An authentic Victorian house, Queen Anne style (belonging to the late 19th century merchant class) that survived both the1906 earthquake and subsequent fire. This is a great museum for tourists - it offers a great glimpse of a life of early merchant families and how they projected wealth in a rapidly growing city. This is truly a time capsule of upward mobility that tells a story about immigrant merchants trying to transform commercial success into social legitimacy. Victorian aspiration in architectural form: like many merchant families of the era, the owners attempted to replicate the visual language of European wealth by painting and treating the façade to resemble stone, even though the structure is wood (a small prestige performance). The bathroom setup - marble top grooming table, exposed plumbing, clawfoot tub, early shower, bidet - indicating a more layered approach instead of a minimalist bathroom. Advice to all visitors: It may be worth calling ahead to confirm there is no yard or gardening maintenance scheduled during the 1- hour tour (only 2 tours per day). The leaf blower running during our visit was loud enough that made it difficult to hear the soft-spoken docent throughout the tour. Removing 1 star only for this reason. read more

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A historical house that's a hidden gem in plain sight in SF! I got 2 free tickets through my library's Discover & Go program. I would suggest taking public transit or ride share there as there isn't much easy parking around. The hours and tours are limited, so I also recommend double checking the website before coming. Our tour guide was Jack. He was enthusiastic and knowledgeable and shared so many fun facts about the House as well as about SF history. The tour lasted a little over an hour but honestly could have gone even longer. Some of my favorite parts of the tour was seeing the kitchen, and the (still functional) toy trains in the basement. Great place to check out if you're interested in architecture and SF history. read more

Haas-Lilienthal House - Kitchen - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - San Francisco, California

Truly amazing! The docent and all staff were very kind and knowledgeable. This is a must visit for any one interested in San Francisco history. read more

This is a cool little historical gem in the Pacific Heights neighborhood in San Francisco. We didn't take the tour, but they do have them. We didn't find the tour needed. When we went to visit, there was a knowledgeable and helpful docent in each room to answer questions - they sure know their stuff! Its $10 per visit for an adult, but we just bought the $40 per year membership to support the cause. A little background... this house was built in 1886. It somehow survived the 1906 earthquake with minor damage (miracle!). That earthquake destroyed 40% of San Francisco. The house has been expanded, renovated, and improved over the years. Its now part of the National Register of Historic Places - its officially a landmark! PRO-TIP: Your local library likely has the ability to provide you tickets if you reserve in advance. read more

Haas-Lilienthal House - Info - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - San Francisco, California

A hidden gem among San Francisco history sites. A beautifully maintained 19th century Victorian mansion in the heart of San Francisco. The Haas-Lilienthal House allows visitors to take a step into the past of a Victorian Plutocrat. The tours are 1 hour and are done during weekends. Prices are fair and much cheaper than the Winchester Mystery House. Highly recommend for anyone interested in San Francisco and Victorian history. read more

Haas-Lilienthal House - Photo of the outside of the Haas-Lilienthal Mansion - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - San Francisco, California

We found out about Haas Lilienthaal through a reddit post I believe, and it truly was an amazing venue for our wedding. It had the perfect mix of stately adornment, timeless-- almost imposing historic beauty, and a staff that can only be described as magnetic as they are charming. I think Woody may just have been our favorite person to work with throughout the entire wedding planning process. Easy going, no stress, and a natural problem solver. He was attentive to all of our questions and needs, and was excited to share the history of this beautiful house with both us and our friends and family. Very excited for this place to open back up to the public this spring. It's a must visit, and a quintessential piece of SF history! read more

Haas-Lilienthal House - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - San Francisco, California

It pains me to think tourists might affiliate the elitism and poor historic knowledge of the Haas-Lilienthal house with San Francisco. I attended a few events at the house with the heritage group and wasn't impressed. Again, the cockiness was what really turned me off. read more

This review is only for the 2023 Mayhem Mansion during Halloween +1 cool to check out the house if you havent. -4 the haunted mansion event is exactly the same as 2022. If you havent gone, you just need to go once apparently. I have never been more disappointed during an event where you expect them to put some more effort to change the theme year after year. read more

