Steve Holderfield's Real Estate Blog

Union Square is one of my favorite locations in the City.  Whether it be during the Holidays or having dinner in a nearby restaurant or drink after a baseball or football game, Union Square has something for everyone.  Here’s a map to the famous square: Map.

History

People come to Unions Square form all over the world for the world class shopping, fine restaurants, 4 and 5 star hotels and the nearby theatre.  Union Square has a rich and interesting history.  In 1847, the City of San Franciscocommissioned Jasper O’Farrell to lay out a design for streets and parks for the city.  Two squares were chosen to be public squares, Washington Square in the Italian District and Union Square just off Market Street.  Both were later deeded to the City by Colonel John Geary to be held in perpetuity for park purposes. Early maps of San Francisco depict both parks as unnamed spaces reserved for public parks.  Union Square was named on the eve of the Civil War (1861-5) as a demonstration of support for the Union.  

By the early 1880’s, the Square had become the center of a really nice, upscale residential district.  There were three churches that faced into the square, Calvary Presbyterian, Congregational and Trinity Churches.  

The dramatic 90 foot high Corinthian column in the center of the square was erected in 1903.  The obelisk was dedicated by President Roosevelt that same year.  The monument is a memorial to Admiral Dewey’s naval victory in the Bay of Manila during the Spanish-American War, (1898).  The top of the granite column is adorned by a bronze statue of the goddess of Victory and was sculpted by Robert Aitken.  The goddess was modeled after a young Alma de Brettville Spreckels who met and later married Adolph Spreckels, while modeling for the bronze.  

By the turn of the century, the area began to morph into more offices and stores, as the residential homes and churches were replaced around the Square.  After the devastation of the 1906 earthquake, Union Square became  San Francisco’s premiere shopping district and it still is today.  Union Square was forever changed to it’s present character through the cinstruction of the Hotel Saint Francis in 1908.  It was, and remains the tallest structure (13 stories) facing the Square, and as a backdrop for the Dewey Monument, you are immediately notified that you are in a special place.  In recent times the Square has been re-developed to house some restaurants and coffee shops, but the natural topograhy has been maintained.

As San Francisco grew, more and more automobiles came to the City.  Parking became a problem for the Square’s retailers.  The Union Square Garage Corporation.  This corporation lobbied the City for years for permission to build the world’s first underground parking structure.  The matter was taken all the way to the California Supreme Court and a decision to grant the permission for the structure to be built under a lease for the use of the land under the public park was finally granted.  Three years of research and design followed, and on May 31, 1941, ground was finally broken for the garage, which is still in operation today!  I parked there yesterday!

In 1997 the San Francisco Prize Coalition and the City of  San Francisco announced a competition for the redesign of Union Square Park.  It was named ”Toward a More Perfect Union: An International Design Competition for the Future of Union Square”.  They received 309 entries from 10 countries and 20 states.  The winning entry entitled “All the Square is a Stage” sought to transform the Park from an imposing, seldom used urban space into an inviting park that could be used by all the inhabitants surrounding the area.  The design is notable for its easy access, a cafe with lots of open air seating, and a symphony-sized stage that will serve as the center point for a week of concerts celebrating the completion of this project in July of 2002.

I actually love to just hang out at Unions Square.  I don’t know if its the history, the shopping, the people or what. I jus=t really love it there.   Take a stroll there sometime.  There’s at least one of everything there for you to see and enjoy!

The Palace Hotel, Originally called The Bonanza

There are a number of grand hotels in the City that we will visit before this blog is done.  Our first is the Palace Hotel located located here: Map.  The original Palace Hotel (was originally known as the “Bonanza Inn”) boasted 800 rooms and was at the time of its opening the largest hotel in the Western United States.  Many claimed it was the largest hotel in the world! The Bank of California financed the hotel.  The hotel offered many modern novelties like an intercom system as well as four over-sized hydraulic elevators referred to as “lifting rooms”. The most notable feature of the hotel was the Grand Court that served as an entry area for horse-drawn carriages. A few years before the catastrophic 1906 earthquake the Grand Court was converted to the palm filled “Garden Court”.

1906 earthquake

Like many buildings in San Francisco, The Palace survived the initial shaking of the earthquake, by the late afternoon it had been consumed by the fires that raged throughout the City. The famous tenor, Enrico Caruso (who had sung the role of Don José in Carmen the night before) was staying in the hotel at the time of the quake.  The event was so terrifying, he swore to never to return to San Francisco.

