Duboce Park Victorian Tour - Part 1

-----------Four Neighborhoods, in One Era-The Victorians-----------
Noe Valley, Eureka Valley, Inner Mission West, the Duboce Triangle.
(A series of Meetups about the above!)

(PARKING Tips! If you know where to look parking is available.
The first place I look is beside the Calif.Pacific Med.Ctr.hospital on Noe St. between Duboce Ave. & 14th St. there is a long block here of diagonal parking spaces on the hospital side of the street.
Being it is early in the morning is helpful in finding something on the neighborhood streets too.
Directly adjacent to Duboce Park is a good possibility.
Also Googling "find parking in the Duboce Triangle" will show parking lots in the area.)
I think this tour is marvelous, try to make it.

Suggestions for lunch afterwards are two; the great burritos at El Toro Taqueria, NW corner 17th & Valencia, do takeout (1 burrito is enough for two people, my go to is the super veggie.) and then walk over to Dolores Park. (Remeet opposite the upper level restrooms, entrance side, across, in the shade under the trees there.) Near the corner of 20th&Dolores.

Also the Reveille Cafe at the corner of Steiner & Waller, where we meet, as mentioned earlier, is very good and excellent for brunch.
Note: An announcement for this Event appeared in several local SF neighborhood newspapers. Purchasing a ticket here or on Eventbrite is very helpful since it will let the Organizer know in advance you are coming.

The tour will start near Duboce Park and include, Waller St., Carmelita, Pierce, Potomac, then, Walter, Henry and Beaver Sts.
Builder, Fernando Nelson's block of Carmelita St. stands out in a neighborhood of beautifully authentic Victorians. Nelson retired as San Francisco's most prolific builder, producing some 4,000 homes, during the years he worked with his sons, from 1876 until his death in 1953. After the Victorian Era he created developments in the Richmond, Presidio Terrace and West Portal, among others.
For a biography of F. Nelson, click.

The photo above is of #78 Carmelita St. a house almost identical to Nelson's family house at 701 Castro St, see photo below.

Instead of some sort of link, I'll just pass the hat on the tour.

Roughly over 48,000 Victorians were built in SF, (1860s to 1890s), with about a third remaining. Bay Area entrepreneurship with the wealth of the best building material, old growth redwood, driving forces?

The information below is provided if you are interested in more details about SF Victorian architecture.

Looking at a San Francisco Victorian, what to look for:
(There are five Styles)

1. Flat front Italianate- (earliest Victorians). (French 2nd Empire appear)
2. Italianate with slanted bay windows.
3. San Francisco Stick Style (also called East Lake). Simpler square bay windows now used. Overall much more elaborate decoration, ornament and gingerbread used.
4. Queen Anne Tower House&Witches Cap, with angled or rounded bay windows & front gable
5. Queen Anne Row House, 1, 1-1/2 or two stories. Large front gable. Possible moongate entry.

Features & "Gingerbread"
Type of Entry & Doorway(maybe a rounded or partial Moongate entry)-
Decorative Ironwork-
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, half or full.
Gables (Queen Anne's) in a variety of material- (mainly redwood)
Newel Posts and Finials on Tower tops and roof peaks-

If you would like a scholarly and detailed explanation with photos, click.

Duboce Park Victorian Tour - Part 1

Host or Publisher Jordan M Herrmann