We would visit historical landmarks on the East Coast in Maryland and etc..Philadelphia, Boston, etc. This Victorian house is in San Francisco on Franklin. They preserved the Queen Anne's style. It has preserved house items. The family was prominent. They have tours every weekend. They have a nice outreach to get people involved. What is this country? It was built during the Victorian period..Queen Victoria in England...then there was a counterculture..then there was ever after..and history repeats or history has stories that you never heard. Old families during the Victorian era. read more

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Looking for something different to do in SF between hours of eating/foodie adventures and boutique or high-end shopping? Exploring SF on an active recovery day after long days of hard efforts on the road bike or days of practicing CX bike drills in GGP? Seeking to learn some SF history and culture away from the crowds of tourist hotspots like Ghirardelli Square, Fisherman's Wharf, GGB or one of the fabulous art museums?? This historical house tour and neighborhood walking tour just might be the ticket!!! We toured the house and also went on the walking tour. Both were fantastic and interesting in a good way! The walking pace is leisurely, but you need to be able to stand/be on your feet for two hours, which can be tiring as there aren't places to sit and rest during the tour. From the website: San Francisco Heritage offers a docent-led walking tour of Pacific Heights every Sunday at 12:30 p.m. The tour covers approximately fifteen to twenty blocks and takes about two hours. The Pacific Heights tour starts in front of the Haas-Lilienthal House (2007 Franklin Street) and ends around Jackson and Gough streets. Check the website before you go as sometimes the tour is cancelled due to private events.   Recommend - yes Would go back?? - yes Cash Street parking read more

Haas-Lilienthal House is open FREE One day out of the whole entire year, and this yr it was Sun 10/21/12 so I went. I missed it last yr, made a note of when it was, then emailed them to tell me the date so I knew. From Civic Center Bart it's a long walk up Franklin near Washington, I saw the balloons up the street on the Left. Walked in & found out it was Self-guided tour, good, so not too much blah blah blah. Went into the first room, dining room, kitchen, upstairs made a little loop, then down in the basement there's a room with old trains that don't work, but kinda neat to see. Walked out to the tiny garden when you go through the gate, don't go to 2009, that's a Private Residence. Maybe worth checking out if in the area if you like to see an old Victorian Queen Anne still furnished & like a museum now. Website on tours, Adults $8/Seniors $5: http://www.sfheritage.org/haas-lilienthal-house/ read more

Haas-Lilienthal House - Free open house once a yr, today 10/21/12 Sunday was one of them. - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Due to Covid restrictions, I did a self-guided tour with audio guide. I loved it and learned so much about the families that lived there and SF history. read more

Haas-Lilienthal House - Haas-Lilienthal house from across street - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - San Francisco, California

This was such an amazing place for the reception. It was just a few blocks from the Queen Anne, and a great extension of the victorian theme the couple had chosen for the wedding. All in all, this was a fun location, with lots of space, tons of things to explore, and very gracious staff offering tours. It must have been a huge challenge for the tour guides, as I can't imagine trying to do a tour in a noisy room, trying to keep the attention of a large group, half of which were quite a few drinks into their celebration. There were some neat stories you learn, such as that the crack in the wall over the stairwell, created during the big earthquake, was purposely left by the owners to remind them how lucky they were that was all the damage that was done. Downstairs, hidden away a bit, was an old set of toy trains (and a sign advertising 'toys, now with electricity!"). They are still working, and a flip of a light switch will start one of them running along the tracks. After drinks and hors d'oeuvres the party moved down to the ball room on the ground floor. This fit a surprising number of people, and even had room for a small stage for toasts and a 4 person bluegrass band. The atmosphere was cozy, but not cramped. Once the tables and chairs were cleared there was plenty of room to dance. As the revelries ran into the night, the staff never got impatient to push us out the door. Granted, the band packing up and leaving was enough of a hint to get us started out the door.. and hour or so later. Great wedding reception, in a really fun local. read more

Haas-Lilienthal House - a handmade doll house - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - San Francisco, California

