Painted Ladies, Victorian architectural ensemble in Alamo Square, San Francisco, US
The Painted Ladies are seven Victorian wooden houses on Steiner Street with pastel-colored facades and carved ornamental elements on gables, porches and window frames. Each house displays its own color combinations in pink, blue, yellow or green with white and gold accents on the details.
The houses were built in the 1890s as part of a larger settlement wave after the end of the Gold Rush era. They survived the earthquake of 1906 that destroyed large parts of the city and were later restored several times.
The name comes from an architectural guidebook that helped save the row from demolition. Residents today maintain the color schemes in coordination with preservationists to keep the original appearance.
The houses face Alamo Square Park, from where you can photograph them easily. They are private homes without public access, but the street in front of them is open to walk through.
The first house in the row, number 722, was inhabited by developer Matthew Kavanaugh who built the entire property. It differs stylistically from the other six and forms its own architectural accent at the end of the group.
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