SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — In meeting room 400 on the top floor of the city’s spectacularly beaux arts City Hall, the seven-member Historic Preservation Commission met Wednesday to consider two items : its own budget and to recommend to the Board of Supervisors whether to extend landmark status to the interior of the Castro Theater (the exterior was landmarked back in the 1970s, making it San Francisco Historic Landmark #100). It would be six hours before they finally got to the budget.

San Franciscans, despite the onslaught of money-focused tech over the past 20 years, still love flamboyance and the flamboyant — and plenty of those with less flamboyant inclinations — showed up to voice their opinions about that proposal. Easily more than 100 people, including a couple of celebrities, addressed the commission, taking the meeting well past its slated end time, and forcing the commissioners to move the meeting to another room once its 5 pm deadline passed.

Turner Classic Movies’ Eddie Muller spoke in support of the landmarking, noting that he had organized successful showings of noire films in the Castro, drawing crowds that stretched around the block. Eric Reed Boucher, better known to fans as Jello Biafra, told commissioners “The Castro was built to be not just any movie theater, but a great theater.”

“There’s a reason for all the other [film] festivals choose to hold their festivals there,” Boucher said. “It’s magical.”

Some addressed the board a little more memorably than others. Susan Englander, a cheerful old lady sporting a San Francisco Giants cap and dressed in red like many of the others in the audience who showed up to show their support for extending landmark status to the interior of the historic Castro Theatre, began by singing her testimony to the commission.

“I just want to testify what the Castro me-e-eans to me-ee!,” she sang, before going on to recount her first date as a bisexual woman at the beloved movie palace. In fact, her testimony was similar in that regard to the testimonies of many others. For a couple of generations of LGBT San Franciscans, the Castro’s place in the community, and their own lives, is iconic.

At stake is the interior of the 100-year-old Castro Theatre, a fabulous movie palace, widely beloved, and which is definitely showing its age. Like the neighborhood around it, long beset by the issues of skyrocketing rents and increased homelessness, the Castro Theater has seen better days and efforts to revitalize the grand old cinema have been tumultuous at best. After 100 years, the movie house is showing its age and the effects of delayed renovations.

One year ago, San Franciscans were surprised by the news that management of the cinema had been contracted to Another Planet Entertainment, a concert promoter based across the bay in Berkeley. Already the manager of numerous esteemed venues throughout the Bay Area such as the Greek Theater in Berkeley, the Fox Theater in Oakland, and both Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and The Independent in San Francisco, the addition of the Castro was a big deal for the company .

Another planet’s plans for renovations, devised by CAW Architects of Palo Alto, California, called for extensive renovations of the entire building, including the installation of an HVAC system and heating (the theater is notorious for its lack of heat), restoration of the murals and decorative features, and numerous other details throughout the building. Recent torrental storms in California flooded the basement, said David Perry, spokesperson for Another Planet, and the roof leaks as well.

One item in particular, however, stood out. Another planet wanted to remove the theater’s raked floor and orchestral seating to make way for tiered platforms which would allow event producers to remove the seats for standing audiences, as well as accommodating other types of events. When the theater showed films, APE insisted, the seats could be replaced.

Many disagreed, and the most vocal of them showed up for Wednesday’s meeting. To be sure, this was not the first time large, noisy meetings have been held over the matter but it marks the first real step on the path to starting renovation work.

Like Englander, many of those who spoke out recalled first dates, and many more recalled finding a sense of themselves as gay men and lesbians. The Castro Theatre, they said, provided community in the shared experiences of watching campy old films, participating in sing-alongs, and simply being around others like themselves, many of whom had fled to San Francisco from their hometowns around the country, to live their lives openly.

Robert Gray said “Inside the Castro we discovered our stories and defined our community.” He recounted randy memories in the balcony of the theater, which is also home to live organ performances before the movies begin. “The organist wasn’t the only fan of big organs in the Castro,” Gray quipped.

Some find the Castro Theater to be magical.

