THE NOE VALLEY VOICE

Noe Garden Tour Reaches New Heights

May 6 Fundraiser Features Several Homes on Liberty Hill

By Suzanne Herel

The charm of many Noe Valley homes isn’t visible from the street—it’s hidden behind them in enchanting landscapes.

Saturday, May 6, is your chance to peek into your neighbors’ back yards, as Friends of Noe Valley hosts its annual Noe Valley Garden Tour, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The tour highlights nine gardens, some in areas of the neighborhood not featured previously, including the home atop Liberty Hill once owned by San Francisco’s longest sitting mayor, James “Sunny Jim” Rolph Jr.

Peggy Cling, secretary-treasurer of Friends of Noe Valley and a member of the committee that organizes the tour, said she was thrilled they were able to get the Rolph home this year. Having

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Quake Shack Preservation Project Inching Forward City to Review Plans for 369 Valley St.

By Matthew S. Bajko

The latest plan for a historic earthquake shack structure in Noe Valley is snaking its way through the city’s review process. While planners are now supportive of the proposal, residents and preservationists continue to raise objections about how the noteworthy building will be incorporated into the design for a new single-family home.

Property owner John Schrader of Nova Designs + Builds has spent nearly a decade seeking permission to build a new house at 369 Valley St., between Sanchez and Noe streets. The lot currently contains a building composed of two shacks built to house refugees from the 1906 earthquake.

Schrader had hired historical resource consultant Tim Kelley, who at one time served on the city’s landmarks advisory board, to evaluate the building for its historical significance. Kelley had concluded the structure shouldn’t be considered a historic resource because it had been moved from its original location in a refugee camp and because modifications made to it over the years diminished its historical significance.

Thus, Schrader had initially sought to demolish and replace it with a new three-story, single-family home. Those plans prompted objections, however, from nearby residents and community groups, as the Voice first reported in its May 2015 issue.

That spring, the San Francisco Planning Department concluded that the former shacks were of historical value and eligible for listing on a statewide register of historic properties in California, though the double-shack building is not currently on the registry. Just a handful of the 5,610 earthquake shacks remain standing, with only two found in Noe Valley, according to city planners.

Gabled and L-Shaped Since 1907

The front shack at 369 Valley has a prominent gable, a key feature of the