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While the house itself is beautiful and historic, we dealt with some discrimination by our tour guide for someone with a disability. The woman leading our tour did not want to use the elevator despite a woman on our tour having had knee surgery recently and needing to use it. The woman said, "You don't really need it, right?" And then when she finally gave in, both on the ride up and the trip back down, she kept saying, "You just want to take the elevator for fun." This is really inappropriate behavior and made the woman needing the assistance feel extremely uncomfortable. They need to get some proper anti-discrimination training for their guides. read more

Hmm..I "attended" the so-called waltz dance lesson at this house yesterday and had to "drop" out in the first 10 minutes of class due to the disorganized nature of the dance lesson.... First, they totally oversold the tickets and the ballroom downstair was so crowded that it was a struggle to even walk without bumping into another person, can't imagine how dance was even possible under these kinds of circumstances and I saw a couple of people "quit" in the middle of the dance lesson...probably for this reason. Secondly, the dance instructor basically assumed everybody came in "pairs" and never even bothered to ask if everybody has a partner and since I was there by myself, I had to oddly "step out" from the lesson. There was no statement or disclaimer of any kind on the ticket that indicated bringing a partner is mandatory for the dance lesson...overall, pretty disappointed in this organization. read more

The Haas-Lilienthal house is the only Victorian era house preserved with all the original furniture from the families that lived here that is available to the public to tour and sightsee. It was really quite a majestic experience to be able to visit this place. The house is humongous! Back in the mayday, the original owner bought off two parcels of land so that the house could have a space for a garden, so now it sits next to an empty lot of beautifully landscaped grass - think of all those parking spaces!!! As a fan of architecture and pretty living spaces, I really appreciated the experience to tour the house. My tour guide was great, I think his name was John, he really had a lot of knowledge about the architectural details and history of the house and gave us a mini history lesson about the architecture of this time period. The house is a Queen Anne Victorian, which is denoted by the tower shape in the design and ornate detailing. The house was one of the lucky ones that managed to survive the 1906 earthquake on this side of town, but Victorian homes began to fall out of fashion so many of the remaining Victorian homes were torn down to build flats and more modernly styled homes - the Haas Lilienthal house is one of the few remaining Victorians in the city! The basement houses a ball room (where you buy your tickets), laundry room, and maid room - this is where they house a giant train set. The first floor had the parlor, dining room, and kitchen. Fun fact - there is a window in the study that opens to the outside like a door! The second floor had the bedrooms, bath and sewing room. I really liked that our tour guide created a view of what life was like back in that time period - I truly appreciated our modern conveniences that we so often take for granted everyday - electricity, plumbing, appliances! The house tour was slightly geared towards tourists but I would highly recommend it even if you're a native or SF newbie - it's a cool glimpse into the houses that are sprinkled throughout the city and educational as well. Tip: sometimes they give out free tickets if you have a library card with the city. Otherwise, it's about $8/person and they accept cash only. The house has limited hours and days that you can visit and I think this might be because they are running off volunteer work or what not - so be sure to double check before you come. read more

Haas-Lilienthal House - Victorian era train set - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - San Francisco, California

My mom and little brother came up to visit recently. "I wanna see an old house" my mom said, before even saying hi to me, while shoving her bags in my arms. "An old house mom, are you fucking serious?" I asked, struggling to regain my balance from the awkward distribution of weight the bags left me in. "I didn't move down the street from Lucky 13 to look at goddamn old houses" I snapped, upset at the idea of having to go look at a goddamn old house. "Lets just get some drinks" I pleaded, looking in the direction of Lucky 13. "You know, talk and shit" I said. "Talk!" she scoffed. "Why, so you can bitch to me some more about that restaurant Chow and how San Francisco has shitty Mexican food, hell naw". So we went and saw an old house. And it was pretty cool. They talk about how old all the rooms are, how the people that used to live there are so old that they're dead, old school glamour, glitz, sex and drama. This house was built when electricity was the new shit, so a lot of things in there were able to run off of both electricity and gas, which was pretty much the ballin shit for an old house. Definitely worth an hour of your time. read more