The construction of the original Palace included an elaborate and state-of-the-art defense against earthquakes and fire which included a 630,000 gallon cistern and 4 artisan wells in the basement.  The cistern was located under the the Grand Court, and there was seven roof tanks holding 130,000 gallons of water.  The hotel’s employees fought the fires off, but when the water ran out, the hotel began to burn. 

The Palace Hotel was completely rebuilt and opened as the “New Palace Hotel” on on December 19, 1909.  The hotel continued with the prominence as the original hotel soon and just as important to the City of San Francisco as its predecessor.  The Palace has hosted many of the City’s great events. The rebuilt hotel is plainer on the exterior than the original Palace, the new “Bonanza Inn” and is in many ways as elegant, grand and a site to behold on the inside as the 1875 building. The “Garden Court” (also known as the “Palm Court”) — which occupies the same area that the Grand Court did in the earlier structure — has been one of San Francisco’s most prestigious hotel dining rooms since the day it opened. Equally famous is the Pied Piper Bar(overseen by its famous Maxfield Parish painting of the same name) which is located just off the gleaming polished  .The Ralston Room, named for co-founder William Ralston, is off the main lobby to the left.

Hotel Events

The hotel served as the stage for several important events. Kalalaua, the last reigning king of the Hawaiin Islands, died at the old Palace Hotel in 1891. In 1919, Woodrow Wilson gave speeches in the Garden Court in support of the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations. In 1923, Warren G. Harding’s term as President ended suddenly when he died at the Palace Hotel, in Room 8064, an eighth floor suite that overlooks Market Street. In 1945, the Palace Hotel hosted a banquet to mark the opening session of the United Nations.

Modern Renovations

The Palace Hotel was updated and renovated in 1989 to 1991.  The current owners have a proposal pending add a 60 story, 204 to 207 m (669 to 679 ft) residential tower to be called the Palace Hotel Residential Tower The hotel is presently owned (since 1973) by the Kyo-Ya group, a large hotel and resort company based in Hawaii and Japan.

Palace Hotel is an architectural statement from days gone by that’s well worth you time to stop in and look around.  It’s style and elegance are unparalelled in the area… There are a few others we’ll explaore, but The Palace is in a class really by itself!  Drop in and look around.  You won’t regret it. 

Mount Diablo is located east of San Francisco sort of at the end of Highway 24 where it intersects Highway 680.  Map.  I took this picture near my home in Pleasant Hill as a huge storm was blowing in.  I was technically standing in Martinez, but all the area in the foreground behind the first hill and oak treesis Pleasant Hill… My house is there somewhere, I swear!  I made this black & white conversion with Photoshop.

Legend
Legend has it that the mountain was named in 1804 or 05 when a Spanish military expedition surrounded some of the local Native Americas near the summit.  When the Native Americans mysteriously escaped the Spaniards named the mountain,”Monte del Diablo.”  This legend has evolved over the years.  In 1850, the famous General Vallejo told the story differently saying that this disappearing tribe was at the base of the mountain when an evil spirit appeared routing the Spaniard solders, allowing the Indians to escape.  In 1914, General Vallejo’s son changed the legend once again embellishing it to include the heroic actions of his father lassoing the “agent of his master, the Devil“.

The most famous story comes from Bret Harte in 1863.  The legendary story is an account of the Devil appearing on the mountain to an 18th century priest.  In this account the Devil foretells the Spanish losing control in the area, but promises to inhibit this eventuality only if the priest renounces his calling.  The priest rejects this offer and begins to fight with the Devil.  He later awakes only to learn that he had been dreaming.  And finally this same story was modified to assert that the priest was later found on top of the mountain staked to a cross.

For a A brief history of Mount Diablo, go here.  Here’s a few more pics from the mountain I found online.  And finally here’s a link to the California State Parks website for Mt. Diablo State Park.  Enjoy!

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Did you know that Benicia is a very historic town and that it used to be the Capitol of California?  I am really taken with homes built around the turn of the century, especially homes with an Arts & Crafts design which is the result of a movement largely attributed to a gentleman named William Morris.

Benicia actually has a Capitol building:

Here’s a few shots of really cute homes in California’s old Capital, Benicia:

You can get to Benicia by going over either the Benicia or Carquinez Bridges.  Here’s a map.  Take a little ride to one of the Bay Area’s great little towns. Enjoy!

