Why San Francisco Victorians did not initially have garages

When I stare down at the painted ladies in my favorite seat in Alamo Square Park, it’s hard to imagine.

These San Francisco landmarks are engraved on my brain as they are today, colorful, stately homes gracefully sloping down the hill. But there’s one thing these houses, built in the 1890s, have today that weren’t there originally, which completely upsets that image – none of them originally had a garage.

It’s not surprising when you think about it. Of course not. They were built years before the automobile became common and affordable, so architects didn’t think of having a large underground space to store cars. Instead, the ground floor of these houses mostly served as a storage or laundry room or simply housed additional rooms in the house. Some particularly stately homes, such as the 1886 Haas-Lilienthal House in Pacific Heights, had a ballroom that spanned the ground floor.

When wealthy San Francisco residents finally began buying cars in large numbers, they had to figure out where to keep them. “When the automobile emerged in the early 20th century, garages were generally free-standing sheds for new lots and developments. In more established areas like Nob Hill, Pacific Heights and Russian Hill, people kept their “machines” in commercial garages, many of which were former stables, “said Woody LaBounty, CEO and president of San Francisco Heritage. “In the early 1920s, integrated garages on the first floor of new buildings were common, and the business of carving garages into the skin of older homes was booming.”

San Francisco homes on Page Street in 1906.

OpenSFHistory / wnp27.3466

Before the automobile hit the market as a reliable and affordable means of transportation, San Franciscans seeking private transportation kept horses in communal stables that were centralized in the neighborhoods. These residents were already used to walking at least a few blocks to get to their horse, so putting their new car in a neighborhood garage instead of at home seemed a sensible option in the short term. Also, like many new inventions, early automobiles might be picky and people worried they might catch fire and therefore wouldn’t want them right under their house if they could avoid it.

When the residents of San Francisco stored their horses at home, they kept them in a carriage house. “Some houses had coach houses or coach places; The problem was that the carriage spaces tended to be cramped and low. Cars had a hard time fitting into them, ”said Bonnie Spindler, a real estate agent and“ the Victorian specialist ”of San Francisco. “They should also have been made wider and longer.”

When the 1920s dawned and car sales were booming, houses with garages were built in the largely underdeveloped western part of the city. “Especially with the new homes with built-in garages, it has become a lot more fashionable to put your car on-site,” said Bounty. “Then they either raised the building to accommodate a garage – a lot of moving companies got into this business – or they dug to make room. That’s why you have these really steep driveways in some places. “

Another option is the snout garage, which meant building the garage to face the house. These garages rarely have an internal connection to the house itself and often have an additional terrace.

San Francisco Homes in 1906, shortly after the earthquake. These Victorians don’t have garages.

OpenSFHistory / wnp27.1892

There was a huge boom in adding garages to homes in the 1920s until the Depression broke out. Even then, only the wealthy could afford to have the garages built in, and for those who did, it wasn’t always the best addition in the long run. Early cars were much smaller than the cars of the 1950s and today’s SUVs. So if the garage was added too early it was likely very small and cramped making it difficult to park.

The next garage boom came in the 1950s when American auto culture began to flourish after World War II. “People who were wealthy and could afford cars added garages in the 1920s. There was a lot of money in the roaring 20s, so wealthy people built a garage back then, ”said Spindler. “Then in the 1950s when the suburbs were booming and everyone had a car, a lot of people added garages.”

Eddy near Franklin, San Francisco in 1925. None of the houses shown here has a garage.

OpenSFHistory / wnp30.0012

But adding a garage to your home wasn’t easy then and is no longer easy. It’s expensive (obviously), there’s a lengthy permit and permit process, and there are structural considerations for the house itself. To Raymond Zablotny, who owns a Queen Anne from 1894 on Page Street and added a garage in 2007, that meant that the foundation was renewed, costing about $ 350,000 for the entire project – almost double what he and his wife paid for the house in 1977.

Fortunately, many houses had added garages on his street so an architect could come up with a plan that even included keeping the very old Moreton Bay fig tree in their front yard. Zablotny wanted to match the style of the garage with the house, so he chose a carriage-style garage door and painted it to match the house.

Raymond Zablotny’s 1894 Queen Anne house on Page Street before adding a garage.

Raymond Zablotny

The garage was added to Raymond Zablotny’s Queen Anne from 1894.

Raymond Zablotny

Retrofitting is often done as part of adding a garage, as are other safety considerations like adding sprinkler systems. It could also include re-pouring the floor to support the weight of a car, or even adding electricity to support today’s rise of electric vehicles.

While the popularity of automobiles in major cities has declined in recent years, having a garage increases a home’s worth at least $ 100,000 in San Francisco, said Ian Berke, a real estate agent who specializes in older buildings. “It’s still a must have for buyers,” he said. “If you don’t have a garage, you’ve lost 75% of potential buyers.”