“San Francisco natives are called unicorns and that’s just what the Castro Theater is,” said Serafina Miller, interim president of the California Art Deco Society. She recalled the numerous sing-alongs to which she’d taken her daughter and said, as a Black woman, she was sensitive to the impact the potential loss of the theater would have on a marginalized community.

Lesbian filmmaker Monica Noland recalled meeting her partner at the showing of a Barbara Stanwyck movie. “Here in San Francisco,” she said, “we have bragging rights to one of the best theaters in the world and that’s worth saving.”

But while the majority of those who showed up to speak in person opposed Another Planet’s proposals, there were plenty who felt otherwise. The majority of the calls that came in, for example, were in support of the proposal. One of the commissioners later commented on the fact that it was the supporters of landmark status who actually showed up in person.

Six hours later, after making their own comments and recalling their own memories of the Castro, the commission voted 6-0 to recommend landmark status for the theater’s interior. From here it goes on to the planning commission and then, finally, the Board of Supervisors. There will be a few commissioners noted, more meetings ahead.

A 6:30 p.m., six hours after their meeting had begun, they finally moved on to the budget.

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The federal trial will examine the role of opioid manufacturers Allergan and Teva, distributor Anda, and Walgreens pharmacy in fueling the opioid epidemic in the City and County of san francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Today, trial begins with the People of the State of Californiaacting by and through san francisco City Attorney David Chiu, against opioid manufacturers Allergan and Teva, distributor Anda, and Walgreens pharmacy. The bench trial will take place before the US District Court for the Northern District of California with Judge Charles R Breyer presiding

Brought on behalf of the people of the State of California, the lawsuit alleges that opioid manufacturers Allergan and Teva engaged in deceptive marketing practices that misrepresented the dangers of their pills and that all defendants, including Anda and Walgreens, failed to identify, divert, and report suspicious orders as required by law. Walgreens pharmacy is also accused of over-dispensing opioids without proper due diligence against fraud and diversion.

The people allege that these corporate practices fueled a widespread surge of opioid-related addiction and overdose in san francisco, thereby creating an ongoing public nuisance in the region. From 2006 to 2014, San Francisco County saw 163,645,704 opioids distributed, enough for 22 pills per person per year. Between 2015 and 2020, san francisco saw a 478% increase in opioid-related overdose deaths, and in a typical day at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFG) Emergency Department, approximately 25 percent of visits are opioid-related. The lawsuit seeks funds to abate the public nuisance, as well as injunctive relief and civil penalties to repair the damage caused from the opioid epidemic and prevent such practices in the future.

“This trial will give voice to the tragic experiences and ongoing needs of our community on the front lines of the opioid epidemic,” said san francisco City Attorney David Chiu. “For too long, the people of san francisco have had to shoulder the burden of the opioid epidemic. It’s time for these companies to pay for the crisis they created. We look forward to presenting our case and securing the funds we need to heal.”

This trial is the fourth bellwether case in the federal opioid litigation proceeding involving more than 3,000 American cities, towns, and counties, bringing opioid manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacy chains to court for fueling the opioid epidemic. This case will serve as a test trial to help reach resolutions and seek accountability for the destruction these companies caused. for san francisco and communities around the country decimated by the opioid epidemic, litigation is a vital tool to secure the resources they need now to implement specific programs required at the local level and sustain the costly, decades-long recovery process ahead.

In a joint statement, National Prescription Opiate Litigation MDL Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee co-leads Paul T Farrell Jr of Farrell & Fuller Law LLC, Jayne Conroy of Simmons Hanley Conroyand joe rice of Motley Rice LLC, said:

“The manufacturers’ false marketing campaigns and Walgreens’ failure to report and prevent suspicious opioid orders has led to an unprecedented, unyielding public health crisis in san francisco and across the United States. The federal opioid litigation exists to facilitate the long overdue process of corporate accountability we have seen occur in courts across the country over the past several months. We look forward to seeing the same process unfold in san francisco in the days to come. This trial serves as an opportunity to provide financial relief to support local recovery efforts while shedding light on the defendants’ concerted efforts to sidestep their obligations under law.”

