Architectural Tour Noe Valley Victorians-Part 2

We start with a house built by Fernando Nelson in 1892, at 1257 Noe St.(Photo above). It has the Nelson signature gingerbread details, of donuts, button boards, drips and bow ties. Fun to see these unusual details. (photo below of these signature details)

. For a biography of Nelson click here. He continued building with his sons until his death in 1953, starting in 1876.

There are over 100 Victorians in the various guidebooks for Noe Valley. In our tour time of two hours we will get to see about 30-40 of these.

The following is part of an effort to make organizing a Meetup more sustainable. Especially in the light of the well known and disappointing 50% Meetup no show rates.

• If you have a No-show history you will need to sign-up on Eventbrite.
• If you are on the wait-list, you can RSVP on Eventbrite.
• If you would like to bring more then one guest please sign-up on Eventbrite.
• I'll pass the hat during the Event.

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. The info comes from the Victorian Alliance of SF, tour guide booklet for Noe Valley.

(There are five Victorian Styles)

1. Flat front Italianate- (earliest Victorians).
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 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.

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 Earliest had flat front 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. 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.