The Haas Lilenthal house is the city's only intact Queen Anne-style Victorian home (built in 1886) that is open regularly as a museum, complete with authentic furniture and artifacts. This review is for the Mayhem Manor Halloween tour only. Although we didn't buy tickets in advance, my friend and I decided to go and try to get tickets at the door ($20). We were told by the guy walking up and down the line that they were sold out, but we could probably get into the last show at 10:00 p.m. We went to the "Spookeasy" for a drink while we waited. Drinks were cheap ($5 for a glass of wine) and we were even given free raffle tickets by someone. The prizes were pretty cheesy, however (e.g. a package of Oreo cookies, Halloween Kleenex tissues, small plastic skulls, etc). The tour exits into the Spookeasy so we saw all the people walk past who were finishing the tour. We went back out to the line outside a few minutes before 10:00 p.m., saw the guy selling tickets, and bought them for $20 each. Then we stood in line another 45 minutes, actually getting into the house at 10:45 p.m. The way they handled the line was pretty disorganized. No communication about why the line was moving so slowly or which time slots were up. Once inside, the tour guide was pretty entertaining and there were some scary props and people dressed up as ghosts jumping out at you. The best thing about Mayhem Manor tour was to actually be in the house (although you wished for bright lighting so you could actually see it better).The fact that it lasted only 15 minutes was very dismaying (after waiting over over an hour and a half). I tried not to be upset since proceeds go to the continued maintenance and upkeep of the Haas-Lilienthal House under the direction of San Francisco Heritage. As a haunted house, I wouldn't recommend it, as it was too short and not scary at all. I do want to go back (for $8) for their regular house tour. read more

Serving as headquarters for the San Francisco Architectural Heritage, this fully-furnished and beautifully preserved Queen Anne-style Victorian was built in 1886 by architect Peter Schmidt. The House has elaborate wooden gables, a circular corner tower, and luxurious ornamentation. A display of photographs describes the history of the home and the family that lived here until 1972, before it was transformed into a museum open for docent tours on Sunday, Wednesday, and Saturday; adult admission $8.00. A must for students of architecture and anyone interested in the history of the city. read more

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This house was fantastic inside and out. The Queen Anne details are beautifully preserved on the exterior and the interior provides a lovely snapshot of how a home can evolve throughout its history as a family uses the home. It's rare to find a home close to its original condition, let alone a home the same family lived in for multiple generations and kept pretty much in tact. So this home is a special gem! I'm pretty partial to house museums and historical tours of all sorts, so I tend to know what I'm looking for in a guide and our guide was very knowledgeable and also a good guide. He gave us just enough useful information about the family, the history of SF, the history of architecture, the decorations and victorian society for us to remember the major points and really get a lot out of the tour. read more

This is a nice little tour to go on if you're interested in seeing the inside of one of San Francisco's oldest houses. The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable. The house itself is very cool, yet the furniture and appliances that fill the house are even more interesting. Especially the kitchen. The only let back of this tour was that we weren't able to walk freely about the house for a few minutes or so. Of course, letting a tour group roam around an antique house probably isn't normal, but they do sell time in the house for people who want to have receptions or parties (not those kinds of parties). It makes it different to be able to walk freely through the house, it lets you get a feel for what it was like living there. Anyways, there is an awesome toy train setup near the end of the tour which the tour guide actually turned on for us. I believe it was somewhere around $9-$11 per person. Another added benefit was the tour guide's explanation of what the 1908 earthquake did to San Francisco and there are even some panoramic shots that were taken in hot air balloons showing pre-1908 San Francisco and post-1908 San Francisco (the devastation). read more

If you're fascinated by old Victorians, you will love this tour. Carlo was our guide - was very nice and informative. He told us all about life in the late 1800s in houses like this. In the basement is an old Lionel Train Set, which actually does work, he turned it on and we watched it make 2 loops around the platform. But I was even more fascinated by this device in the Mrs' bathroom - a curling iron before there was electricity. Tours are only on wednesdays and certain weekends. Check their website. $8 entrance fee. or $7 if you have a AAA card. Or $5 if you are 60 or over. read more

