Tales of the city
This is a walking city if there ever was one. How else could you discover the out-of-the-way little alleys, nooks, and steps that inevitably lead to those places where you say to yourself, “Ah, but if only I could live in this little bungalow! If only I could own that view, then … then my life would be perfect.”
Forgetting that even if you could live on say, Macondray Lane—that secluded, charming cobblestone pedestrian path with the trellis at the Jones Street entrance and the cliff lined with densely overgrown rain-forest vegetation, with the towering eucalyptus and colorful flowers blooming beneath the trees and large dark green ferns on the north side of the hill, in a particular two-story modern townhouse, with a spickety-span minimalist design just by the little fountain with a waterfall and the Buddha statue, which offers a nearly 180-degree view of the city and the bay that includes such landmarks as Coit Tower, Alcatraz, and Fisherman’s Wharf, and has a front entrance that looks like a bulkhead door in a submarine—even with all that, the truth is, your life would be much the same drama as it is now but with different sets and props.
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Address Macondray Lane, San Francisco, CA, 94133 | Public Transport Bus: 41, 45 (Union St & Leavenworth St stop) | Tip Take a stroll around the charming Russian Hill neighborhood, listen to the rumbling of the cable cars on Hyde Street, and stop for dinner at the highly rated Stones Throw (1896 Hyde Street).
You’ll find the garden-lined Macondray Lane on top of Russian Hill, named after the Russian seamen buried there in the 19th century. Located between Union and Green Streets, it runs for two blocks. The most enchanting stretch, however, is between Jones and Taylor Streets, starting with the steep and narrow wooden steps ascending from Taylor.
San Francisco raconteur Armistead Maupin used Macondray Lane as a primary setting in his famous novel Tales of the City, albeit by another name: “The house was on Barbary Lane…. It was a well-weathered, three story structure made of brown shingles. It made Mary Ann think of an old bear with bits of foliage caught in its fur. She liked it instantly.”
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