It’s not easy building things in San Francisco.

Noe Valley’s neighbors are at odds with a developer over the fate of two so-called Quake Shacks — built as the town coped with a massive homelessness crisis after the 1906 earthquake. reported the San Francisco Chronicle.

Developer John Shrader has backed out of an original plan that called for the cottages at 369 Valley Street to be demolished to make way for a large mansion on the property. Instead, he’s attempting to incorporate the two structures into the design of a more modest 2,700-square-foot home, the outlet reported. Part of the plan calls for the cabins to be moved onto the property.

“I understand that Quake Shacks is historical in nature and we’ve changed our plans half a dozen times, but there are still people who oppose this project,” he told the Chronicle. “I do not know what it is. If it feels like it – do you know San Francisco is just anti-development? Maybe that’s what’s going on here.”

Critics, meanwhile, say the quake shelters – thousands of which were hastily built to house the poor and working class made homeless by the devastating earthquake – should be left alone.

“History is what this is about,” John Blackburn, a historian at Quake Shack, told the Chronicle. “They helped the working class get their first homes back then, they represent the resilience of San Francisco, and today very few of them remain. …

“[T]Hey are really important. We must preserve them.”

Shrader, who has been trying to build a home on the property for nine years, will have his plan reviewed at a hearing before the city’s zoning administrator sometime this month, the outlet said.

Regardless of who prevails, the outcome will almost certainly be contested, with neighborhood and historical groups lining up to keep the shacks unscathed.

“In our view, the huts may not survive a move, and even if they do, they may not be recognizable as earthquake huts,” Marc Norton, who lives across the lot, told the Chronicle. “That is not acceptable.”

– Ted Shiner

The post Battle over San Francisco’s historic quake shacks appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

After the earthquake and fire of 1906, thousands of auxiliary houses were built. At least 30 are still home to Bay Area residents today

By Peter Hartlaub | April 16, 2021 | Updated: April 16, 2021, 4:35 p.m.

Where did all the earthquake huts from 1906 go?

Most of the 5,610 relief houses built in San Francisco parks have been demolished, but there are still a surprising number in the San Francisco Bay Area – at least 30 and maybe many more. The residents who live in them swear that the sturdy redwood frames, built in one day, could last another 115 years.

We’ve compiled a list of all San Francisco cabins that have been “certified” by local conservationists, as well as some that are more widely believed to be earthquake huts for refugees as well. Bernal Heights has the highest concentration, but the dainty homes are scattered around the area and beyond.

Continue reading

The Earthquake Hut Preservation movement began with this hut in the Sunset District after Jane Cryan rented the site in 1982. There are actually four huts – three in the front, one free in the back yard. With Cryan’s help, this cabin became the first a tenant lived in to receive historic status. It’s San Francisco Landmark # 171.

Back to the map

The little blue house between two larger buildings on the main street of Bernal Heights has a strong “up” house feel. It is one of the larger “Type B” cabins in the front with two bedrooms in the back. Despite the additions, the floor plan is only 600 square meters.

Back to the map

This wood-sided earthquake house in the Sunset District looks more out of place than most in a neighborhood filled with pastel post-war housing. It has added a bay window, but the sloping roof gives it away as a larger “Type B” cabin.

Back to the map

673 Moultrie in Bernal Heights, one of the most picturesque earthquake cottages, always has a light color scheme (currently brown clapboard with yellow and light green borders). And while other huts are often hidden, this one is flush with the sidewalk and looks small between two apartment buildings. The structure is actually made up of two of the larger “Type B” cottages stacked together, making the space about 500 square feet.

Back to the map

The cabin on Bocana Street is one of the most famous earthquake huts included on every refugee hut tour in Bernal Heights. For years it was the home of Shack Tivist Vicky Walker. The house impresses with its stained glass window and its larger size. The cabin at 164 Bocana is one of the few surviving “Type C” cabins with a luxurious living area of ​​400 square meters.

Back to the map

hut

211 and 217 Mullen Ave.

