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Alamo Square and the Painted Ladies — The checkable facts

Quick answer

The Alamo Square Painted Ladies are six Queen Anne row houses at 710 to 720 Steiner Street, built between 1892 and 1896 by developer Matthew Kavanaugh, who lived next door at 722. The block faces a 12.7-acre park the city set aside in 1856. Their multicolor paint dates from the 1960s, not the Victorian era.

ClaimSource
The six row houses at 710 to 720 Steiner were built 1892 to 1896 by Matthew KavanaughWikipedia — Painted ladies
The block has appeared in an estimated 70 movies, TV programs and adsWikipedia — Painted ladies
About 48,000 Victorian and Edwardian houses were built in San Francisco between 1849 and 1915; another 16,000 were demolishedWikipedia — Painted ladies
Many of these houses were painted battleship gray with war-surplus Navy paint during the world warsWikipedia — Painted ladies
The colorist movement began in 1963 with Butch Kardum; the term came from a 1978 bookWikipedia — Painted ladies
Van Ness Avenue was laid out 125 feet wide; dynamiting its east side south of Filbert Street in 1906 saved the Western AdditionSan Francisco General Plan — Van Ness Avenue
Western Addition redevelopment closed 883 businesses, displaced 20,000 to 30,000 residents and demolished 2,500 VictoriansFoundSF — Western Addition: A Basic History
The Alamo Square historic district was designated in July 1984 and covers buildings from 1870 to 1929NoeHill — San Francisco Historic District: Alamo Square
Tents in the Alamo Square refugee camp were built on an undercarriage to keep them level on the slopeOpenSFHistory — 1906 Earthquake Refugee Camps
The park was set aside in 1856 by Mayor James Van Ness at 12.7 acres, named for a cottonwood at a watering holeWikipedia — Alamo Square, San Francisco
The park rebuild reopened in spring 2017, combining a 2008 bond restroom project with a 2012 bond water projectSan Francisco Recreation and Parks — Alamo Square Improvement Project
1709 Broderick Street was the Full House exterior; Jeff Franklin bought it for about $4 million in 2016CBS News — Full House creator buys the home used in the sitcom
The William Westerfeld House at 1198 Fulton has 28 rooms, was designed by Henry Geilfuss in 1889 and cost $9,985Wikipedia — William Westerfeld House

Frequently asked

Why are the Painted Ladies famous?
Because the row lines up with a downhill park and the downtown skyline behind it, handing photographers Victorian rooftops and skyscrapers in one frame. That composition has carried the block into an estimated 70 films, shows and commercials, most famously the Full House title sequence. The houses themselves are ordinary speculative row housing from the 1890s.
Who built the Painted Ladies on Steiner Street?
A speculative builder called Matthew Kavanaugh. He put up the six matched Queen Anne houses numbered 710 through 720 Steiner between 1892 and 1896, and lived alongside them in his own larger mansion at 722, finished in 1892. No famous architect is credited; this was developer work that aged into a postcard.
Is the Full House house one of the Painted Ladies?
No. The picnic shot in the credits was filmed on the Alamo Square lawn, but the Tanner family exterior was a separate Victorian at 1709 Broderick Street, roughly a mile away in Lower Pacific Heights. Series creator Jeff Franklin bought that house for about $4 million in 2016. Interiors were shot on a Los Angeles soundstage.
Are the Painted Ladies painted their original colors?
Almost certainly not. Many San Francisco Victorians spent the war years under battleship-gray Navy surplus paint, and the multicolor treatment seen today grew out of a movement an artist began in 1963. The phrase itself only appeared in 1978, in a book by Morley Baer, Elizabeth Pomada and Michael Larsen. Owners pick their own schemes.
Can you go inside the Painted Ladies?
No. All seven are private homes with no tour, no lobby and no interior access, so the sidewalk and the park are as close as anyone gets. Alamo Square itself is a public park with posted opening hours, and the Recreation and Park Department lists restrooms, a dual-level playground, a tennis court and an off-leash dog area.
How old is Alamo Square park?
Older than the houses around it. San Francisco set the 12.7-acre hilltop aside in 1856, during the term of Mayor James Van Ness, decades before the Steiner Street row went up. The name comes from a single cottonwood tree, alamo in Spanish, that marked a watering hole on the riding trail between Mission Dolores and the Presidio.

Sources

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