Haight-Ashbury: Painted Ladies, the Hippie Movement, and the Summer of ‘67

(95 reviews)

San Francisco, California audio tour: Haight-Ashbury: Painted Ladies, the Hippie Movement, and the Summer of ‘67

This is a 1.3mi walking tour

It takes an average of 60 mins to complete.

San Francisco, California

The United States

$9.99

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About the Tour

You’ll be amazed at how many fascinating sites, stories, and personalities intersect at San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury. We’ll begin our walk at the Golden Gate Park and end across the street from the Hippie Temptation House that was featured in a 1967 TV documentary of the same name. Along the way, San Francisco’s hippest neighborhood will come alive to you. In fact, by the end of the tour, you’ll be tempted to flash the peace sign to people passing by and put a flower in your hair.

On this tour around Haight-Ashbury, we’ll visit and chronicle the following major sites:

Golden Gate Park, where you’ll learn about its 19th century beginnings and the contributions of gardener and landscaper extraordinaire John McLaren
The Haight grounds, where 20,000 people watched professional baseball in the 19th century
The stomping grounds of rock legends the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane
A row of some of the finest Victorian houses in San Francisco, including the famous Four Seasons
The home of infamous mass murderer Charles Manson
The townhouse where legendary ballet dancer and Soviet defector Rudolf Nureyev was busted for possession of marijuana

These are just some of the highlights that you can look forward to on our tour. Your trip to San Francisco won’t be complete until you experience the groovy Haight neighborhood.

Peace and love be with you.

Tour Producer

Barry Hirsch

1 tour

Hi. I’m Barry, recent San Francisco transplant, retired Federal employee, and former hippy-at-heart. I love San Francisco and, in particular, Haight-Ashbury.

Preview Location

Location 3

Victorian architecture

You should be approaching the corner of Carl and Stanyan. When you get there, please stop for a few moments.

Though we were just talking about the earthquake and fire of 1906, let's back up a few years to the late 1800s. By then, San Francisco was growing very quickly. S... You should be approaching the corner of Carl and Stanyan. When you get there, please stop for a few moments.

Though we were just talking about the earthquake and fire of 1906, let's back up a few years to the late 1800s. By then, San Francisco was growing very quickly. So naturally, there was a demand for food from the surrounding areas. One of the enterprises that was established to fill this need was the Lange-family dairy farm. They must have sold a lot of sour cream, because, as you can see, their farmhouse was quite large and fancy. It was built in 1900, on the corner of Carl and Stanyan. Look diagonally across the street and you'll see the farmhouse - you can't miss it - it's the large taupe house with white trim on the opposite corner.

While this isn't a particularly fine example of Victorian architecture, there are a couple of notable features that help define it as Victorian. Note, for example, the pointed conical turret. This feature is known, inventively and humorously, as a "witch's hat." You'll also notice the rounded corners, complex roofline, bay windows and the multi-story construction - in this case, 4 stories. These are all typical features of Victorian homes.

This 4 bedroom, two and a half bath, 2866 square foot behemoth sold in 2014 for $3.15 million. On the interior, it's more or less what you'd expect: 2 fireplaces, lots of wainscoting, parquet flooring and, of course, stairs galore.

And we're walking! Please cross Stanyan carefully and continue down Carl. The Lange house will be on your right.

You might be wondering how did Victorian architecture, which began in England, make its way from England to San Francisco? I'm glad you asked. During the 1700s, a few English architects emigrated to the colonies, but as the British Empire became firmly established during the 1800s, many architects emigrated to the United States, and others went to Canada, Australia and New Zealand. And they would apply the architectural styles that were fashionable when they left England. By the latter half of the century, however, improving transport and communications meant that even remote parts of the Empire had access to publications such as the magazine The Builder, which helped colonial architects keep informed about current fashion. Thus, the influence of English architecture spread across the world. Read More

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Major Landmarks

Janis Joplin's House
The former residents of the Hell’s Angels
Grateful Dead House
The San Francisco style Victorian homes known as The Painted Ladies

Getting There

Route Overview

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Start location
Stanyan St, San Francisco, CA 94117, USA
Total distance

2km
Final location
1599-1595 Page St, San Francisco, CA 94117, USA
Distance back to start location

614.3m

Directions to Starting Point

The west corner of Haight and Stanyan, at the entrance to Golden Gate Park. Normally, there is a bike rental business here, but as of this writing, the area is under construction but it is accessible.

Show Directions

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

There are many fascinating retail shops and restaurants in the area.

Best time of day

Any time during daylight hours.

Precautions

The area is normally very busy with vehicular traffic, construction, and pedestrians. Also watch out for uneven walking surfaces.

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“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”