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marks into their houses, giving fresh-out-of-the-box San Francisco a certain globe-trotting, anachronistic instant culture. Homes were decorated to the hilt with stylistic flourishes from multiple eras, and cluttered with exotic souvenirs from distant colonies alongside objets d’art reflecting the cultural origins and fascinations of the owners. This rococosmopolitan look was as popular in its day as spare modernism is today, applied equally to lavish Nob Hill mansions and to waterfront bordellos and gambling houses. Regular fires, minor quakes and newly minted fortunes kept contractors busy replacing and expanding homes, not to mention tricking them out with the latest flourishes and mod cons such as electricity.

The 1906 quake and fire destroyed many of the city’s 19th-century treasures, and eliminated much of its kitschy excess. But many styles of Victorian-era buildings can still be found around the city: the strict, long-windowed brick Italianates, the gabled Gothic Revivals, the delicate Eastlakes. But none match the sheer exuberance of the Queen Annes, first built here in the 1880s and 1890s. Architects pulled out all the stops on Queen Anne homes, bedecking them with balconies, towers, turrets, chimneys, bay windows and gables. The Haas-Lilienthal House is a fine example of this period’s design. The most ornate and picturesque Victorian homes are found in neighborhoods that were spared the destruction of 1906, such as Pacific Heights (where many Painted Ladies have sadly been painted white for commercial sale) and the Haight (where some of the largest are now rehab facilities). Post-quake Edwardian architecture is generally less ornate than the earlier styles; the Mission and Castro have some well-preserved examples. Some attractive oversize Victorians are now B&Bs, so you too can live large in the swanky San Francisco digs of yore; Click here.

San Francisco’s public and commercial buildings were comparatively modest initially. While Chicago and New York were raising skylines to new heights, fear of quakes arrested high-rise development in San Francisco. Only after steel-frame buildings stood the test of the 1906 earthquake did larger, higher steel-framed buildings begin to appear Downtown. Willis Polk was among the city’s busiest architects; one of his best-known works is the Hallidie Building (see the boxed text, below).

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Buildings I Love (& Love to Hate) David Crotty, Bay Area architect

Why should the Painted Ladies and Transamerica Pyramid get all the attention? Some of the most interesting buildings in the city – for better or worse – don’t appear on any postcards.

Federal Building (2007, Thom Mayne; Map; 7th & Mission Sts) – this building is just plain badass. Its 18-story-high perforated metal sunscreen helps the building consume less than half the energy target for new federal buildings. Goes to show you can be environmentally sensitive without being enviro-wimpy.

Crown Zellerbach Building (1959, SOM; Map; 1 Bush St) – stand on Market St and you can fully understand how the building works. The tall dark tower is the ‘core,’ with elevators and services, leaving the glassy rectangle for unobstructed office space. Simple and elegant.

Ferry Building (1898, renovated 2003, SMWM; Map; Embarcadero & Market St) – the renovators understood how to take advantage of this dusty old building by opening it up to the sky and water. Architecture isn’t always about the building itself.

MH de Young Memorial Museum (2005, Herzog & de Meuron; Map; Golden Gate Park) – controversial, academic, beautiful and self-important, this rusty battleship marks SF’s entrance into architectural relevance.

Hallidie Building (1918, Willis Polk; Map; 130 Sutter St) – might not look like much, but this was the first curtain wall building in the USA. The skin of the building sits in front of the structure like a curtain in front of a window, allowing the glass wall to sit uninterrupted by columns and creating a much lighter-looking building.

SFO International Terminal (2004, SOM; Map) – check out the slick interiors and