Super-Spectacular Victorian Tour of Noe Valley/ Inner-Mission West District

-----------Four Neighborhoods, in One Era-The Victorians-----------
Noe Valley, Eureka Valley, Inner Mission West, the Duboce Triangle.

On today's tour we will visit many of the most spectacular locations in the history of the Victorian era of Noe Valley and the Western Inner Mission.

• The Pioneer Garage where the first gasoline powered car on the West Coast was built.
• The fire-line where the 06' fire was stopped to save the Mission and Noe Valley.
• Signature Gingerbread details of the main builders of Victorians in Noe Valley
• The Old Hay Hoist
• The spectacular interior of 152 Chattanooga St.
• Meet Author Bill Yenne, as he takes us back, in old photos of historic locations, to compare the then and now appearance changes, a hundred years make.
• We start out at the famous Golden Fire Hydrant. Which forms the fire line of the 1906 earthquake. Walking east on 20th St. between Dolores & Guerrero on one side we see Victorians and the other side stucco facade houses. The north side burned in the fire not the south side which was saved by of only two operating fire hydrants in the area. The golden ones. We'll make our way back to the border of Noe Valley by way of Lexington and Liberty Sts. Historic District.

Actually near the route but is typical of Victorians of that era.
(Photo above of the previous Noe Valley tour in June.)
Sometimes by walking along several blocks of the same street we can get a feel for how these houses blended into the fabric of community and into a village community.

Just imagine whole streets of these exuberant designs. A physical fantasy world, created of Victorian architecture. Row after row of these efflorescent, floriated, flamboyant creations. What prompted these??? Makes for an interesting discussion.

Roughly over 48,000 Victorians were built here, (1860s to 1890s), with about a third remaining.

This link will take you to the history of several of the houses on the tour.

(Five handout sketches of what is described below, including most of the gingerbread details named, will be passed around. We'll also take a minute to go over a sketch of the interior of a typical Victorian to see what the inside was like.)
(There are five Victorian 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 (maybe a rounded or partial Moongate entry)-
Decorative Ironwork- A low fence in front, or a crown at the top.
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 at the end of railings and Finials on Tower tops and roof peaks-
Etc.
Woodworking mills South of Market provided the ornaments with which to add the "gingerbread" to the Victorian houses There was an Old English custom using fancy cutouts of gingerbread to decorate wedding cakes. The term gingerbread was subsequently used for the decorating of Victorian houses. The secret ingredient was redwood. It could be carved, sawn, or turned, or soaked and press molded into almost any design
Periods
1860 - 1870s Italianate* Buildings were vertical in emphasis. Earliest had flat windows, later angled Bay windows. *Copying Italian townhouses from the 15th & 16th centuries.
1880s Stick Style (also called East Lake): Lots of gingerbread. Squared off bay windows appear.
Late 1880s and 1890s Queen Anne : Gingerbread would be generously applied(nailed) to both the Stick and Queen Ann styles in San Francisco. Sloping roofs appear. Gables and towers with witches caps.
Rooflines in the Queen Anne were irregular, combining the witches hat roof on a rounded or octagonal tower.

If you would like a scholarly and detailed explanation with photos, click.
Or, again, just come on the tour and soak up the info!
Super-Spectacular Victorian Tour of Noe Valley/ Inner-Mission West District

Host or Publisher Jordan M Herrmann