South Mission

There are a few times a year that working from our rental in the Sunset is unbearable due to heat. Yesterday I worked at EpiCenter Cafe which has truly delicious coffee. Today I headed over to Haus in San Francisco's latest survey area, the South Mission. The Planning Department made some really fun maps of the survey results which I highly recommend checking out.

Victorianized

Today I came across this image. It has a small insert showing "view of cottage in 1872 before additions." That's quite a Victorian remodel!

This week

Lots of interesting events happening this week. San Francisco Architectural Heritage continues their lecture series with Therese Poletti presenting The Art Deco Architecture of Timothy Pflueger. The lecture will no doubt promote her recently published book and will be Thursday at 6pm at Pier 1. San Francisco Architectural Heritage is also holding a concert series at the Haas-Lilienthal House on Tuesday.
Architecture and the City continues their film series and though I was not able to get tickets for last weeks film, I will certainly attend Wednesday's A Necessary Ruin. The film is about a geodesic dome in Baton Rouge. The title seems to allude to J. B. Jackson's essay The Necessity for Ruins which I have read and reread over the years. Jackson identifies the now fairly widely held opinion, that Americans have transitioned from an interest in the history of the hero to a history of the masses, or our "vernacular past." Jackson concludes that for this type of history to present itself it must be forgotten and then "restored." I am curious if the film will incorporate any of Jackson's essay or just the title.

Burnham

Make No Little Plans, was shown last night at the San Francisco Main Library as part of the Architecture and the City Festival. The movie was very educational and I learned many little facts about Daniel Burnham. Most surprising was his involvement in the Philippines. There is a Burnham Park in Baguio City with a staute in his honor! I was already familiar with his plans for San Francisco but I always enjoy looking at the maps and imagining what might have been.

One of my favorite books features Burnham as one of the characters. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson is truly creepy and a wonderful read. I highly recommend it! 

Coxhead's House in San Mateo

Recently I wrote a National Register Nomination for a house designed by Ernest Coxhead. Intrigued, I decided to drive around and visit other Coxhead buildings in the area. This one is in San Mateo and was built in 1891 as his residence. It is now used as a bed and breakfast.

Film Tomorrow

Tomorrow the Architecture and the City Festival will be showing its second free film at the San Francisco Main Library. The film is entitled Make No Little Plans and is about Daniel Burnham. The show starts at 6:00pm. Last week the film was about Frank Lloyd Wright's Park Inn, located in Mason City, Iowa. It documented the life of the building and the current struggle to try and preserve it. The conclusion left the building still unrestored and was slightly unsatisfying but one can only hope that the documentary has helped garner widespread support that will lead to a happy ending.