This trial follows a jury verdict from November 23, 2021 in the federal trial in the Northern District of Ohio that found CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart liable for fueling the opioid crisis in Lake County other Trumbull County of Ohio. A judge will determine the value of the opioid epidemic abatement funds owed by pharmacy chains to these communities in May of 2022.

The general public and members of the media can find information about how to listen to the proceedings here.

The case is City and County of san francisco, et al., v. Purdue Pharma LP, et al., Defendants (Case No. 3:18-cv-07591-CRB).

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE National Prescription Opiate Litigation

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SONOMA (CBS SF) — While the fire only raged for 20 minutes, the blaze that roared through the barn-turned-tasting room at Sonoma County’s landmark Larson Family Winery earlier this week took a devastating toll.

Gone was a treasure trove of historic Sonoma Rodeo and Larson Family memorabilia. The winery dates back to 1899, was once the stomping grounds of Buster Millerick, the Petaluma native who helped train Seabiscuit and was among the first to open in Sonoma Valley.

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On Wednesday at approximately 8:45 pm, the Schell-Vista Fire Protection District got a 911 call reporting a fire at the winery. Fortunately, the station wasn’t located too far away and firefighters quickly arrived at the winery.

The barn-tasting room was fully engulfed, but their quick action limited the spread of the flames to other parts of the winery. Video of the blaze was captured by a Sonoma County sheriff’s helicopter that was flying over the area after taking part in another call.

“The barn-turned-tasting room suffered irreparable damage and will be closed until further notice,” the family posted on the winery Facebook page. “No humans or dogs were injured in the fire. The adjacent barrel room and winemaking facilities were left unharmed.”

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“We are devastated by the loss of our business and priceless historic Sonoma Rodeo and Larson Family memorabilia.”

While the family was still coming to grips with the damage and loss, they promised to continue on.

“While we’re still very much in the recovery phase, we are moving forward with every intention of opening back up and being a place where you can continue to make great memories,” the family posted on the winery web page.

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Fire officials said the cause of the fire was still under investigation.

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fFor years, underground San Francisco drag performer and cinephile Peaches Christ has been filling the city’s renowned Castro Theater with her Midnight Mass series, juxtaposing cult film screenings with live drag parody re-enactments and stage interviews. These loving but irreverent late-night events are an integral part of LGBTQ+ culture at the city’s preeminent art-house theater, itself one of the most visible landmarks in San Francisco’s most famous gay district.

As Peaches Christ puts it, “Cinema was my religion and the Castro is our Vatican.”

And now, a month after hosting the US premiere of The Matrix Resurrections and a few months before its 100th birthday, the owners of the opulent 1,400-seat movie palace have announced that it will soon become primarily a live entertainment venue and will no longer screen many films at all.

Wednesday’s news sent shockwaves through the city’s artist and film communities and revealed a partnership between Castro and Another Planet Entertainment (APE), a Bay Area concert promoter. Known for preserving other historic venues — and for producing Outside Lands, a three-day music festival usually held in Golden Gate Park every August — APE announced that it is planning a major renovation of the interior and famous marquee, as well as a dramatic transformation in the kind of events that the Castro will host.

“We want to present all types of programs in the theater – comedy, music, film, community and private events and more,” the organizer said in a press release.

Cast members stand at the premiere of The Matrix Resurrections on December 18th. Photo: Noah Berger/AP

The news stunned local filmmakers and festival programmers, who urged APE to seek input from the community – so much so that the promoter rushed to placate the reeling city, saying nothing unexpected would happen overnight.

Century-old movie theaters and single-screen theaters have been disappearing from San Francisco for years, victims of rising operating costs and the popularity of streaming services well before the pandemic hit. But as a cultural institution, the Castro Theater is unique. It is home to numerous festivals and premieres and matinee screenings of Camp Hollywood classics such as Gray Gardens and Auntie Mame. A destination for American film buffs, where you might watch a painstakingly restored 1940s noir, witness director Peter Bogdanovich belittle Cher during a Q&A session, or just sing along to Grease.