We were really excited to attend the Twisted Tours of Terror on opening night and purchased our tickets in advance for the 7PM show (runs from 7-8PM). We showed up a little before 7 and there was already a line of about 20 people ahead of us. 7PM hits and the doors remain closed, and stay this way until 7:20 (meanwhile, no one is telling the line what is going on and the line has grown to be really long now). They let a few tiny groups in and then the line remains static for the next 15 to 20 or so minutes. We finally get close to the front of the line and at this point it is almost 8 PM. I assume the people behind us that showed up for the 7 PM show were probably in line for up to 2 hours at the rate things were moving. We decide we aren't going to stand around look fools any longer and leave, after waiting for close to an hour. It's really difficult to support something so poorly run as this. They started late, they didn't tell anyone what to expect in line, and they didn't have the foresight to create a different line for the 8PM group so I suspect they were mixing into the line ahead of some of the 7PM people too. Please don't bother running these things if you cannot do it properly. read more

Love this house - we got married here - it was perfect for our intimate affair. We were married in December in front of the enormous Christmas tree. It was too perfect for words. read more

I'm something of a history nut, so this place was pure heaven for me. Our tour guide, Joe, was incredibly knowledgeable about the home, its inhabitants over the years and the general history of San Francisco. I normally prefer to wander these kinds of places by myself, but Joe's guidance actually made the experience 10x better than it would have been on my own. If you're at all interested in local history or architecture, the Haas-Lilienthal house is a can't miss. read more

Very cool tour! This has been on my list of places to visit and it's only taken me YEARS to finally get a group together and go. I'm so glad I did! As with most live-and-in-person tours, the enjoyment of the tour guide you happen to have. ( All of the tours are led by volunteer docents.) When I take a tour, I am constantly popping my hand up to ask the tour guide an extra question. They take a breath to pause, I see it as an opportunity to ask for details. If they ask a question to the group, I'm right there volunteering. I was impressed by the knowledge our volunteer. Highly recommend!! read more

It is a nice tour, however taking into consideration the size of the home, there is relatively little of the house you actually get to view. Most of the tour takes place in the lower level with just a few rooms to see upstairs. If you end up with a large group, as we had, it becomes difficult to take your time and absorb the architecture and period pieces inside. Would recommend this excursion, just beware that it is not as long as similar historical Home tours. read more

My bf just lived 2 blocks away from this place so I dragged him to see it with me on a Saturday morning. It will be a waste to not see it since it so close to us. Like Gourmet G said. ^_^ no need to be redundant on the 411 on history of this house. I must say this 1886 house is still looking great. You can see the crack on the wall cause by the big earthquake in the city. The architecture is easy on the eye and not gaudy at all. Our tour guide was a bit nervous but she was knowledgeable. Mr & I learned a few things. Can you imagined this house was purchased for $2k, I can't fathom how much it cost right now. The average median house in Pacific Heights is 2.5 million dollar. Besides the 1886ish Grandfather clock that still works in the foyer, my favorite is the litte details that they were able to preserve like daily chores for the maids in the kitchen. What can I say I'm a sucker for history more so in real estate those days. read more

We checked out the house as a possible wedding reception space. The staff was friendly and got back to us quickly. They also gave us a complimentary pass for the house tour. The historical tour was interesting. We didn't like the space too much. The space seemed a little dark and cramped to fit 90 people. read more

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Wouldn't have known this place existed if I didn't hear about their free day this past Sunday 19 Oct. Glad I got to see it! I always wanted to see the inside of one those Victorian houses. The staff were very knowledgeable and provided interesting bits of history of the house and the time of Old San Francisco. I think it would be worth to see it even if you have to pay for it. read more

Haas-Lilienthal House - Cool house - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - San Francisco, California

