Take a San Francisco City Guides Art Deco Walking Tour. Discover the best of Art Deco San Francisco on an SF architecture tour.
San Francisco City Guides offers an amazing array of free walking tours. We tried the Downtown Deco tour and got a closer look at Art Deco buildings we'd often just passed by without a second glance on our walks around Market Street in the San Francisco Financial District.
An Art Deco walk was a great opportunity to get some exercise and appreciate the fine array of buildings dotting the San Francisco skyline.
Therese Poletti led the tour -- she's published a book titled Art Deco San Francisco - The Architecture of Timothy Pflueger and is arguably an authority on the subject of San Francisco Architecture.
Art Deco Buildings to Look for On a Tour of San Francisco
We saw a number of interesting Art Deco buildings as part of our free walking tour including:
Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Building - communication themes abound in the architecture and two giant eagles sit atop the structure. Unfortunately, the security guard was not at his post so we weren't able to go inside. This building is slated to be turned into condos.
Shell Building - amazing gold accents and a lotus motif is visible throughout the lobby.
Pacific Coast Stock Exchange and Tower - This Art Deco building that once housed the stock exchange is now an Equinox gym. The Tower is home to the City Club. The intricate ceilings in both buildings were amazing to see.
Russ Building - The Russ building edged out the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph building as the tallest in San Francisco. There was a beautiful painted ceiling inside but the security guard would not allow photographs.
Hong Kong Bank - an Egyptian theme complete with scarabs on the Art Deco facade holds lots of curb appeal.
SIDEWALK SAFARI SPOTLIGHT: Did you know that Miami Beach has some of the best Art Deco architecture in the U.S.? Learn all about it with a walking tour of the Miami South Beach Art Deco Historic District.
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Hunter-Dulin Building - Dashiell Hammett placed Sam Spade's office in this building. The ceiling was ornately painted with warm amber and brown tones. The columns on the outside of the building were intricately patterned.
450 Sutter - A medical and dental office building, 450 Sutter boasts an incredibly ornate, Mayan inspired metal ceiling and decorations. The building is massive and richly decorated with Art Deco motifs.
You can check out this link to my photo album showcasing Art Deco design and architecture in Downtown San Francisco.
Beyond Art Deco San Francisco
We also saw some interesting non-Art Deco sights along the way including this colorful stack of people.
These stone blobs sat across from the colorful statue and seem to be enthralled.
I liked the way the different architectural styles flank this moving wheel sculpture on Mission near 1st Street.
SIDEWALK SAFARI SPOTLIGHT: Looking for more cool walks in San Francisco? Check out the Barbary Coast Trail.
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Is an San Francisco Art Deco Walking Tour Worth Doing?
Our San Francisco City Guides tour covered about 1.3 miles and gave some great history of Art Deco buildings that I would often pass on my way to work but never took notice of.
I definitely recommend checking out this tour or any of the others in City Guides' extensive line-up. There are some amazing Art Deco buildings in San Francisco with a rich history just waiting to be explored.
Taking a tour with an expert guide is the best way to truly understand and appreciate that history and put San Francisco's architecture into context.
Map of Our San Francisco Art Deco Architecture Tour
Click on the image of the map below to open up an interactive version in Google Maps to see the route covered by our Art Deco walk in the city.
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