Most years in the fall, near our anniversary, I make a Napa/Sonoma shot that depicts the harvest time in the area.  I find the Fall season to be magical and one of the best to photograph in California’s wine making region.  The colors are crisp and vivid and it seems that around every turn in the road there’s a new and inspiring place to explore and photograph.  The area has an interesting mix of agricultural industry, California history and pure natural beauty that has just captured my imagination.  I always think that I’ve been down every road, no matter how small or remote, but then I discover something new like the shot below at Cuvaison’s facility in the Carneros region… They have 2 facilities, one in Carneros and one in Calistoga.  So you see, now I have to plan a trip to Calistoga, as I think I have never been to the one in Calistoga, at the north end of the Napa Valley.  If they have a scene there as inspiring as this one in Carneros, I wonder what they have to offer in Calistoga… mmmmmm?    

I’ve uploaded a few shots from our anniversary trip this year…  drop me a message of which should be the shot for 2009.  You can click on each shot for a larger view.  Enjoy!    

They are here: Anniversary Trip Pictures.    

After that weekend I went back the very next weekend to Cuvaison in the Carneros Region.  I was so captivated by the location that I desired to shoot it again with maybe a little more dramatic sky.  When I left my house, I live in Pleasant Hill, for the 30 minute drive, about half way there I almost turned around and gave up.  It was raining so hard that I could only drive about 30 miles an hour on the freeway.  I went on and I am so glad I did.  I think I took the best exposure I ever made that day.  Here is a 3 picture “stitched panorama”…     

 And here is a single shot…    

Now, get out there and discover Napa and Sonoma.  There’s beauty everywhere.  The wine isn’t bad either!

Okay, we’ve stayed in The City for the first 2 days.  Now I want to introduce one of the great spots nearby that you can get to in less than an hour’s drive from San Francisco to the north.  We went recently with our good friends and my clients, Arnie and Diane Bauer, to Point Reyes and did a little photography.  Point Reyes is located approximately 30 miles (50 km) north of San Francisco on Highway 1 along the west coast of California.  It’s quite beautiful and you can get more info. here.  My friend, Arnie, is a very accomplished photographer and all around good guy.  He and his wife, Diane, and I have been through more than a few home purchases… I think I’ve helped them buy and sell 3 houses!  Arnie and I had never photographed together before, but had promised we would sometime soon every time we saw each other.  We both kinda grew up in the photo business and have always enjoyed talking about the old days.  We even knew some of the same people from the photo buisness way back 25 years ago or so.  We didn’t know each other but we knew people that knew us.  In fact, one character we both knew, Joe Mather, taught me a lot about sales and he and Arnie knew each other well too.  I can’t explain why we hadn’t gone shooting together before, but we sure had a ball that day!  The weather was very unsettled as the storms that we are experiencing today were just getting here yesterday while we were in Point Reyes.  We ended our day in Olema Inn and Resturant where we had a great dinner.  The Scallops were divine!  Anyway, take a little drive up highway 1 to Point Reyes and discover one of our most beautiful spots.  It’s a great day trip, there’s hiking and camping and a ton of breath taking scenery. Enjoy!

Yesterday we visited the San Francisco landmark, “The Buena Vista”.  Today we will visit another San Francisco historical landmark on Nob Hill, Grace Cathedral.  The address of this beuatiful place of worship is 1100 California Street San Francisco, CA 94108.   Here’s a little history of the church from their website:   The original church known as Grace Chapel was built on a muddy Powell Street near Jackson Street and opened on December 30, 1849, just feet away from n Nob Hill but it had a more humble its predecessor, Holy Trinity Church.  In 1851 a larger wooden church was built.  The wealth from the Gold Rush assured the church’s early survival and in 1860 the cornerstone of the cathedral was laid.  The stately brick gothic church known as Grace Church was consecrated in 1862. 

Short term rectors included the Reverend Hannibal Goodwin, inventor of photographic film, and the Reverend James S. Bush, great-great-grandfather of President George W. Bush.  Grace Church became a fashionable parish as Nob Hill’s mansions rose up-slope in the 1870s.  Grace Church was destroyed in the fires that followed the 1906 earthquake.

With extraordinary generosity, the William H. Crocker family, owners of prime property near the summit of Nob Hill, agreed to give their ruined block to the diocese as a cathedral site. A banker and civic leader, William H. Crocker was the son of the late railroad magnate Charles Crocker, one of the Big Four builders of the western half of America’s first transcontinental railroad. As parishioners of old Grace Church, the Crockers stipulated that the name Grace be used for the cathedral.

Temporary Grace Pro-Cathedral was built on the present site of the Interfaith Labyrinth in 1906, and a cathedral design by English architect George Bodley was considered. Bodley’s sudden death led to a revised design by his partner Cecil Hare. On January 24, 1910, with Governor Gillette and other dignitaries present, Bishop Nichols dedicated the cornerstone for Hare’s design. The Reverend J. Wilmer Gresham, poet and beloved pastor, was chosen as the first Dean of Grace Cathedral, serving until 1939.

