The William Westerfeld House is one of the stops on the Victorian Alliance of San Francisco’s holiday home tour. (Photo by Jonathan Prewitt)
The Mitchell House is part of the Victorian Alliance of San Francisco’s holiday home tour. (Fiona McDougall/OneWorld Photo)
The Brune-Reutlinger House is part of this year’s holiday home tour. (Fiona McDougall/OneWorld Photo)
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The William Westerfeld House is one of the stops on the Victorian Alliance of San Francisco’s holiday home tour. (Photo by Jonathan Prewitt)
We’ve all seen the charming Victorian homes that stand tall next to each other around the Alamo Square neighborhood, whether in passing through San Francisco, flashed on a television or movie screen, or featured in San Francisco promotional materials.
They’re postcard-perfect symbols of San Francisco’s storied past that have been long cherished by locals and admired by tourists.
Those are the exteriors, though.
On Dec. 7, ticket holders will be able to step inside five of these painted ladies, decked out in their holiday finery, during the Victorian Alliance of San Francisco’s holiday home tour. The first holiday home tour was held in 2023.
The homes are all within a few blocks of Alamo Square Park, making the afternoon an easy, scenic stroll. The tour is self-guided, and the homes can be visited in any order.
This year’s tour showcases the Blue Painted Lady, Brune-Reutlinger House, Kavanaugh House, Mitchell House and the William Westerfeld House — each one a storybook vision of the city’s late 19th-century elegance.
“Stepping into these homes can be like stepping back in time,” said Adam Klafter, president of the Victorian Alliance of San Francisco. “There’s a sense of history that is more intimate and alive than when they are viewed only from the street. One can get a better understanding of how these homes have been lived in and the human stories that have taken place over more than a century of San Francisco’s history.”
Founded more than 50 years ago, the Victorian Alliance of San Francisco is a volunteer-led nonprofit group devoted to preserving San Francisco’s architectural heritage and helping others appreciate it. It holds monthly meetings, and membership is open to all.
Beyond the holiday sparkle, the tour the nonprofit’s main fundraising event.
“Since our founding, the Victorian Alliance has donated nearly half a million dollars to public-facing restoration projects across San Francisco,” Klafter said. “Some more recent projects include the Palace of Fine Arts restoration, a memorial plaque for the 1906 earthquake and fire on Market Street and the repair of a WPA-era fresco at the Haight Street Art Center.”
Each home on this year’s holiday home tour was built between 1871 and 1894 and tells its own story through architecture, décor and the care by its current owners.
They all feature original Victorian-era details, period furniture and wallpapers, and stained glass, and the decorations range from traditional to colorful, “with a large helping of whimsy,” Klafter said.
Klafter describes one particularly enchanting stop on the tour: a house built in 1886.
“Visitors will first move into the formal double parlor with its 15-foot ceilings, decorated with garlands and ribbons, period furniture, art and replica wallpapers by Bradbury and Bradbury,” he said. “A Christmas tree covered in vintage ornaments sits atop one of the two pianos in the room, and beyond the parlor, the formal dining room table is set for an elaborate Christmas dinner, and stockings are hung above the fireplace with care.”
It’s this mix of authenticity and imagination that gives the tour its charm. Visitors often find themselves pausing not just to admire the craftsmanship — the wood inlays, the stained glass, the carved mantels — but also to imagine the generations of families who once celebrated their own holidays there.
The tour is from 1 to 5 p.m. Dec. 7. Admission is $10 for children accompanied by an adult and $50 for adults. Get more information and buy tickets at victorianalliance.org/events/2025_holiday_home_tour.
Don’t-miss event
• Enjoy local food and entertainment and browse handmade goods at the 53rd annual Dance Palace Artisan Craft & Holiday Fair from 4 to 8 p.m. Dec. 5 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 6 and Dec. 7 at the Dance Palace at 503 B St. in Point Reyes Station.
The event kicks off Dec. 5 with downtown stores staying open late, luminarias illuminating the Path of Lights starting at 4 p.m., a visit by Santa Claus and the lighting of the oak tree with caroling led by West Marin-Inverness School students at 6 p.m. Traditional eggnog will be available for purchase. Admission is free. More information at dancepalace.org/craft-fair.
Show off
If you have a beautiful or interesting Marin garden or a newly designed Marin home, I’d love to know about it.
Please send an email describing either one (or both), what you love most about it and a photograph or two. I will post the best ones in upcoming columns. Your name will be published and you must be over 18 years old and a Marin resident.
PJ Bremier writes on home, garden, design and entertaining topics every Saturday. She may be contacted at P.O. Box 412, Kentfield 94914, or at pj@pjbremier.com.