 to early 1930's built low-income garden-city type social housing. I love the concepts and designs of these garden city or New Urbanism movements.

Right across the street from the Curran house was the Hotel Warfield. As I stood taking pictures, a man inside the building came running out and and questioned me about what I was doing. He seemed a tad paranoid if you asked me. Made me wonder more about this place, even though my destination was the more modern affordable housing across the street.

This is how one person described this site: Located in the heart of the Tenderloin, on the corner of Taylor and Turk, the Warfield Hotel is situated in one of the city's most crime-ridden and troubled areas. In a dismal contest of failing electricity, broken elevators, revolting lavatories, disgusting vermin and disturbing violence, the Warfield had plenty of serious competition.

And just look at this! A beloved brown plaque. However, for decades, journalists, politicians, social workers and activists have been reporting on the dystopian living conditions in many of the for-profit SROs -- or, if you prefer less euphemistic terms, flophouses. SROs are the last stop before homelessness our housing stock provides. So, as the price of housing in the Bay Area has gone up and all sorts of government assistance has been slashed, they've become increasingly crucial not only for the most marginalized but also but for poor families, underpaid service workers and people with disabilities. Riddled with code violations, and a sordid past, I was amazed to see this plaque and got a quick shot off before that man ran out and asked me what I was doing.

Whoever it was that stated, "a picture is worth a thousand words" was so right. Here is my thousand words shot for how the other half of SF lives.

I was incredibly curious about this sign on a window near the Curran house stop. So research I did, and here is what they have as their motto: Where neighborhood challenges meet civic pride.
http://sfdpw.org/index.aspx?page=1805

The Tenderloin Pit Stop is a six-month pilot project operated by San Francisco Public Works that provides portable toilets and sinks, used needle receptacles and dog waste stations at three locations in the Tenderloin.

The Tenderloin Pit Stop facilities will be staffed and trucked to and from the sites daily. The solar-powered toilets will be serviced daily at a remote location before returned to the Tenderloin Pit Stop locations.

It is these sort of efforts that one gets the sense of the ultra-liberal aspect of San Francisco, NOT the exorbitant and snooty high rent districts. I celebrate and honor those foot soldiers doing the necessary and often difficult social work to help people.

So off we went to see another affordable housing example. The Plaza Apartments are at the corner of 6th and Howard Streets. This project was begun around the same time as Curran House (early 2000's).
http://greensource.construction.com/projects/0707_PlazaApts.asp

Located in the heart of San Francisco’s evolving Sixth Street redevelopment area, this environmentally responsible, mixed-use development provides 106 new affordable studio apartments, comprehensive support services, residential amenities, retail and a small community theatre.

Intended to serve the cities neediest and lowest income residents, the Plaza is the first newly constructed property fully dedicated to the San Francisco Health Department’s Direct Access to housing program and serves as a new national model for green supportive housing.

Across the street from the Plaza Apts. is ANOTHER fine example of the Patriotic Baseball Frenzy seen all over the city. What I particularly liked about this shot is what was captured in the upper right corner= a post of a streetlight that reads, "Change the World from Here." Come to find out, it is the motto for the University of San Francisco.

On the other corner of 6th and Howard was this lovely older building. I love the rounded bay windows of this apt. building. I wished I could go inside. oh but Time...

Another serendipitous shot= a bathtub out the window. There is a story there, I just don't know it. It's those moments that just slay me. I want to yell, "Stop the car," jump out and run up and/or into that building and find my answer. But alas, I have learned, "some things you just have to let go."
I did learn that this area is called SoMa, another district not well defined and not on our Hop On map. It is a half-gentrified area as a result of the dot.com era and then a stalled or busted technology "gold rush." Here is a link:
http://www.sfgate.com/neighborhoods/sf/soma/

So next we were headed to the Castro district, but first we had to travel through yet another district unnamed on our map: NOE Valley. You could call this area the other half of SoMa with its gentrified and dot.com wealth. Here's what sfgate had to say about this area:

