Moving

San Francisco’s Painted Women are iconic. Here is what it is prefer to personal one in every of them

That was my thought the first few hundred times I went to the Painted Ladies’ homes in Alamo Square. I felt a little pity – or at least as much pity as you can muster for someone who lives in a stunning house in San Francisco.

It seemed like some kind of dark magic curse: your house is on puzzles for sale at the San Francisco airport. Your home is on a Starbucks coffee mug. Your home will forever be the backdrop for a potluck picnic for the reruns of “Full House”. The line of people in newly purchased Alcatraz sweatshirts pointing cameras at the front of your home will never end.

But cynicism, it turns out, doesn’t live in the world’s most famous three-story Victorians.

George Horsfall, owner of the light blue Painted Lady with royal blue trim, does. He invited three Chronicle journalists on a tour. It was a lesson in San Francisco’s history, San Francisco’s pride, and the unexpected gifts of living in a city that attracts millions of tourists each year.

“I love meeting people and I’ve met people all over the world,” says Horsfall, listing his new friends, including a Bavarian SWAT policeman who hosted Horsfall at Oktoberfest in Germany and a Belgian family, who writes to him weekly. “You would really expect a miserable life if you didn’t like people and bought one of these houses. It’s a great icebreaker. When you meet someone in the park, everyone wants to talk to you. ”

Long-time San Francisco resident George Horsefall lives in one of the iconic Painted Ladies. That’s the way it is. Video: Ryce Stoughtenborough

65-year-old Horsfall bid on his Painted Lady in 1999 but passed out at the last minute and settled in another tourist epicenter: a rooftop apartment across the curvy block of Lombard Street. His mother, Catherine Sheehan Horsfall, bought the blue Painted Lady a few years later, and he inherited her when she died in January.

Horsefall and his mother had always enjoyed sharing the house with corporations or historians. But his point of view changed about 15 years ago, he says, when a lady in a car paid its tribute on the Bay Bridge outside Horsfall. At a time when his mother was sick, he was working too hard and needed the kind reminder.

“I drive across the bridge with tears on my face,” recalls Horsfall. “So what I did after that, when I ran into someone in the park, when someone came up to me and talked, I would invite them over and ask them if they knew what ‘prepay’ was.”

Since then, he has received more than 100 letters from his new friends explaining what they did to keep paying it. About two months ago, Horsfall took the next step, set up an Instagram account under the handle @bluepaintedladyhousetour and met in front of his house at 4pm most days and gave them a tour of the house. (He needs a mask and accepts $ 20 for the hour-long tour, mostly for some planned upgrades to the Painted Lady.)

As we walk through the house with Horsfall, two happy Golden Retrievers hit a back door near a more modern kitchen that immediately catches the eye; unlike the rest of the house, it has 21st century appliances. The house itself is breathtaking everywhere. Much of the interior is unchanged from its original design (although Horsfall confirms that the Painted Lady has WiFi). He’s added his own museum pieces, including San Francisco history and family history – Horsfall has relics from the city’s Panama-Pacific Exposition from 1915 and a slice of family wedding cake from 1885. There is a collection of more modern souvenirs he’s featuring in the front room his house of the Painted Lady on the front. His favorite: this Starbucks trophy in which a golden retriever stands in front of a painted lady.

1from12thTotal SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight visited George Horsfall, who lives and gives tours in the blue Painted Lady on Alamo Square.Heather Knight / The Chronicle

People visit Alamo Square Park near the Painted Ladies in San Francisco, California.2from12th

People visit Alamo Square Park near the Painted Ladies in San Francisco, California.

Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

The lady painted pink (left) in Steinerstrasse.3from12th

The lady painted pink (left) in Steinerstrasse.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight visited George Horsfall, who lives and gives tours in the blue Painted Lady on Alamo Square.4thfrom12thTotal SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight visited George Horsfall, who lives and gives tours in the blue Painted Lady on Alamo Square.Heather Knight / The Chronicle

George Horsfall owns the Painted Ladies' blue house in San Francisco.  Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight attended the podcast episode Total SF in September 2021.5from12thGeorge Horsfall owns the Painted Ladies’ blue house in San Francisco. Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight attended the podcast episode Total SF in September 2021.Peter Hartlaub / The Chronicle

Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight visited George Horsfall, who lives and gives tours in the blue Painted Lady on Alamo Square.6thfrom12thTotal SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight visited George Horsfall, who lives and gives tours in the blue Painted Lady on Alamo Square.Heather Knight / The Chronicle

George Horsfall owns the Painted Ladies' blue house in San Francisco.  Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight attended the podcast episode Total SF in September 2021.7thfrom12thGeorge Horsfall owns the Painted Ladies’ blue house in San Francisco. Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight attended the podcast episode Total SF in September 2021.Peter Hartlaub / The Chronicle

George Horsfall owns the Painted Ladies' blue house in San Francisco.  Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight attended the podcast episode Total SF in September 2021.8thfrom12thGeorge Horsfall owns the Painted Ladies’ blue house in San Francisco. Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight attended the podcast episode Total SF in September 2021.Peter Hartlaub / The Chronicle

The Pink Painted Lady's stairwell newly acquired on Steiner Street on Tuesday, February 11, 2020 in San Francisco, California.9from12thThe Pink Painted Lady’s stairwell newly acquired on Steiner Street on Tuesday, February 11, 2020 in San Francisco, California.Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

The Pink Painted Lady (center) in San Francisco, California.10from12th

The Pink Painted Lady (center) in San Francisco, California.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

On a table in his house are puzzles that include George Horsfall's house, one of the Painted Ladies.11from12th

On a table in his house are puzzles that include George Horsfall’s house, one of the Painted Ladies.

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

Childhood photos of Catherine Sheehan Horsfall, who lives in one of the Painted Ladies, will be released Tuesday, April 4th.12thfrom12thChildhood photos of Catherine Sheehan Horsfall, who lives in one of the Painted Ladies, will be released Tuesday, April 4th.Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

However, the tour becomes really meditative when we are up on the top floor and look out of the small window directly under the pointed roof. There is a steady stream of tourists on the grass hill in front of the house. There is no sound to be heard against the thick redwood walls and the closed window; In the darkened room, the feeling is not exposed, but invisible.

“Can you believe how quiet it is when I look out the window?” Says Horsfall. “We can see the park and we can see everyone out there, but it never feels like someone is staring at you.”

There are always at least a handful of people staring at the house or taking pictures, chatting, taking selfies, then moving around, always being replaced by more.

And then, at a lovely moment, I realize that the world is a little less sardonic than I thought … and that we were goldfish all along.

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