Pacific Heights:
Billionaires’ Row and Victorian Survivors
The ridge that escaped the 1906 fire, so its Victorians survived while grander neighborhoods burned. The result: intact 19th-century houses next to some of the most expensive real estate in the country. Six stops cover both.
The ridge the fire missed.
The tour runs east to west along the ridge: from the one Victorian in the city you can tour inside, past the Spreckels Mansion and two hilltop parks, to the Mrs. Doubtfire house and the Broadway mansion row, ending where the Lyon Street Steps drop toward the Palace of Fine Arts. About a mile and a half with real hills. Allow two hours.
Almost everything on this walk is a private home. View from the sidewalk, don’t block driveways, and don’t approach doors. Each stop below is a pin in the free SFGuide app, with directions and a short audio note.
Haas-Lilienthal House
An 1886 Queen Anne and the only intact Victorian in San Francisco open to the public as a museum, period furniture and all. Built for grocery wholesaler William Haas; three generations of the family lived here until 1972, when it was donated to San Francisco Heritage, which runs it as its headquarters. The 1906 fire stopped a few blocks east of this front door. Guided tours run several days a week; check ahead.
The Spreckels Mansion
The white Beaux-Arts chateau facing Lafayette Park, built in 1913 for sugar heir Adolph Spreckels and Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, the model for the Dewey Monument’s Victory figure in Union Square, who later founded the Legion of Honor. Since 1990 it has been the home of novelist Danielle Steel, behind the tall ficus hedge that has its own place in city planning disputes. Private residence; the park side gives the view.
Lafayette Park
A hilltop green with a strange origin story: in the 19th century, city attorney Samuel Holladay built a house on this public parkland, refused to leave, and held the summit for nearly 50 years before the city finally cleared it in 1936. One of the high points of the neighborhood, with views north to the bay and Marin, and the Spreckels Mansion on its edge.
Alta Plaza Park
A terraced hilltop square modeled on European palace gardens. The grand stone steps on the south side appear in the 1972 Barbra Streisand film What’s Up, Doc?, in the car chase that bounced a Volkswagen down them; the chipped steps were never fully repaired. Views south across the city, grand Victorians on every surrounding block, and the route’s best picnic lawn.
The Mrs. Doubtfire House
The Victorian that played the family home in the 1993 film, starring Robin Williams, the Bay Area’s own. After Williams died in 2014, fans covered these steps in flowers and notes for weeks. It remains a private home; the owners ask visitors to photograph from across the street, keep the sidewalk clear, and stay off the steps.
Broadway’s Billionaires’ Row & the Lyon Street Steps
The stretch of Broadway along the top of the ridge holds some of the most expensive houses in the United States, home over the years to tech founders, financiers, and old-fortune families. The houses are gated; the north side opens to views of the Marina, the bay, Alcatraz, and the Golden Gate Bridge. At the western end, the landscaped Lyon Street Steps descend toward the Palace of Fine Arts. The walk ends at the top of them.
Worth adding nearby.
Four optional add-ons in the app: Mary Ellen Pleasant Memorial Park, the eucalyptus trees planted by the Mother of Civil Rights in California, three blocks south of the start; the McElroy Octagon House, the eight-sided 1861 survivor at Gough and Union; the Swedenborgian Church, the 1894 Arts and Crafts landmark with madrone-trunk roof beams, two blocks from the Lyon Steps; and the Vedanta Society Old Temple, the first Hindu temple in the Western world, one block off the ridge.
Before you go.
Hills
This is a ridge walk. The climbs between Franklin Street and Alta Plaza are steep in places, and the parks themselves are hilltops. Wear real shoes.
Getting there
The 1 California, 12 Folsom-Pacific, 22 Fillmore, and 24 Divisadero serve the neighborhood. From downtown, the 1 California reaches the eastern end in about 20 minutes.
Private homes
Only the Haas-Lilienthal House can be toured, on certain days. Everything else is someone’s residence: sidewalk viewing, no door-knocking, no blocking driveways.
Weather
The ridge is exposed. Clear days give the full bay panorama from Broadway; fog erases it, so check before you go if the view is the point.
Frequently asked.
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Walk Pacific Heights with the guide in your pocket.
The full route, the map, and the audio for every stop, free on iOS and Android. Written by a local guide. No ads, no affiliate nonsense.