You'd think a city known for their Victorian homes would have plenty of Victorian mansions to tour. Not so. It was hard to find a house to visit. This was one of the few. It seems the old houses either burned down or have been turned in to rented event venues. With limited hours, there were plenty of people coming for a tour. The attendance was so high, the group was smartly split into two tours. The hour-long tour went by quickly with most of the house open for viewing. It's not a huge house given their wealth. Some furniture in the house was original which helped create a feel of that era. There's also a working antique model train in the basement. read more

What a funny little venue for a dinner party. I was a bit wary when I heard about this location, but it turned out better than I had expected. I don't know if I would go there again, but for an end-of-the-year gathering with co-workers, it was fun. The house itself was a good size for 30-40 people. There was a fireplace (big plus on a cold night!), and the rooms were cozy. The walls in the front rooms were redwood and oak. (I know that only I would remember that, but they are beautiful woods that modern houses don't usually have.) The downside was the construction out back; the displays were a little bare in the ballroom downstairs. The house itself also looks like it is being worn down by the number of tourists that tramp through. And I fear that the original furniture, artwork, and pictures (especially the 1908 pictures!!) are being exposed to light and and are being damaged. (Maybe my fear is misplaced; maybe they have a conservator on staff to deal with such things.) The docent dressed up in period costume and gave 20-minute tours. Her tour was good; we got to see the entire house. The ancient curling iron in the upstairs master bathroom was terrific. So, a few memorable things, but one tour is enough. read more

A few of the docents were dressed in period dress & knowledgeable. Quite an authentic feel with most rooms still fully furnished so you get a better feel for the history. Would be epic to rent for a party/event. read more

Great enthusiastic guide (Carlo?) that made the tour fun. I learned a lot more than I presumed I would have... About the general area and also on day-to-day lives of peoples in that era. Well worth those few bucks ($8)! read more

The only Victorian home in the city open to the public as a museum. It's filled with furniture and artifacts from the 1800s. Kind of like an antiques shoppe in my opinion but nothing's for sale. If you're really bored or it's raining, you can visit this site and she'll out $8 for a tour. Just note it's only open Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. read more

Haas-Lilienthal House - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - San Francisco, California

This is a gem of a museum. You get to actual go in to tour this gorgeous quintessentially San Francisco home. The tour guides are very knowledgeable. We actually looked at having our wedding reception here. You can rent out the entire home for events. It didn't work with our plans but I will be keeping it in mind for fun future events. read more

10/31/14 Mayhem Mansion-Haunted Halls of Horror Haas-Lilienthal House It could be 5 stars, truly it could be 5 stars, but I must knock 2 points off. It seems to me that they over-sold tickets. My booking was for last tour (10-10:30pm). However, people had to wait outside nearly 2 hours. I was worried that I may miss last train. My attitude was getting bad with time. I am very sorry about that. All actors did fantastic job and lighting, sound effect were good. Tour guide did excellent job too. I strongly recommend this event. Advice to organizer - you need to solve this scheduling problem. Finally, I thank a young, tall, and nice-looking couple who helped me to get free ride to BART station. I got home safely after 1:00am. Life is beautiful because so many nice people out there. read more

Mayhem Mansion was amazing! It was so much fun and the people were so friendly! The tour was super scary and I highly recommend.

Best $8 ever spent. The docent walked our small group through each room, even letting us in closed off areas since we only had six people. She painted a picture of a family living in the house, hosting parties, enjoying their lives, living through the earthquake. It's like stepping back in time. read more

Must have driven past this place a couple thousand times before deciding to figure out what it was all about. The Haas name was/is a storied San Francisco name - Lilienthal perhaps less so - and this house provides a "glue" to the past when the family moved here from New York (Bavaria originally) to join their brother in the retail business that eventually birthed Levi Strauss, MJB Coffee, and others. The last family member at this residence passed away in the early-70's and the SF Heritage Trust now runs the place as a sort of museum/tribute. As others have noted it's a "reverse-Tardis" - smaller on the inside than it might otherwise appear, but it's great for about an hour tour. Our docent was great. Just five visitors so pretty intimate gathering. The tour is not only about the bones of the house - and there's plenty to take in - but also about the family history, and by extension SF history plus the story of American Jewry in the USA. All in all an hour well spent and good value at $8. read more