Laying of Cornerstone, 1910

Temporary Grace Pro-Cathedral was built on the present site of the Interfaith Labyrinth in 1906, and a cathedral design by English architect George Bodley was considered. Bodley’s sudden death led to a revised design by his partner Cecil Hare. On January 24, 1910, with Governor Gillette and other dignitaries present, Bishop Nichols dedicated the cornerstone for Hare’s design. The Reverend J. Wilmer Gresham, poet and beloved pastor, was chosen as the first Dean of Grace Cathedral, serving until 1939.

In 1910, local architect Lewis P. Hobart was chosen to succeed Cecil Hare as cathedral architect. Designer of many Hillsborough estates and city office buildings, Hobart had little experience in church architecture. Following a study tour in Europe he returned with new ideas for a French Gothic-inspired cathedral design. One major change was to align the building facing west, rather than north. The design would have the facade facing a (hoped-for) park, the central space of Nob Hill, and be protected from ocean winds.

The Founders Crypt, opened in 1914, was the intended nave basement unit of the new cathedral, but lack of funds caused its use as a temporary cathedral until 1931. Following Bishop Nichols death in 1924, and the succession of Bishop Edward L. Parsons, interest in Grace Cathedral revived. The present seismically-safe concrete and steel structure (Hobart’s second design, approved 1925) was begun in 1927 with the Chapel of Grace.

Cathedral and Half-Finished Nave, 1932

A $2.7 million fund drive fueled construction until 1933, when the Depression caught up to the campaign and halted work. A temporary “iron curtain” closed off the half-finished nave. The munificence of local dentist Dr. Nathaniel T. Coulson made possible the subsequent Singing (north) Tower and its 44-bell carillon from England. Construction began in 1936 and the tower, a free-standing ‘campanile’ for two decades, was largely finished by 1941.

During World War II, Bishop Karl Morgan Block was acting Dean, with Deans Thomas Wright and Bernard Lovgren serving subsequent short periods. With the arrival of Dean C. Julian Bartlett in 1956, and Bishop James A. Pike in 1958, came renewed interest in completing Grace Cathedral. The Golden Anniversary Committee’s $3 million fund drive enabled construction to resume in 1961. Spectacular embellishments included the replica Doors of Paradise by Lorenzo Ghiberti, and the Gabriel Loire Canticle of the Sun faceted glass rose window. On November 20, 1964, the largely completed Grace Cathedral was consecrated by Bishop Pike, witnessed by civic and national leaders, and televised live in the Bay Area. The second part of the consecration festivity was the first Holy Communion using the new central High Altar, on November 22, 1964.

In addition to his pivotal role in cathedral completion, Dean Bartlett built up the cathedral staff and congregation, and founded the Cathedral School for Boys, one of the premiere boy’s schools in San Francisco. He raised the profile of Grace Cathedral both locally and nationally. A visit in 1965 by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. drew the largest crowd ever gathered at the Cathedral, and later in the year Duke Ellington premiered his Concert at the Cathedral.  The cathedral Close or block was completed in 1995 with a new front stairway, courtyard Chapter House, and Cathedral School addition.

Here’s a few shots of Grace Cathedral I took awhile back.  There’s a video I made at the end.  Enjoy! 

 
Grace Cathedral- The Photography Of Steve Holderfield

I’m starting a new blog subject.  Many of you know that I have a passion for photography. I have visited and photographed a ton of interesting and beautiful locations and people who live in and enjoy the San Francisco Bay Area. I’m going to start writing a daily blog (weekdays only as I’ll be out showing property to my clients or discovering new places to photograph on the weekends). I hope you enjoy the blog and find it motivating to you to get out and enjoy probably the most beautiful areas in the world!  While reading the blog you might learn a few things about my passions which include, not necessarily in this order: photography, real estate, the history of the Bay Area, my real estate company, Realty World Pacific Coast Properties and my home, the San Francisco Bay Area. You might also meet, along the way, some very interesting Bay Area residents, pick up some photography and Photoshop techniques, discover some really interesting places to visit and photograph all within a short driving distance within the Bay Area.

So before I get started, I want to give you an idea of who I am and how this blog came into existence.  I live, like most people, a fractured existence.  I photograph because it is really one of my main life passions, but I create photographs in order to maintain my mental and physical health.

About 8 years ago I had a heart attack.  If you had asked me before that event, what was more important in life, people or money, I would have answered, of course, people.  The problem was that my behavior many times was more consistent with someone who valued money than people.  This caused a lot of problems, which I’m sure you can imagine.

