The neighborhood is known for many scenic walks with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Pacific Ocean. My Rosegarden Guest Rooms is situated next to the Presidio and within walking distance of Golden Gate Park. Two beautiful and challenging public golf courses are less than a mile away.

As everyone knows, San Francisco was devastated by an earthquake in 1906, five years before the Bed and Breakfast was built. The city fathers like to remind us that it was the fire that followed which did most of the damage, and that planning after the earthquake has made a repeat of the fire virtually impossible. The proof is with the 1989 Loma Linda Earthquake. Most of the damage was in San Francisco's Marina District which is built on landfill, and wasn't there in 1906, and to some elevated highways, which also hadn't been built in 1906. The highways have been rebuilt and earthquake-proofed, and our Bed and Breakfast, which is built on solid land did not sustain any damage whatsoever.

Once or twice a year, we feel a mild shaking. We turn on the news to see if anything serious happened, and then return to our chores.

In the 95 years since the house was built, the Titanic struck an iceberg (1912). In the same year that the house was built there was the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City in which 146 mostly immigrant women and girls died. From this event modern building codes were born, and it has saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

But it wasn't all doom and gloom. "Miss Sophie Tucker came to San Francisco in early 1911 shortly after recording her famed signature song, Some of These Days for the Edison Company February 24, 1911. She was starring on the Pantages vaudeville circuit, and played at the Chutes, a post-earthquake amusement park at 10th Avenue and Fulton Street." The Virtual Museum of City of San Francisco.

Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) and Joe Rosenthal (1911-2006) were born in that fateful year. Reagan went on to a career in Hollywood and subsequent political success. Rosenthal is best known for the image of the flag going up on Iwo Jima.

We would go to war in 1917 (it started in 1914), and again in 1941 (that started in 1939 for the rest of the world). Then there was Korea (1950-1953) and Vietnam. "American combat troops were involved from 1959, but not in large numbers until 1965. They left the country in 1973." (Wikipedia). Numerous other wars inserted themselves.

Then there was the "Hippie" movement and its 1967 Summer of Love. It put San Francisco on the map for a lot of people, and not all native San Franciscans appreciated these newcomers. But those who stayed on became part of the background, taking jobs as teachers, merchants, and professionals. More than a few became politicians, and, as in all things, it makes for a lively city.

Howard Fast, best known for the novel Spartacus (1951), wrote a series of six books beginning with The Immigrants (1977) about an extended family who lived mostly in San Francisco over four generations. It's a pleasant way to learn about what life has been like in our history.

We hope you'll become part of our extended family and visit.

-- Kathleen Meeker