The story behind San Francisco’s iconic bay home windows
When you picture a residential street in San Francisco, you probably think of a row of ornate, brightly painted Victorian houses, all lined up on a steep hill. But there is one important feature of this image that is easy to miss, although without it it would make the scene very strange. A curved bay window wrapped in the facade is a signature piece of Bay Area architecture – even if it really has nothing to do with the Bay Area.
The typical bay window is not only found in Victorians – more on that later – but is just as important for the Bay Area as fog or the Golden Gate Bridge. The style of the windows is actually older than the Bay Area. It is unclear exactly when bay windows were “invented”, but they grew in popularity during the English Renaissance and saw a boom from the early 16th to the early 17th centuries. This explains why the windows are still so common in cities around the world, with a remarkable prevalence in the UK and later New England.
The bay window that most San Franciscans think of – the one displayed on a classic Victorian building like the Painted Ladies, for example – is a particular type of two shorter windows and one longer window that converge at angles to form a “bay window.” ” to build. Tim Kelley, an advisor and conservation advocate in San Francisco, said they performed in the city in the late 1880s.
They continued to enjoy great popularity during the Victorian era when so much of the architecture was praised for its function. “You get more light when you put a bay window in, and the Victorians took advantage of that,” said Bonnie Spindler, a San Francisco-based real estate agent and “Victorian Specialist”. “At the time they were built, [residents] relied on gas lighting and the interiors were painted dark to hide the soot from the gas lights and the soot from the coal burning. “
She said this helped especially in foggy San Francisco.
The windows protruding above the building also provided additional space. “While bay windows have aesthetic (shape) and functional (natural light and views) features that add to their iconic status in San Francisco architecture past and present, there is an economic motivation for bay windows that is often overlooked,” said Steven Doctors, Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of San Francisco. “… Bay windows efficiently increase the number of square meters of a building, often by protruding beyond the property line and into the air space above the public pavement. This ‘free’ space in public space increases the number of square meters of the building and thus increases its economic value or rental income for private property owners. “
Row of seven Victorian houses in central San Francisco known as Painted Ladies.
LimeWave – Inspiration To Explore / Getty Images
San Francisco is also known for preserving older homes, and much of what has been preserved has been old Edwardian and Victorian homes that have bay windows, Spindler said.
There’s also an obvious reason why bay windows are mistakenly synonymous with the Bay Area – it’s in the name. “We are the Bay Area and they are bay windows,” said Spindler. “There are many other bays, but we are probably the most famous one.”
Today bay windows are more common in San Francisco than Victorian homes, and they come in all styles and sizes. They can be found in Art Deco, marina, and even some Tudor Revival homes, although many more use an arched window that includes four or more windows to create a more rounded arch. In any case, the houses still fulfill their original intention – more light and more square meters.
Rob Thomson, president of the Victorian Alliance, said bay windows in San Francisco can also be used as a handy shortcut when determining the age of a home. “No bay (flat front) or an angled bay usually means it’s 1870s or earlier. A box shaft is associated with the 1880s, and a rounded shaft means it’s 1890s or later, ”he said. “The system isn’t perfect, and there are exceptions, but it’s a useful tool and a great way to sound smart to your friends.”
Not only are Bay Area windows quintessential, they’re so popular that they even add value to a home, Spindler said. She said that having fireplaces makes them high on people’s list of favorite features when looking to buy real estate. But there is something incredibly unique about the windows that has almost no other function. “They are really bay windows that draw your attention from the outside of the building and draw your attention from the inside of the building,” she said. “There are very few functions that migrate from the inside to the outside.”
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include additional information about bay windows and the age of houses.
