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The following description of the Alamo Square Historic District is quoted from the
San Francisco Planning Code: Article 10, Appendix E.
The Alamo Square Historic District is significant as a continuum of distinguished residential architecture by distinguished
architects spanning the period from the 1870's to the 1920's. The towered Westerfield [sic] House, the renowned "Postcard Row" with its
background of the downtown skyline, and the neighboring streetscapes are as identified worldwide with San Francisco as the cable
cars and Coit Tower. With a variety of architectural styles, the District is unified in its residential character, relatively small
scale, construction type, materials (principally wood), intense ornamentation (especially at entry and cornice), and use of basements
and retaining walls to adjust for hillside sites. Boundaries include the park, its edges, the nearby buildings rated highest on
the City's architectural survey, and infill structures for rational planning. Most of the original owner-residents were moderately
successful businessmen. A higher than average percentage of the houses were designed by architects, including a virtual cross-section
of the City's better professionals. The District has always housed a varied ethnic group. With a high degree of integrity to its
original designs, the District clearly serves as a visual reminder of how businessmen lived two to four generations ago.
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