These two cottages are separate residences, but a clear pair in Bernal Heights. The white “Type B” cabins are offset from the street, one near the sidewalk and one behind a gate, but they are similar in design.

Back to the map

While most of the surviving huts are in Bernal Heights, this little gem is a prominent landmark in San Francisco’s Oceanview District, where there are four surviving huts. It looks like a shed next to two much larger houses (including a new one with a similar color scheme). The 233 Broad House is a “Type A”, the smallest type of earthquake hut.

Back to the map

This “Type B” is one of several Oceanview cabins and is far from the sidewalk so it looks even smaller. Oceanview is third in the San Francisco Refugee Home Census, after Bernal Heights and the Sunset District.

Back to the map

Many of the surviving earthquake huts were raised on hills and offer wonderful views. Former cabin dweller Lisa Ruth Elliott talks about how she would start her day at 14 Elsie Street, looking south to the San Bruno Mountains. The house is a simple blue refugee home and has possibly the best hilltop views overlooking the city and the Sutro Tower.

Back to the map

The 3653 Folsom Cabin is located between two larger houses and is characterized by a matching garage (built after moving out of a park in 1906) and lack of space. The “Type B” hut has no front garden and shares the walls with both neighbors.

Back to the map

One block from Bernal Heights Park is this larger “Type B” cabin on a hill and well camouflaged with a fence and bush wall.

Back to the map

This quaint home in Bernal Heights is one of the quieter cottages with lots of additional construction, woodwork, and landscaping. Two larger “Type B” huts form the core of the house.

Back to the map

This Bernal Heights earthquake shack mash-up looks almost like a normal home, with two adjacent shacks and a connecting structure built in between. Further away from the road, the cabins are larger “Type B” structures.

Back to the map

This is no longer a residence – it’s a garage. But it’s definitely an earthquake lodge next to a newer house in Bernal Heights.

Back to the map

A small and delightful “Type A” cabin, clad in wood shingles and located near the street in Bernal Heights, looks tiny between two two-story apartments from the 1950s. A larger structure with a similar pointed roof is attached to the rear.

Back to the map

hut

The Presidio “Goldie Shacks”

Shack activist Jane Cryan was part of the group that saved these two 34th Avenue cabins and restored the two smaller “Type A” cabins for display in the Presidio behind the Old Post Hospital. Without a ticket, they’re two of the most accessible cabins in San Francisco.

Back to the map

This Eureka Valley / Castro earthquake hut, one of the hidden gems, can be seen on the right as you climb the steps of Saturn Street.

Back to the map

hut

810 San Antonio, San Bruno

In addition to the Bernal Heights, Sunset and Oceanview districts of San Francisco, Daly City and San Bruno were popular places for relocated earthquake huts. This audited house includes two smaller cottages and some additional constructions.

Back to the map

A triumph of conservation, this cabin was the beginning of the nonprofit history group of the Western Neighborhoods Project. Keepers, including David Gallagher and Woody LaBounty, rescued four cottages on Kirkham Avenue, moved three to a room near Jack London Square, and saved a fourth (including the authentic color park green) for public display. After being exhibited on Market Street in 2005, it was brought around town in a pickup truck and now has a home in the San Francisco Zoo Conservation Corner.

Back to the map

One of the rare earthquake huts in the Noe Valley. Two cottages have been put together, with additional construction and lots of landscaping, making this house look like a more conventional home to the untrained eye.

Back to the map

hut

3 Fifth Ave., Oakland

When the Western Neighborhoods Project worked with conservationists to save the cottages on Kirkham Avenue, three of them went to the Fifth Avenue Institute, a bohemian collection of buildings a few blocks south of Jack London Square.

Back to the map

hut

330 Ninth Avenue, Santa Cruz

Amazingly, someone dragged two earthquake huts and built a house in three counties 75 miles away in Santa Cruz. The two small “Type A” huts are next to each other, with a third, newer structure in between.

Back to the map

The post This map exhibits the place 1906 earthquake shacks nonetheless exist in San Francisco at the moment appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.