"Noe Valley is a neighborhood of contradictions. It's home to both liberals and conservatives, it has attracted the working class, dot.com millionaires, Hollywood film crews ("Sister Act," "Nash Bridges"), and, in the 1970s, followers of controversial Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Recent problems with storefront vandalism stand in sharp contrast to Noe's clean-cut image and the fact that it's chock full of upscale restaurants, home-decor boutiques, and chic clothing shops. Since the dot.com boom began waning, housing prices have dipped slightly and there has been some turnover on the main shopping drag, but it remains a prosperous, shopper-friendly neighborhood whose bistros, coffee shops, and bookstores are always lively, and where parking is always at a premium."

So here we were between Mission District and Haight Ashbury headed into Eureka Valley and the famous Castro district.

Summary: The Castro is the central gay neighborhood in SF, with a fabulously vibrant heart centered around Castro and Market and three highly coveted residential areas that stretch out from it to the east, west and north.
The history and struggle, triumphs and tragedies of this place humble me. When community comes together, grows and is open and welcoming how could you go wrong? But despite the hard work and vibrant community that had been created in the late 60's and early 70's, the murder of Harvey Milk and light sentence of Dan White with his "twinkie" defense (1979) caused what I learned was the "White Night Riot," much like the ten years earlier "Stonewall Riots" of NYC and the current on-going situation in Ferguson Missouri (ah there it goes, that "history repeating itself" thing that so many folks don't pay attention to or change in any way as a result of). Frustration, oppression, and hassles imposed on people just trying to live their lives has to be incredibly hard and flash-points come, and shit happens. But at least now, at least here, at least for this day we found a very cool and upbeat place in the Castro district.

And the infamous flag flapping so elegantly in the light wind as we approached. I found it funny that there is still controversy around this flag, but not in the way one would think. Here is the link:

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/06/09/battle-brewing-over-control-of-sf-castro-district-pride-flag/

And finally we found the place I remember the most from my 1979 trip out to look at colleges. I wonder if the riot had already occurred? I wonder if I was even aware of all that happened in 1978? I am pretty sure I was almost completely oblivious. As a 16 yr. old kid I was aware of very little outside my own little adolescent world. We came down here from Oakland to be gawkers, much in the same way the Hop on bus takes well-heeled tourists to linger in the Tenderloin so they can see the rare, strange sight of poor folk. We had seen and known so very little about "gay" people that we wanted to be scandalized by the wild scene down here. Now how messed up is that? We had my mothers prep school chum's son (my age) to escort us, find good drugs, illegal booze and a midnight showing of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show." It was the trippiest scene I had ever almost experienced (I ended up puking right there in the famous theater).

Ah nostalgia! "Let's do the Time Warp again!" Which it was. At least for a brief minute for we were now on the fly to fit in the rest of our plotted stops.

Next up, for yes we truly were now headed up again into the edges of the Mission district so I could notch off another site on our sight-seeing stops (aka "the Kendra struggle-in and struggle-out rental car jerk-about"). I don't think I had a full grasp from prior visit how truly hilly SF was.

If I liked SF a little more, and if I were to run away from all the BS in Public Education, I would try to run to this! I would try to Imagiknit (goodness knows I know all about visualization from my ultra-liberal stomping grounds in Noho on the other coast)! Located on 18th St. in the Mission district, it is a fine example of the split of this old neighborhood and how gentrification changes the scene, taste and flavor of old and historic and earthy stuff. The visualization started to curl at the corners, darken in from there, and feel smoky with rejection in the core of my mind's eye. "Who the hell are you kidding," self says to me-self (actually that is a false voice, an affected Noho self-actualized and gentrified voice). Deeper in the real voice says, "No fucking way would I have some over-priced, snooty, white upper-middle class joint where whiny and complaining bitches would come and criticize my lack of the latest and greatest in home-spun, home-dyed, natural, green, organic pieces of string to make costly shit to give others or flaunt around on my own vast and voluptuous frame." Yeah, that's the voice that was roaring in my head the more I looked at that joint. If I had more time (and hadn't already given away my yearly batch of hats to a local group as the weather got colder in New England), I would have looked up the Women's Shelter here in the Mission District that I randomly sent my batch to a few years back and given them more. Don't believe me, then here is a piece of a "knitter's review" (yup, much like the NYTimes book and theater reviews):

