Page 694 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - USA

692  C ALIFORNIA

w Asian Art
Museum
Map E4. 200 Larkin St. Tel (415) 581-
3500. @ 5, 8, 19, 21, 26, 42, 47, 49.
v F, J, K, L, M, N. Open 10am–5pm
Tue–Sun. & 7 8 = -
∑ asianart.org
The Asian Art Museum is
located on Civic Center Plaza
in a building that was the
crown jewel of the Beaux Arts
movement. The former Main
Library, built in 1917, has
Haas-Lilienthal House in Pacific Heights, an 1886 Queen Anne mansion undergone seismic strength-
ening and adaptive reuse of
q Pacific Heights Heights is Alta Plaza, a land- space to create the largest
scaped urban park, where the museum outside Asia devoted
Map D3. @ 1, 3, 12, 19, 22, 24, 27,
28, 29, 30, 42, 43, 45, 47, 49, 83. San Franciscan elite come to exclusively to Asian art. The
 California St. relax. Set up in the 1850s, this museum’s exhibits include
hilltop green has tennis courts 12,000 art objects spanning
The steep blocks between Alta and a playground. The stone 6,000 years of history and
Plaza and Lafayette Park are steps rising from Clay Street representing over 40 Asian
set in the heart of the exclusive on the south side offer views nations. There are also perform-
Pacific Heights district. After of Haight Ashbury. ance venues, education
cable cars linked it with the North of Pacific Heights, the programs, and a hands-on
downtown area in the 1880s, streets drop steeply down to discovery center. The terrace
it quickly became a desirable the Marina District, which was café overlooks the Civic Center
place to live, and many palatial created from reclaimed land and Fulton Street Mall.
Victorian houses line its quiet for the 1915 Panama–Pacific
streets. Some date from the late Exposition. The Expo’s only
19th century, while others were surviving monument is the
built after the devastating grand Palace of Fine Arts.
earthquake and fire of 1906. This Neo-Classical building has
The Haas-Lilienthal House, a large rotunda with alle-
an elaborate Queen Anne-style gorical paintings on its dome.
mansion, was built in 1886 for It houses the entertaining
the merchant William Haas. Exploratorium Science
Furnished in Victorian style, it Museum and hosts events
is the only intact private home such as the May Film Festival.
of the period that opens
regularly as a museum. E Haas-Lilienthal House
It houses the headquarters 2007 Franklin St. Tel (415) 441-3004.
of the Architectural Heritage Open noon–3pm Wed & Sat,
Foundation. The impressive 11am–4pm Sun. & = The grand staircase at the Asian
Spreckels Mansion on ∑ sfheritage.org Art Museum
Washington Street, constructed
on the lines of a French Baroque The Sounds of 1960s San Francisco
palace, is now home to best-
selling novelist Danielle Steele. During the late 1960s, and most notably during the 1967 “Summer
Close by, Lafayette Park is one of Love,” young people from all over the country flocked to the
of San Francisco’s loveliest Haight Ashbury district. They came not just
hilltop gardens, lined with to “turn on, tune in, and drop out,” but also
pine and eucalyptus trees. to listen to rock bands such as Janis Joplin’s
It offers excellent views of the Big Brother and the Holding Company,
numerous Victorian houses in Jefferson Airplane, and the Grateful Dead,
all of whom emerged out of the thriving
the surrounding streets. Located music scene. Impresario Bill Graham put
across the street from the park, unlikely pairs such as Miles Davis and the
2151 Sacramento Street is an Grateful Dead on the same bill at Fillmore
ornate French-style mansion, Auditorium. He also brought in big-name
which has a plaque commem- performers such as Jimi Hendrix and The
orating a visit by the famous A 1960s street scene in Who, making “the Haight” the focus of
author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Haight Ashbury the rock world.
in 1923. At the center of Pacific
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp710–12 and pp713–15

692-693_EW_USA.indd 692 11/2/16 2:49 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.7)
Date 1st October 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm