Walking San Francisco

The impeccably landscaped curves of Lombard Street never fail to draw a crowd.

PUBLIC TRANSIT: The Hyde St. cable car stops at the starting point of this tour. The 41 and 45 Union buses stop at Hyde St. just a few blocks away.

Russian Hill is more hilly than it is Russian. The name comes from a small graveyard that once graced the top of the hill. Wooden crosses with dedications in Cyrillic lay over bodies assumed to be those of Russian sailors or fur trappers. Kids who played nearby dubbed the area Russian Hill. The cemetery was removed in the 1850s, but the name stuck, and the Russian government even installed a commemorative plaque.

This was once a bohemian enclave, and it retains much of its quirkiness—in large part due to the neighborhood’s uncompromising topography. Russian Hill is not at all conducive to the grid system in which downtown San Francisco’s streets are laid out, so some streets simply dead-end, giving way to narrow footpaths, secret gardens, and hidden stairwells. This did not stop San Franciscans from building their houses here, and today it seems the more inaccessible the house, the more desirable the property. Gardeners have made the most of the neighborhood’s secluded pedestrian zones, and walkers are likely to marvel that such tranquility is to be found so near the dense heart of the city.

Walk Description

Begin at the corner of Hyde and Francisco Streets, where the

Norwegian Seamen’s Church commands a beautiful view of the bay. Originally conceived as a way for sailors to worship while in foreign ports, it also serves as a social and cultural meeting point. Services are conducted in Norwegian (and, once a month, there is a service in Swedish as well). If they’re open, pop in for a fresh-baked waffle and cup of coffee. They have a small gift shop, where you can fill up on specialty Scandinavian packaged goods, baked pastries, and other sundries. Should you long to practice your Norwegian, this is certainly the place to do it. (Open Tuesday–Saturday, noon–5 p.m.; Sunday,10 a.m.–2 p.m.)

Continue up Hyde Street to join the masses at the top of the curvy block of Lombard Street—commonly billed, with sideshow hyperbole, as the crookedest street in the world. Russian Hill’s best-known landmark is a tidy, picture-perfect example of urban landscaping. Gardeners tend to yawn at the choice of planting, which looks like the work of a fussy old granny. Meanwhile, some locals argue that this isn’t even the curviest street in the city, citing the sinuosity index. (The other candidate—Vermont Street between McKinley and 22nd Streets at the foot of Potrero Hill—has five full turns and two half turns crammed into a single city block, versus Lombard’s eight turns, but they’re steeper. The decision goes to Vermont Street, but Lombard is certainly more beautifully planted, and Potrero Hill residents are happy to keep the secret to themselves.) As you walk the curvy steps down, marvel over these facts: the hill has a 27-percent grade, the street originally ran straight down it, and the curves were introduced in 1922 to slow down cars and beautify the street. The postcards began to appear soon after that.

After negotiating that last curve, turn left onto Leavenworth Street and look for sweet little

Fay Park on your right, replete with terraced gardens, ornamental trees, and gazebos. Donated by Mary Fay Berrigan upon the death of her husband, the Fay family first built a home on the site in 1869 (the current home is closed to the public). The carefully manicured garden was designed by lauded landscape architect Thomas Church, and there is a light fixture in the park that once served as a street lamp in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Turn right on Chestnut Street. The

San Francisco Art Institute beckons. It’s architecturally interesting, exhibiting the hallmarks of Spanish Revival, such as a tower and a courtyard, while being built almost entirely of formed concrete. But the real attraction here is the Diego Rivera Gallery, featuring a fresco by the master himself. Rivera painted it in 1931 and called it The Making of a Fresco Showing a Building of a City. You’ll notice that Rivera painted himself into the scene. The gallery can be reached by walking through the courtyard and heading left. The institute’s photography department, founded by Ansel Adams in 1945, was the first college program devoted to fine-art photography. Photographers Dorothea Lange, Imogen Cunningham, and Minor White all taught here, as did painters Clyfford Still and Robert Stackpole. Former students include painter Richard Diebenkorn, sculptor Sargent Johnson, photographer Annie Leibovitz, graffiti artist Barry McGee, and musicians Jerry Garcia and Courtney Love.

Continue down Chestnut Street to Columbus Avenue, the Main Street of North Beach. From the corner, you’ll spot the marquee of

Bimbo’s 365 Club, one of the swankiest live music clubs in San Francisco. The name comes from the shortened bambino, which was the Italian nickname for club manager Agostino Giuntoli, and the 365 Market Street address, which was its first location in 1931. It was here that a young Rita Hayworth (then Margarita Cansino) danced in the club’s chorus line. During its early speakeasy days, the club had a one-way mirror installed to evade police officers who might be searching for bootleg alcohol. At its present location since 1951, Bimbo’s 365 has lured guests for decades with Dolphina, the miniature woman who swims for hours in a fishbowl behind the bar, clad only in her birthday suit. Angled mirrors and a periscope allowed burlesque dancers in a hidden room on a rotating platform to appear only 6 inches tall. Dolphina used to perform nightly, although now it’s just on special occasions. But really any night is a special occasion at this neighborhood mainstay that still attracts top-name performers, mermaid or no.