Already dark for 15 months during Covid, the Castro reopened in June 2021 to host the 45th edition of Frameline, San Francisco’s long-standing LGBTQ+ film festival.

Continuing a long-standing tradition of prefixing every film with live music from the in-house organ – no longer a “Mighty Wurlitzer,” but arguably the world’s largest pipe-digital hybrid organ – the return of the theater embodied the dawn of last summer’s optimism in California briefly eased its pandemic restrictions on indoor gatherings. It’s also very, very gay: San Francisco, the Judy Garland-revived theme from the 1936 disaster film of the same name, is always the last song before the curtain goes up. Consequently, the theater’s large and vocal queer fanbase was particularly saddened at the prospect of losing it forever.

“We know there won’t be the same amount of screenings at this venue and of course we’re very saddened by that,” said James Woolley, Executive Director of Frameline.

However, he did confirm that the 46th iteration of the festival, an anchor of San Francisco’s Pride Month celebrations, is still ongoing in June.

Peaches on stage at the Castro. Photo: Courtesy of Peaches Christ

Although Peaches Christ was initially dismayed, a call to APE put her mind at ease.

“They assured me that the programming would be very well thought out. They’re not going to program it like they would Bill Graham, or remove the seats,” she said, referring to a much larger venue that welcomes EDM DJs and mainstream musicians.

While concerned that the Castro might devote itself entirely to live performances, Peaches noted that comedy festivals like Sketchfest had long since broadened the scope of what the theater was doing. Second screenings were hardly his bread and butter.

“As much as I would hate to see the repertory calendar disappear when you went to the screenings, nine times out of ten it was less than half full,” she said. “I ran a cinema and have been in the business for a long time. I knew it wasn’t a sustainable model.”

Peaches is optimistic about APE as a local entity that’s much smaller than national companies like LiveNation. They promised her they would honor her existing contract and also assured her that they would install a new cinema screen, improve accessibility for people with disabilities, and make other necessary repairs.

“What the general public doesn’t see is that the Castro needs a huge electrical upgrade,” she said. “The old wiring sometimes caused circuit breakers to trip. It was stressful.”

Still, the underlying economics are what they are, which is why many San Francisco theaters are now derelict (or repurposed as gyms).

“Theater business is tough, and I think it’s especially tough for independent historic single-screen arthouses. You can only charge so much for a movie ticket,” said Lex Sloan, filmmaker and executive director of the 110-year-old single-screen Roxie Theater, the oldest such venue in San Francisco. “We are more than just cinemas. We are places where people make memories and make new friends. Places like the Castro and its programming are the quintessence of what makes San Francisco weird and wild.”

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Silent film star Buster Keaton made films by letting places speak to him. While Keaton is most often remembered for his infamous imperturbability – his “Big Stone Face” never saw the chaos around him – stands out in many of his films nearing their 100th. His approach to screenwriting has been a beginning and an end to plan without worrying about what happened in between. He was inspired by a site; Gags arose from the details of the place.

Keaton and his fellow stars Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd all played with space in a way that makes it uniquely rewarding to find, visit, and study their filming locations. This is why film historian John Bengtson’s project to locate and remember the places where this silent comedy triumvirate filmed is particularly instructive.

Bengtson’s most incredible discovery – a seemingly nondescript T-shaped alley in the heart of Hollywood – appears in numerous silent films, including three on the National Film Registry, films kept by the Library of Congress for cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance.

The alley is the setting for one of Keaton’s most memorable stunts in the 1922 film Cops. He is running down the alley with a horde of cops who are insanely pursued. When he reaches the end, he stops in the street and looks back at the clumsy mob stumbling after him. A car drives past and Keaton holds on and flies behind the vehicle from the off. It’s pretty easy compared to some of his more elaborate stunts – but it became one of his most iconic spectacles.