Tea Time
ImagiKnit is located kitty-corner to the Samovar Tea Lounge, a beautiful spot to relax and play with your yarn purchases.The day of my visit to ImagiKnit, I first met up with several members of the Bay Area Wool Divas (or BAWDies) at Samovar and had possibly the best pot of assam tea ever.

Yes, the everyday woman's dream. A knit group and a pot of assam tea. Okay, I am losing it here, which is not at all where I was headed. A deep travelers head swivels more than Linda Blair's in the Exorcist, and so this site was NOT on the list, nor a desired scene (I imagined the same snotty proprietor-type ladies that greeted me in Lenox, MA when I went into a similar store there, that due to my ignorance I bumblingly asked for something incorrectly, who knows maybe I said "Iran" instead of "Aran," for some sort of fucking yarn that defies definition). Anywho before I go completely over the edge, here is the website, you can check it out on your own:
http://imagiknit.com/

So taking in the big and the small, we had driven by this place a few times and thought it was either a school or your basic church. It was only when we were looking for Dolores Park did we learn that the famous "Mission Dolores" was the anchor for the area and hence the name of the district and the park.

Now onto another rant, for although I do love history and I adore looking at buildings, I am so not down with forceful takeovers of land and "evangelizing" of the native or indigent peoples of a territory (and the awful, awful, awful history of what was done in the name of this evangelizing aspect to indigenous peoples the world over in general, and all over our continent in specific), so much so that this historic and oldest, and blah, blah, blah site was merely a drive-by to what much, much more interested me and that was this:

A hilarious post-Halloween (or perhaps just an average everyday wear garb, who knew) strolling person on 20th St. on a Saturday at 8:30 a.m.

Or this:

A hard to find gem in the upper corner of Dolores Park that I was intent on locating so I could snap this shot and go home and do one of my secret side passions of searching for Chapman Valve, Spfld., MA made hydrants. A passion developed when I worked in Adult Literacy with a black man who worked at the plant in my backyard forever without knowing how to read and write. He worked his tail off and was a skilled machinist when the plant was shut down due to it's awful environmental impact and class action lawsuits were filled on behalf of the employees most affected by the toxins they daily were exposed to. But once again, I was so ignorant and uninformed myself of what was happening in my own back yard, that I did a 360 turn-around and became obsessed with learning about, visiting, and now searching for its spawn the world over. So far, no such luck. But I did then go home and research Greenburg and Sons, because not only was this hydrant famous for it's role in the 1906 earthquake, but it also was unique in having been caste by a smaller outfit. And there I did indeed find that it was a Cali-based thing from but one of the numerous Hydrant collectors blogs (yup you bet your ass there is! And bricks, and every other imaginable and so not-so-imaginable collector sites): http://www.firehydrant.org/collector/willis01.html

So poor old Morris invents a really cool hydrant that gets gold paint, AND a plaque and he doesn't even have a Wiki page. I found out a little more about him on the Jewish Museum of the American West:
http://www.jmaw.org/morris-greenberg-brass-foundry-owner-san-francisco/

I mean dang it all, this is BIG (well ok, enlarged here, but really small in the sidewalk). A Greenberg Hydrant saved the mission district on that awful earthquake day that we heard A LOT about! I was impressed. I was very impressed, and glad we made the journey. I had heard a funny story about the famous-to-some hydrant, let me see if I can find some sort of link to it.
So, okay once again controversy collides with tradition. There's this:

In honor of their epic fight, the fire hydrant was painted gold. Every year on the anniversary of the earthquake, the hydrant receives a fresh coat of paint from the Fire Chief and local residents at 5:12 a.m. (the exact time of earthquake hit).

