Architectural Tour of Noe Valley Victorians+the Earthquake Fire Line-Part 1.

Architectural Tour of Noe Valley Victorians+the Earthquake Fire Line-Part 1.

Three Neighborhoods, in One Era-The Victorians: Noe Valley, Eureka Valley, the Duboce Triangle.

This series of tours starting on Oct.6 with Noe Valley, continuing on Oct.20th in Eureka Valley and Duboce Triangle

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 the only operating fire hydrant. The golden one. We'll make our way back to the border of Noe Valley by way of the Liberty St. Historic District.

Here is a link to a mostly interior tour of one of the fabulous Victorians along our route. 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 and were part of a neighborhood and form a village and the community fabric.

There are over one hundred Victorians in the various guidebooks for Noe Valley. In our tour time of just under two hours we will get to see and briefly describe about 35 today.
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.
(Or nearby the tour.)
The information below is provided if you are interested in more details about SF Victorian architecture.
Or just come on the tour and soak up the info!
(Five handout sketches of what is described below, including most of the gingerbread details named, are 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!