Victorian Architecture and a Farewell to San Francisco

Haas-Lilienthal House - San Francisco, Nob Hill

We took our last outing into San Francisco today.  We used transit exclusively - at the cost of $20, which must seem excessive to people living in the prairie culture, but it would have cost far more in both gasoline and parking fees if we had driven our car into the city.  I saw one garage which would give you a day's parking for only $25 - if you arrive after 9am and leave the garage before 6pm.  It was well off the beaten tourist path, so you would taken a bus or cable car anyway to get to any attraction.

Today we went to the Haas-Lilienthal House, the only standing Victorian house in San Francisco with it's original furnishings that is open to the public.  This house was built in 1886, and it survived the 1906 earthquake easily.  However, it was almost consumed by the fires which raged three days and swept across San Francisco.  Here's a very revealing aerial photo taken in May of 1906 (Earthquake:  April 18, 1906).

What we have here is mainly fire damage.  San Francisco was a 'modern' city in 1906, and people had gas lighting and gas cook stoves and gas fireplaces. The quake ruptured not only the gas pipes, but also the water pipes.  Once the escaping gas caught fire, there was no water to extinguish it.  Almost 40% of the city was destroyed before the fires were brought under control.  The fire officials of the time finally realized they had to create artificial firebreaks.  Moving ahead of the fire, they dynamited the buildings of entire streets.  One of the dynamited streets was Van Ness which contained the mansions of the wealthy.  The Van Ness firebreak was one block from the Haas-Lilienthal house, and thus the house we toured today was saved.

 You can see where the fire 'stops' at Van Ness at the top of the picture.  Notice Market Street - in 2014, the BART runs up and down this street which is in the heart of San Francisco bisecting the city like an arrow pointing northeast.

This San Francisco house was built in 1886 by a moderately wealthy Jewish family whose roots were Bavarian, and whose business was the wholesale grocery trade.  I couldn't help contrast the San Francisco house with the Maymont House in Richmond, and the Vanderbilt Breakers in Newport.  Each represents a 'step' up on the wealth scale.  The Vanderbilt houses were opulent; the Maymont House was ostentatious, while the Haas-Lilienthal house was comfortable.  Here's what I mean:

Maymont Dining Room

This dining room at Haas-Lilienthal is nice, but certainly does not reflect the level of wealth finance or railroad construction and ownership brought in the 19th century.  All three houses are contemporary to one another being built within 7 years, 1886 - 1893.  Much of the craftsmanship of Maymont and Breakers was created specifically for these houses by individual craftsmen, and in the case of the Breakers, craftsmen imported from Europe.  By contrast, Mrs. Haas went down to Market Street and 'picked out' her architectural details manufactured by machines, just as new home owners today pick out their cabinetry and counter tops.  Granted, Haas-Lilienthal is all first quality, but it is manufactured quality mimicking individually crafted details.  No one appeared in the San Francisco house to hand paint gold leaf around the carefully crafted plaster molding.

The one interesting fact the ancient tour guide offered (three times) was the typical Victorian crown molding around the ceiling of the 'first parlor'.  The top level is the 'egg and dart'; the second level are the dentals - we were specifically cautioned not to call them 'teeth' -, and the third level closest to the floor are the bay leaves or laurel leaves - all of which represent symbols going back to Greek and Roman times.

This is a perfect example of machine routed molding rather than hand carved molding.

There are more pictures of the various rooms of the house if you wish to flip through the pictures. 

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/115478608971584948192/albums/6044672105847148353?authkey=COaBuZ-W36XpQQ 

This was our last outing into San Francisco.  This sightseeing tour impressed upon me how many attractions have been in San Francisco for the past 40 years.  Our first trip here was in 1974, and in 2014, you can still ride the cable cars, buy cheap souvenirs in Chinatown, take the boat to Alcatraz, shop at the Piers, walk through Golden Gate Park, and even across the Golden Gate Bridge.  The fog still rolls in and out, and some days in the shank of summer feel like a chilly autumn day.  You need to pick your walking routes carefully in the city unless you're into mountain climbing which is what some of the steeper hills feel like as you trudge up and down them.   We've enjoyed this summer on so many levels.  If it weren't for the damn earthquakes, this place would be a paradise to live in.  We leave here in 6 days.  My prayer is I get out of town before the ground shakes.