And now the gorgeous Filbert steps and Grace Marchant Gardens. I will accompany my photos with some interesting info found here.
Filbert Steps are a 284 foot wooden-step walkway leading up to the top of Telegraph Hill (near where Terry and I live). The Filbert Street Steps run along a short section of Filbert Street, along which is a garden tended to and paid for by the residents of the street.
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The wooden stairs are unpainted (which gives them their rustic charm) and quite steep, and the houses to either side of them are also made of wood. These houses are almost never on the market and always sought after. They are almost hidden behind this lush vegetation, so you have to walk close to them to see them.
I love these wooden gates and stone pathways. This whole area feels like something out of a fairy tale.
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And now a little story about Grace Marchant Gardens:
"When a woman named Grace Marchant moved to The Filbert Street Steps in 1949, they were in bad disrepair, and the slope was basically a trash heap being used by neighbors from all over Telegraph Hill. A famous story tells of Ms. Marchant's clearing the trash toward the bottom of the Filbert Street slope and dumping it down the cliff which is part of an abandoned nineteenth century quarry that overlooks the bay. Despite threats from the authorities that she would be fined for doing so, Ms. Marchant continued tossing the trash over the side. When she began cultivating what ultimately became The Grace Marchant Gadens on The Filbert Steps, the city relented. Ms. Marchant passed away a quarter century ago, but her gardens, and several others up and down The Steps, are still gloriously maintained by the residents."
She truly had some magical green fingers!
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This place feels like a forest. Even though the gardens were designed and are taken care of, they look wild and out of control, which I love.
There are roses, every kind of trumpet-flower tree, lilies, banana trees, white sweet midnight-jasmine and tropical palms. Princess-flower trees, redwoods and oaks. Explosions of red, pink and purple rhododendrons.
Goodness!
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It must be quite fantastic to live there, apart form the constant flock of people walking up and down the steps, peeking into people's front yards and through the windows. And, can you imagine how difficult is to move one's furniture in? King size bed? Grand piano?
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And to finish of this little tour, this is the famous Malloch Building, constructed in 1939, at 1360 Montgomery St. (at the very top of The Filbert Steps). Great example of art-deco design. This apartment building was used in the film Dark Passage that starred Humphrey Bogart.
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There, you can see him in the window. :) The owners of the apartment keep a cardboard image of him in the window at all times.
Hope you liked my tour!
xoxoxo
thanks for the tour, it was lovely, wish I could see them for myself, maybe I'll make it out one day.
Posted by: littlemissb | May 03, 2010 at 03:22 AM
Very well naturally integrated natural looking staircase! Thanks for the great pics. I would love visit this place. It’s generating lots of ideas in my mind!
Posted by: Patio design | March 01, 2011 at 09:44 PM
Loved your wonderful photos and plan to visit the area very soon!! Had fun matching up the photos with the movie "Dark Passage"!
Posted by: "Baby Girl" | December 17, 2011 at 02:13 PM
Gorgeous pictures - thanks for sharing. Found your site after rereading Armistead Maupins "Babycakes", which features Graces Garden.
A lovely set of pics to dream over stuck in cold Febuary rain in England!
Posted by: Christine Turney | February 19, 2015 at 09:06 AM