Downhill from the ridge at Gough and Union stands an eight-sided house painted blue and white. The McElroy Octagon House was built in 1861, when a national fad held that eight-sided homes were healthier because they caught more daylight. San Francisco once had at least five; two survive, and this is the one you can enter.
The National Society of Colonial Dames of America bought it in the 1950s, moved it across the street, and restored it as a museum of colonial and federal-era decorative arts. During the move, workers found a time capsule sealed in a wall by the original family in 1861, with letters and newspapers now displayed inside.
The museum opens on certain days each month, free with donations welcome; check ahead. The exterior, and the oddity of the shape, work at any hour.