Then I had my heart attack and I read several books in an attempt to learn what I had to do to learn to live with heart disease.  I learned in a book by a doctor who did a great deal of research on heart disease 20 or 30 years ago that people with this disease tend to not be able to really live in the moment.  I learned that we tend to multi-task to a fault and always be concerned with productivity and efficiency, (see how people can fall behind in importance for us?)   I learned that most people with heart disease had given up on something in their life along the way that they used to love to do because of their over emphasis on their own productivity and efficiency.  He said that we need to learn to live in the moment and to go back and rediscover whatever is was that we used to love… This probably sounds crazy, but for me the thing I had become “too busy” for was photography.  I hadn’t taken a photograph for years and I used to live for the chance to be out with my camera.  In my last year of high school, for example, I had 3 periods of photography!

So, I started shooting again.  I started trying, each week or so, to discover a new and interesting place to photograph around the Bay.  I shoot mainly with a digital camera although I also shoot both medium and large format film as well.  I’ve discovered some very interesting, beautiful and sometimes historic locations and I’ve met some really interesting people.  The first location I’m going to present to you is “The Buena Vista”.  The Buena Vista is a classic Irish Bar near the waterfront in San Francisco. Their claim to fame is that the Irish Coffee was made famous, they would say was invented, in this pub.

It’s a classic bar and a long time tourist favorite, as the Cable Cars turn around right at their front door on their trip to Union Square and Market Street.  The building has been a bar since 1916. They pour the Irish Coffees at about 20 cups or so at a time without spilling a drop… really. It’s a great place. I love this shot, even though it is not technically as good as I would have liked… the people getting off the cable car and the green light contrasted with the red fire alarm pole, the car turning the corner all combine to make this a great shot. If I am ever there again, I might use my medium format camera to try to equal this shot with more technical quality.

This shot was quite difficult to capture with all the traffic, cable cars and pedestrians around this tourist attraction.  I had to frame the shot, meter the light, take the shot while a ton of people got off the cable car and crossed the street in the crosswalk that I chose to shoot from.  It took several attempts to get this one as I had pre-visualized it.  I have a bunch of shots with people crossing the street in the shot… very distracting!  It was taken with my first digital camera, an Olympus E-20, a 5 Megapixel camera. It was shot at an ISO of 80, 1/60th at f:2.0… It should have been a higher ISO so my shutter speed would have been fast enough to not show the blur of the people getting off the cable car. Anyway, with all that’s going on in the picture, I think it’s a great shot even if the quality is not as great as I know I could have produced. Here’s a link their website: The Buena Vista.

Here’s a link to a Google Map of the location of the Buena Vista. You haven’t been to San Francisco unless you have had an Irish Coffee in this San Francisco landmark.  The Buena Vista is located at the corners of Beach & Hyde at 2765 Hyde Street about 2 blocks from the Famous Fisherman’s Warf in the Marina.  I hope you are able to go there and enjoy it sometime!

The guy who makes the experience at the Buena Vista so much fun is the bartender.

This is Paul Noland, the famous bartender who makes all those Irish Coffees that has made The Buena Vista Irish Pub a favorite spot in San Francisco’s Marina District. Paul is there most days and he always has a friendly smile to welcome the customers who belly up for a drink. I posted a picture of the outside of the Buena Vista earlier… take a look. Here’s a brief history of the Buena Vista: History.

I’ve heard several people, agents and clients, mentioning that they’ve been hearing rumors that a new 3.8% tax on all real estate transactions is about to be instituted to pay for the health care overhaul recently passed by Congress. This whole healthcare bill has been a source of much confusion and uncertainty so I looked into it a bit and after a little research I found that, like much of what we’ve been hearing during this remarkably contentious period, there is some truth and fiction to this rumor regarding a tax on a home transfer. Like most things in this bill, the truth is a little complicated.

Real estate transactions are not going to be subject to a 3.8% tax to pay for health care – that’s the falsehood – the truth is a bit more complicated.

Truth: Investment income for folks making over $200,000 single or $250,000 joint annually will be subject to a 3.8% Medicare tax and that could, but doesn’t necessarily, include real estate investment income.

Truth: And this is closer to home for most of us – If you sell your primary residence the amount of your profit that exceeds the capital gains exemption ($250,000 single, $500,000 joint) would also be subject to the 3.8% Medicare tax.

So, if you’re married, you would have to sell your primary residence for at least $501,000 more than you paid for it to pay an additional $38 in taxes. And since most of our homes have dropped in value anywhere from 20% TO 60% depending upon the area, you are unlikely to have a gain over the $500,000 capital gains exemption for married folks.