Public domain; Courtesy John Bengtson

The place where Chaplin finds the eponymous child, whom he adopted in his 1921 masterpiece The Kid, is just a stone’s throw from where the cops were chasing Keaton. Harold Lloyd also sneaks through the alley to sneak late to work with his safety load! (1923). These three films on the National Film Registry are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to films made in the alley. It also appears in two other Keaton short films – Neighbors (1920) and My Wife’s Relations (1922) -. Groundbreaking director Lois Weber hit the boys straight to the point and shot Where are my children? in the alley in 1916, the same year Cleo Madison set up Eleanor’s Catch there. It also appeared in the series The Purple Mask (1917), the Al Christie comedies Hubby’s Night Out (1917) and All Jazzed Up (1920), Gale Henry’s The Detectress (1919), a star vehicle for the illusionist Harry Houdini called The. on Grim Game (1919), Ben Turpin’s Ten Dollars or Ten Days (1924) and a 1925 newspaper drama, The Last Edition.

As a filming location, the alley had a lot in its favor. Since it runs east to west, it was well lit and fairly quiet all day, says Bengtson. And at a time when studios were expanding, much of Hollywood was still orchards, open lots, or vacant fields; There weren’t many urban looking intersections to choose from. For a while, he adds, “it was essentially the only street in town”.

Courtesy John Bengtson / Public Domain

Bengtson – whose books Silent Echoes, Silent Traces and Silent Visions the Steps of Keaton, Chaplin and was filmed in San Francisco, not far from his place of residence.

When Bengtson visited the Daydreams locations, he found that things were very different. A scene near Lombard Street – famous today for its eight hairpin turns – had been filmed before construction began, so those attributes didn’t yet exist. “I was blown away because I realized that there was actually some history going on,” says Bengtson. “It’s not just the same place then and now.” The film froze a place in time while the real spaces developed, changed and aged.

Not long after this initial discovery, Bengtson was searching vintage photos of Los Angeles in an archive when he noticed a photo taken near the intersection of Hollywood and Cahuenga Boulevards. In the photo there was an alley south of the intersection with some signs on either side of the entrance. He immediately recognized it as the setting for Keaton’s cops autograb stunt. When Bengtson was finally able to visit the alley months later to see if it was still there, he found that it looked much the same and that it was also the location of another scene from cops where Keaton’s hand is bitten by one Dog. This sequence was filmed at the other end of the top of the “T” where the alley meets Cosmo Street.

Before Bengtson’s rediscovery of the site and his work on cataloging the silent films they used (which he recorded in his books and continues to describe on his blog Silent Locations), the alley was gradually fading from the collective mind. Although it appears in Tim Burton’s 1994 film Ed Wood, Bengtson believes it is unlikely that Burton knew the alley’s place in cinema history. “In my opinion, this was not an homage, just a functional, real Hollywood location,” he says.

EaCa Alley, photographed in 2013. It was reinterpreted a little during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alissa Walker / CC by-SA 2.0

If Bengtson has his way, however, there will be a tribute to the place: he wants the city to celebrate history by naming part of the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley passage. He shared it on his blog, where he offers free PDF guides for DIY tours of the nearby filming locations, and recently produced a video about the alley that is currently banned as an outdoor dining area during COVID-19, but is going today mostly flanked by chic restaurants, cozy lofts and office space. He emphasizes that he does not want to rename the longer north-south section that runs parallel to Cahuenga Boulevard. This part already has a name – East Cahuenga Alley (or EaCa Alley for short) – and has become a hip hangout thanks to the revitalization by the EaCa Alley Association.

However, the vertical part of the alley is currently nameless. Much like the Music Box Steps in Silverlake, christened for their appearance in the 1932 Laurel and Hardy short film The Music Box, Bengtson wants film history to show up on the map.

“I can absolutely guarantee that nowhere are three of the greatest stars and three of their most important films to be found in one place.”

