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Walk 4: Russian Hill South
Speaking of Intangibles
Every San Francisco neighborhood has its own unique character, a distillation of the folklore and stories of its early days surviving through continual modifications. Russian Hill acquired its name from an early cemetery located on the east side of Vallejo and Jones, where Russian sailors were buried before the Gold Rush (a stairway is located on the site). Greek Orthodox crosses and bones have been unearthed there. The sailors had probably come down from Fort Ross, the Russian settlement, with the pelts of seals and otters. In the late 1800s and even more so after the 1906 earthquake demolished other structures, small cottages expressing the special ambience of the neighborhood adorned Russian Hill. The active Russian Hill Neighbors Association is working diligently to preserve this sense of neighborhood in the face of great economic and demographic changes. They have fought the demolition of cottages and their replacement with three- and four-story condominiums. Only about 38 cottages remain out of the 100 originally built.
Russian Hill is a craggy, physically compact area. Jasper O’Farrell, the city surveyor, extended the street grid to Leavenworth in 1847. Somehow, working theoretically and on paper, he didn’t make allowance for the hills. As a result of the rectangular street configuration, the summit of Russian Hill became isolated. At Jones a ladder was placed against the bluff to access the 1000 block of Vallejo. Broadway, Vallejo, and Green were impassable for horse teams. These features attracted people who desired a measure of independence with proximity to the city center. The hilltop housing sites made possible the magnificent views, which are still a reason to live on Russian Hill. The topography also encouraged a sense of community among residents. For many years, a large coterie of notable writers, including Bret Harte, George Sterling, and Ina Coolbrith, resided on the hill.
Walk Facts
Between Jones and Leavenworth, on Green Street, one of two surviving octagonal houses built in San Francisco still stands, having survived the 1906 earthquake and fire. This private residence was built in 1858, according to plans popularized by the perfection movement of individuals and self that sprang up in the mid-19th century. Orson Squire Fowler, the leading proponent of octagonal houses at the time, asserted that they were warmer and cheaper to build than conventional houses. Before or after your walk, hop on a cable car and take a ride on the running boards (but do hold on!). The Powell-Hyde and Powell-Mason cable car lines both run through this walk.
Bus Routes & Parking
Public Transportation MUNI Bus #19 Polk; #47 and #49 Van Ness. For MUNI bus information, call 311 (outside San Francisco call 415-701-2311).
Parking Street parking is available; metered parking is usually available for up to an hour, and free street parking is usually allowed for up to 2 hours. But also look for street-cleaning times posted in the neighborhood to avoid getting ticketed or towed.
Quick-Step Instructions
- Begin at Polk and Greenwich.
- Right on Larkin to Filbert.
- Left on Filbert. Descend sidewalk stairway to Leavenworth.
- Right on Leavenworth. Ascend Havens Stairway and return to Leavenworth. Turn right.
- Left on Union to Jones.
- Right to Macondray Lane. Left to explore and return. Right to Union. Right to Taylor.
- Right to Green.
- Ascend Green Stairway to Jones.
- Left on Jones to Vallejo.
- Left onto Vallejo Stairway into cul-de-sac, and walk to end.
- Descend Vallejo Stairway next to No. 1019, past Taylor to Mason.
- Right on Mason. Cross Broadway to see Lady Shaw Senior Center at No. 1483 Mason.
- Cross back to Broadway; left (west) on Broadway.
- Continue on Broadway past Himmelmann Place Mini Park.
- Continue west on sidewalk stairway past Taylor to Florence.
- Ascend Florence Stairway.
- Walk across Vallejo into Russian Hill Place.
- Right to walk down ramp to Jones.
- Right on Jones to Green.
- Left on Green to Hyde.
- Right on Hyde to Union.
- Left on Union to Polk.
- Right on Polk to Greenwich to your beginning.
Description
Begin at the northeast corner of Polk and Greenwich, where Russian Hill begins its sharp rise toward Larkin. Walk up a partially grooved sidewalk. No. 1342–1344 is a relatively new condominium. The garage has been embellished with a band of decorative ceramic tile placed above its doors.
Turn right on Larkin to Filbert, and then left. The 1200 block of Filbert, from Larkin to Hyde, is composed mostly of Edwardian flats with bay windows on the two upper stories. The block has few trees, but next to No. 1252 is a terraced rock garden. The angled stairway at No. 1234 with its landings appears like a hopscotch diagram. The brown-shingled building at the corner, No. 1205, is designed in the Craftsman style.
Continue past the hum of cables in the slot of Hyde to walk down the Filbert Stairway. At the bottom of the hill, turn right on Leavenworth. In a half block, next to 2033 Leavenworth, ascend Havens Stairway, a little-known stairway that can only be accessed from Leavenworth (it formerly continued through to Hyde).
The property owners living on Havens cultivate the gardens alongside the stairway. The fern garden is one of the most attractive additions to the green space. Return to Leavenworth.
At Leavenworth turn right to Union and then left. Continue to Jones and turn right. Walk into Macondray Lane through a trellised entry into an unexpected garden path, the magical part of Macondray. You see goldfish ponds, garden ornaments, and both annual and perennial plantings. The bordering condos are small but attractive. The area feels as though it ought to be private gardens, but Macondray Lane, named for a 19th-century merchant and viticulturist, is a public right-of-way. It is the setting for Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City, a television miniseries based on his book of the same name. The variety of trees and shrubs in every shade of green adds to its appeal....