And this oops from Atlas Obscura:

In 2012 the hydrant was accidentally painted silver, but it was quickly re-painted in its rightful gold color.

Then finally and more recently BIG news:

http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/twin-fire-hydrants-tied-to-1906-earthquake-lore-could-get-silver-honor/Content?oid=2742672
Now I don't know what happened from there, because in the article it says there was going to be a SILVER painting ceremony in April 2014. But this was Nov. 1, 2014 and what I saw and photographed was a GOLD hydrant. Oh the controversies...

Anywho, while I was up there and waiting the last few moments until final destination opened at 10 a.m., I took in the awesome view.

Dolores Park is named for Miguel Hidalgo (El Grito de Dolores), the father of Mexican independence, and the town of Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Mexico. As a priest in Dolores, it was Hidalgo's ringing of the town's church bell and public cry for freedom that sparked the Mexican revolution.
Some more history I previously knew little about. Akin to the American revolution for emancipation from England, Mexico had it's own beefs w/ Spain. Of course their revolution started later (1810) took longer (11 years), but in the end it was all good and cleaved (well at least until the U.S. had its own beef w/ Mexico in 1848).

my practice w/ the panoramic shots continues to creep along. Although the park itself looks oddly distorted, the neighborhood of Dolores Heights and the The J-Church Muni line came in rather good!

A fun find carved into the cement near the hydrant brings it all back for me. I rather the hippy and free love era any day over the warring years.

So final destination. You know, save the best for last. The place would be hard to stumble upon unless you knew about it and were looking for it. And we were. Still when this scene met us as we exited the car we were amused and a little baffled:

So you see in the video a little sign on the left gate that said "Maiden Lane." That was our destination. We have no idea who, what, or why the man was set up to sing Opera there. The lane is a little pedestrian mall that only allows foot-traffic during the day (hence the gate).

But this place was once known for its ill repute, or being in the "Red Light district," and now is home to high-end boutiques (to service the high-end SF'ians). It used to be called Morton St. and prior to the 1906 Earthquake (see there it goes again- everything is referenced to this event) it is reputed to have had one murder a week. Well the earthquake destroyed all the brothels and when the street was rebuilt out of the phoenix came a new, virginal name Maiden Lane- fashioned after the London + New York ones and where an enterprising jeweler set up shop.

The Barbary Coast Trail marker was near, which we never figured out what the trail encompassed (b/c we sure as shit were not walking all over hilly SF). I can only imagine what those days were like, when the birth of the Barbary coastal area of SF was born out of the Gold Rush era of the mid 1800's when men (and the women who serviced them) flocked to this area. The early decades of the Barbary Coast would be marred by persistent lawlessness, gambling, administrative graft, vigilante justice, and prostitution. I found it hilarious to try to envision such a wild past as I entered the Lane and a snobbish shopping district that had it not been for FLW bldg. you would NEVER find me there.

140 Maiden Lane is a prime example of the absolute change or gentrification of the area. Just off Union Square and surrounded by Swanky shops, it sits quietly in its recessed spot.

I had written down the Circle Gallery and 1948 as its origins.

The internet says V.C. Morris gift shop. The sign says Xanadu Gallery. Oh the confusion!

So let's back up before we go in. This site, this building and all the beauty within is the only Frank Lloyd Wright building in San Francisco. Located just off Union Square, the V. C. Morris gift shop's distinctive arched brickwork was designed to lure passers-by into the shop's airy interior and the interior design has similarities to the Guggenheim Museum.