David Gadja, president of the EaCa Alley Association, is thrilled with Bengtson’s proposal and says he and his colleagues are thrilled with the opportunity to have the top east-west portion of the alley named in homage to Chaplin, Keaton. and Lloyd. ”Gadja and Bengtson have maintained a dialogue, but ultimately it’s not up to them. Urban bureaucracy is often labyrinthine, so it’s hard to say what the best way to go, especially in the midst of a global pandemic when officials have so much else to worry about. For now, Bengtson’s goal is to get the word wide and wide in the hope that the proposal will find widespread support. “Once enough people know about the alley, the right people will know about the alley, and once the right people know about the alley, it will happen,” he says.

He argues convincingly that there is no better place to honor Hollywood in its creation. There are a few other places where Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd’s paths crossed – on a cliff in Santa Monica and at a long-ruined Pasadena train station – but this place is special. “I can absolutely guarantee that nowhere are three of the biggest stars and three of their most important films in one place,” says Bengtson. “That’s absolutely two or three layers above anything I’ve ever found.”

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July 23, 2021

In this file photo, rapper Kanye West attends the WSJ Magazine 2019 Innovator Awards at MOMA on November 6, 2019 in New York.

Angela Weiss / TNS

Rap superstar Kanye West is no stranger to San Francisco. There he proposed marriage to his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, and the couple visited SF two weeks ago to attend an exhibition at the Asian Art Museum with their children.

With the same fanfare that accompanied his last album releases, West unveiled his tenth album last night in an Atlanta stadium. “Donda,” named for his late mother, was due to hit streaming services this morning, but in typical Kanye fashion, hadn’t appeared at the time of publication.

Two days before the release party, West released a teaser video for the album that includes a clip of the song “No Child Left Behind” starring Sha’Carri Richardson. The dark track is reminiscent of West’s previous album “Jesus is King”, with a religious message and a muted organ as the only prominent instrument.

Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill in San Francisco provides a quiet place to get away from the noise of the city on June 19, 2013.

Mark Bolster / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

It turned out that he was using the Grace Cathedral organ for the recording. Nob Hill Episcopal Church confirmed that their organ was on “Donda” but could not provide any further details.

The historic Olian Skinner organ with 7,466 pipes was built in 1934 and renovated in 2010. It is the fifth largest in California and the fifty largest in the world. It can be heard at both personal church services and online concerts scheduled to take place monthly through the end of 2021.

Kanye West can be seen at a listening event for his album “Donda” at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on July 22, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for Universal Music

Dan Gentile is the arts editor at SFGATE. He moved from Austin, TX to San Francisco, where he worked as a vinyl DJ and freelance food and music writer. His lyrics have been published in Texas Monthly, American Way, Rolling Stone, Roads & Kingdoms, VICE, Thrillist, and others.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The hilltop cottage owned by a lesbian couple who became the first same-sex partner to legally marry in San Francisco has become a city landmark. The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday to grant landmark status to late lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the house in the Noe Valley neighborhood is expected to be the first lesbian landmark in the western United States. Martin and Lyon bought the simple one-bedroom house as a couple in 1955. It became the headquarters of the political and social organization for lesbians they founded.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The hilltop cottage owned by a lesbian couple who became the first same-sex partner to legally marry in San Francisco has become a city landmark. The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday to grant landmark status to late lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the house in the Noe Valley neighborhood is expected to be the first lesbian landmark in the western United States. Martin and Lyon bought the simple one-bedroom house as a couple in 1955. It became the headquarters of the political and social organization for lesbians they founded.

The post Residence of San Francisco’s 1st same-sex spouses now a landmark appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

A governing body in San Francisco on Monday approved the landing of the Noe Valley home of the late pioneering lesbian couple Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin. The decision coincided with the observance of the Lesbian Visibility Day.

The Regulators’ Land Use and Transportation Committee unanimously voted 3-0 to recommend that the full board mark the couple’s residence at 651 Duncan Street when they meet on May 4th. It is said to be the city’s first landmark honoring lesbian history.

