~Patterns~

When I was in San Francisco last week, I once again dove deep into admiring the City’s buildings and structures.  This time for Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge, I am posting a few shots of one of the beautiful places I stopped in at.

The Hearst Building housed the San Francisco Examiner until 1965.  Located on Market and 3rd in San Francisco, it became known as “newspaper angle”, as two other papers were located in the vicinity, The Call, and the Chronicle.  Torn down and rebuilt in 1898 as a 7 story structure it was destroyed by the earthquake of 1906.  It was then rebuilt into 13 stories and finished in 1911 and still holds the original beauty of that build today.

SF-7 (1 of 1)
The Hearst Building is always a beautiful sight to find.  Some say they never have seen it.  I wonder how it can’t be missed.  Although the building now houses several other businesses including a Starbucks, 20 cast bronze medallions of animals are above the front door and it is very hard to miss their astonishing beauty (circa 1938).
SF-8 (1 of 1)
The Lobby of the Hearst Building.  Here you can see one of the original elevators, there are three.  All gold, all original, except for one that has been updated for today’s code. It leads to a new dance club.  They were known in the day to be the fastest elevators in the City at the time.
SF-9 (1 of 1)
Here are some of the beautiful carved columns and Seals inside.  The Seals are gold (14K gold leaf) and the rest speaks for itself.  Just a bit of the outstanding workmanship of this building’s art carved out of marble as the focus of this room.  Considering it is not a large room in today’s buildings, it is stunning how much the eye has to adore in this space set in time.
SF-10 (1 of 1)
Patterns are everywhere. Gold gilded blocks behind the marble framed glass inserts are stunning.  They have adorned the walls since 1938 when Julia Morgan was hired to finish the exterior and lobby.  This is the view from inside standing at the elevators looking outward.
SF-11 (1 of 1)
The staircase behind the entrance of the lobby.  If you walk back beyond the lobby and look up, this is what you see.   The floors have bronze handrails and I guess if you are one who loves to exercise, this is the way to go.  There are 13 stories to this building.

I have some great memories of the City by the Bay, and after going back up last weekend, I made a commitment to myself to getting back a bit more often to reclaim the past.  Just thinking about my GG and GGG Grandparents frolicking with the who’s who of San Fran gets my mind rolling in all sorts of fantastical thoughts and back into the papers I have inherited.  To read the thoughts from their penmanship makes it all real.  So does checking out the wonderful buildings we have from our pasts.  Just take a walk.  Wherever you might be, just take a look at the building and wonder a bit.

Making new memories to share is always what Tales From My Lens is about.

Til next time…

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