In fact the store was used as a prototype for the circular ramp at the Guggenheim in N.Y. So let's go in. First notice the tunnel-like entrance you have to go into to get in. Here's FLW's reasoning for this:

When questioned by the owner about the omission of traditional store-front windows on the facade of the building, Wright replied:
"We are not going to dump your beautiful merchandise on the street, but create an arch-tunnel of glass, into which the passers-by may look and be enticed. As they penetrate further into the entrance, seeing the shop inside with its spiral ramp and tables set with fine china and crystal, they will suddenly push open the door, and you've got them!"

This is an interesting connotation considering that the building is situated on Maiden Lane, which while now known as one of San Francisco's most elegant shopping promenades, was a street of ill repute during the notorious heyday of the Barbary Coast. The brickwork itself, a rare enough sight in San Francisco architecture, is beautifully laid, and draws attention quietly rather than competing with the surrounding street. A delicate line of translucent panels with a raised geometric motif that is classic Wright lights the outside wall.

The ramp.

In the interior, Wright placed a circular mezzanine reached by ascending a spiral ramp. Both are made of white reinforced concrete. The built-in wood and glass furnishings are also composed of circle segments.

All of the built-in furniture is constructed out of black walnut, is original to the renovation, and was designed by Manuel Sandoval, who apprenticed and worked with Frank Lloyd Wright.

It was truly a treat to end the trip here. I am a FLW-ophile, I will readily admit. Hugely dislike the man and his super ego, but damn if I don't adore his architecture.

As you can see from the last picture, the gallery is now something different than its original plan. Still a gift shop of a sort, it is now a gallery that bills itself as being a place that specializes in fine Asian antiques, but it really was a bit more eclectic than that.

The wood smelled of FLW. I love the wood.

The same could be said of the hardware. Nothing fancy, just solid and so FLW.

The lock is probably newer, an attempt to match the original doorknob.

The built-ins also so FLW. I wanted to touch it all, and I did b/c I could. No roped off areas or docent following at my feet to see if I would touch as is the case in the FLW home tours. We were free to roam.

Simply elegant.

The lighting. The entire space seems to rotate beneath the luminous bubbles of the cast white plastic ceiling. The latter evokes the organic geometry of the Johnson Wax Building interior, and creates the effect of opalescent, filtered sunlight.

I thought these lights looked like alien eyeballs, they call them portholes.

The inside walls of sand colored, poured concrete flow around this dome of light, marked by occasional lit portholes.

AND THEN DA STUFF:

Sago Bowl from New Guinea

Peter salivating over the Africa blacksmith pieces!

Tibetan Bronze Govinda. Govinda is the name of Siddhartha's best friend, so not sure if this sculpture is supposed to represent him. All I know is look below at price!

Guess who didn't buy that?

Looks pretty innocuous right?

Of course hubby and I have an insider joke in our years long quest for lingam (silly westerners trying to read the Kama Sutra + be all informed and shit).

Loved the range of beautiful artistry and craftsmanship. I wanted it all, but we settled for 2 small pieces and went home happy campers.

???

Bet you never knew that- we didn't, but you really truly do learn something (or many somethings) everyday. I love life for this. I will die when I am filled up to the utmost brim of newly learned somethings.

And there's where we lay, in the middle of the "Layers of Meaning" with our little and big sentient beings of art.

The final pieces I photographed were functional pieces that, try as I might I could not find any information on.

This was some sort of pneumatic transfer system. To send money to the safe perhaps?

And this looks like a dumbwaiter. And dumb people like me couldn't wait to find the answer, but alas...I never did :(

These two look like relics from a lost culture and were marked, "priceless." (i.e. FREE)

Finally, outside which we missed coming in but the lovely wonderful merchant came out and pointed out to us once he saw our intense interest in everything FLW, is the iconic Wright’s signature on a red tile by the front door — equal parts seal of approval and certificate of authenticity.

As we left Maiden Lane and said our goodbyes to SF, in typical fashion we each found just one more little cool example of the small things that are so cool that go into creating a whole. For Peter this was utilitarian beauty.