“I knew and adored them both,” said Aaron Peskin, District 3 supervisor. “I’ve been to your house many, many times. Thank you everyone who helped mark it. Yes, it’s great. “

Peskin and Dean Preston, a member of the District 5 supervisor, jointly support the landmark request. Land Use Committee Chair, District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar, said voting to recommend that the property be classified as a landmark “makes me very, very happy.”

Christina Morris, senior field director of the Los Angeles Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, argued in guest editorial the Bay Area Reporter posted online on April 23, “The Board of Supervisors should take this opportunity to review decades of oversight and inequality corrected by recognizing the Lyon-Martin-Haus as a landmark of women’s history in San Francisco and of LGBTQIA + civil rights activism. “

Preservation groups and LGBTQ historians had initially tried to make the entire property on Duncan Street a landmark in the city. They had argued that the garden plot adjacent to the hut where the women lived should also be included in the landmark, as the couple’s cremains were buried and scattered across the vacant part. The city’s planning department had also recommended that the entire property be listed as a historical monument.

Paul McKeown and his wife Meredith Jones-McKeown, who bought the property last summer for $ 2.25 million, argued that the landmark should only include the residence at 651 Duncan Street. They expressed concerns that the land marking of the vacant lot at 649 Duncan Street would affect their ability to build a new home for them and their two young daughters.

The city’s Historic Preservation Commission approved the family in a 6-1 vote in February, recommending that only the Cottage Package become the fifth city landmark, specifically related to LGBTQ history. Not only will it be the first to be exclusively about lesbian history, but it will also be the first LGBTQ landmark to be entirely in a residential area.

Gay District 8 supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who initiated the milestone process at the urging of the community, decided to follow the advice of the Conservation Advisory Board and apply for city landmark status for 651 Duncan Street only. He has also stated that he is open to renaming an urban open space near the property in honor of the women.

At Monday’s hearing, Mandelman named Lyon and Martin “giants of the early LGBTQ rights movement” whose homeland “should be properly recognized and preserved” as a key location in LGBTQ history. Since it was Lesbian Visibility Day, he remarked, “There was no better time to take this step.”

Terry Beswick, executive director of the GLBT Historical Society, which keeps the Lyon and Martin papers in their archives, helped promote the landmark and was involved in talks about the future of the house.

“We cannot exaggerate the cultural and historical importance of the house,” he told the superiors.

Shayne Watson, a lesbian and architectural historian, co-wrote a 2015 LGBTQ heritage survey in San Francisco that recommended making the couple’s home a city landmark. She noted that it would be the first landmark in the western United States to “recognize and affirm lesbian love, simply put”.

The new owners not only support the recognition of the Lyon-Martin-Haus for its historical importance to LGBTQ history, but have also committed to preserving it. They met with local conservationists and leaders of the LGBTQ community about the future use of the house and ways to document the structure for posterity.

The non-profit CyArk, which documents historical objects, is in talks with the friends of the Lyon-Martin-Haus about the use of drones to take pictures of the existing structure both outdoors and indoors and to record interviews with people in the house talk about its historical significance.

The homeowners haven’t ruled out the idea of ​​selling it to a conservation group at some point. One idea that has been circulated is to use it for an artist or activist-in-residence program as it is in a location that is likely to make it impossible to open to the public as a museum. At the hearing on Monday, Jones-McKeown thanked the city guides for advancing the request to mark only 651 Duncan Street.

“We knew nothing about Phyllis and Del when we bought the property. We now had many opportunities to learn more about them and their remarkable lives through Terry and the friends of the Lyon-Martin House,” she said. “We hope this will be an opportunity for many more people to learn more about you and your work.”

Lyon and Martin bought the property in 1955 and tended the vacant area as a garden. The couple, who first met in Seattle in 1952, co-founded the influential Daughters of Bilitis, the first political and social organization for lesbians in the United States. Her home was a meeting point within the city’s lesbian community and the location of various meetings and events.

Lyon died last April at the age of 95. Martin died in 2008 at the age of 87 weeks after the women became the first same-sex couple to legally marry in California in June.

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