Life on the Gold Coast
The city’s most famously expensive neighborhood is Pacific Heights, a district that’s perhaps as much a state of mind as a financial statement. It’s also known as the Gold Coast: before 1900 it was habitat for the demi-monde but afterward became an even wealthier enclave. These days it’s a largely self-sufficient neighborhood with many of the city’s best private schools, two splendid parks, and wish-upon-a-star homes that sell for upwards of $30 million.
Take a stroll along the stretch of Broadway between Buchanan and Lyon Streets, known as Billionaire’s Row. The collection of houses—where every intricate, finely wrought decoration is executed to the last detail, from the paneling of the copper garage doors to the ornate brackets and window treatments—remind you of museum pieces. Indeed, these buildings are works of art. The stunning views are no small addition to the glory of the homes. Residents include old money and new, like philanthropists Ann and Gordon Getty and Apple’s Sir Jonathan Ive.
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Address Broadway Street between Divisadero Street & Lyon Street, San Francisco, CA, 94115 | Public Transport Bus: 22 (Fillmore St & Broadway St stop) | Tip Enjoy the cafes, restaurants, and boutiques on nearby vibrant and charming Fillmore Street, between Bush Street and Jackson Street.
The houses are architecturally diverse, from Gothic to Mediterranean-style, Queen Anne to Dutch Revival, each one with a defining aesthetic: one a solid redbrick, another a limestone-colored extravagance of Corinthian columns or a minimalist mélange of glass and stucco. The common characteristic is grandeur, and perhaps the grandest of them all is the Spreckels Mansion at 2080 Washington Street, which was built in 1913 by a sugar baron; or the 11,000-square-foot Flood Mansion, at 2222 Broadway, whose luxurious interior rooms are available to rent for private events. The Victorian at 2640 Steiner Street is well known as a location in the movie Mrs. Doubtfire, starring the late Robin Williams.
Walking tours of the neighborhood begin regularly from the Haas-Lilienthal House on Franklin Street. It’s the only house from the late 19th century open to the public.
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