From this corner follow Taylor Street uphill for several blocks. Stay on the right side of the street. After crossing Union Street, be on the lookout for a wooden staircase heading skywards from the sidewalk. This is not a private entrance—it is

Macondray Lane, an actual city street (you’ll spot the street sign) that inspired author Armistead Maupin’s Barbary Lane in Tales of the City. Climb on up and stroll the deeply shaded footpath—which switches from wood steps to rough-cut stone to brick—and you’ll see why this is one of the least urban streets in the city. It’s lined on one side with nondescript Victorian houses, and local gardeners have turned some of the terraced spaces here into jungles of bamboo, tree ferns, and ponds. Ina Coolbrith, a poet and literary socialite, hosted her legendary salon at 15 Macondray Lane during the early 20th century. She later had a park named for her; we’ll visit it a bit later.

Follow Macondray past Jones Street to Leavenworth and turn right. Head left on Union and cross the street at Hyde to reach the original

Swensen’s ice cream parlor, established in 1948 by Earle Swensen, who learned the craft of making ice cream while working on a Navy ship during World War II. (While he developed more than 150 flavors, he always claimed vanilla was his favorite.) Swensen sold the franchising rights in the 1970s, but he kept sole ownership of the flagship San Francisco store and operated it until shortly before his death in 1994 at age 83. Longtime residents remember Earle himself handing out cones to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. Surely you’ve earned a scoop or two with all this walking! Either way, this commercial stretch of Hyde has all sorts of wine bars, taco bars, coffee shops, pizza joints, and sushi spots to fill most any culinary craving.

Heading left on Hyde Street, make a slight right detour on Russell to see the small shingled home at 29 Russell St. This is the former

home of Neal and Carolyn Cassady, where Jack Kerouac famously holed up in the attic for six months to work on On the Road. Neal Cassady was the real-life inspiration for Dean Moriarty, best friend of the novel’s protagonist, Sal Paradise. A lover to both men and a muse of the Beat Generation, Carolyn Cassady took an iconic photo of Kerouac and Cassady with their arms around each other, leaning against the building across the street.

Return to Hyde and turn left at Green Street. The block after you cross Leavenworth is historic, with 12 buildings listed on the National Register. The charming Swiss chalet at 1088 Green was originally a firehouse—Engine House No. 31, built in 1907. Nearly every house on the south side of the street predates the 1906 earthquake and fire. The obvious standout is number 1067, the Feusier Octagon House. Built in 1857–59, this was one of many eight-sided homes built in San Francisco (another can be seen on the Marina and Cow Hollow Walk; see Walk 15). Orson S. Fowler, a phrenologist, developed the idea of octagon houses, saying they let in more light and offered improved ventilation. The mansard roof and dormers were added in the 1880s. The house at 1055 Green was built around 1866. It was originally an unassuming Italianate house, but in 1915 it was completely remodeled by Julia Morgan, who turned it into a Beaux Arts villa with stucco siding and a beautiful cast-iron balcony. Turn right at Jones Street. Two ramps to your left, link Jones to a short block of Vallejo Street, adding to the secluded feel of this charmed cul-de-sac. The ramps, designed by Willis Polk in 1914, were commissioned not by the city but by a wealthy resident of the block. Polk also designed the lovely shingle-sided Craftsman house at 1015–19 Vallejo St. For a good vantage of it step into the lawn at the end of the street. From this point, you’ll also get a fine view of North Beach far below.

Continue down the Vallejo Street steps to Taylor Street, noting that photographer Dorothea Lange lived in an apartment at No. 1637 for several years during the late 1920s and early ’30s. Cross Taylor and enter Ina Coolbrith Park, which, like the steps you’ve just descended, stands in for what would have been Vallejo Street if the hill hadn’t been so steep. A plaque on a rock to the left of the park’s entrance tells the story of Coolbrith, who was named California’s first poet laureate but is largely forgotten by today’s literati (she is better remembered in Oakland, where she served as the city’s first librarian). Meander down the steps, admiring the varying view as you lose altitude. At the bottom, you’ll find yourself just a couple of blocks from the heart of North Beach—and at the end of this tour.

Points of Interest

Norwegian Seamen’s Church 2454 Hyde St.; 415-775-6566, sjomannskirken.no

Fay Park 2366 Leavenworth St.; 415-831-2700, sfrecpark.org/destination/fay-park

San Francisco Art Institute 800 Chestnut St.; 415-771-7020, sfai.edu

Bimbo’s 365 Club 1025 Columbus Ave.; 415-474-0365, bimbos365club.com

Macondray Lane Taylor St. and Macondray Ln.

Swensen’s 1999 Hyde St.; 415-775-6818, swensensicecream.com

Neal and Carolyn Cassady Home (former) 29 Russell St. (private residence)