Page 29 - Allison's Magazine Issue #97
P. 29

The neighborhood residents, inspired   Alice Yee Xavier also lives next door and
                                            by another set of stairs called the 16th   tends the hillside garden. She took the
                                            Avenue Tiled Steps, wanted to add   time to label the names of each plant,
 “ OUR FIRST                                beauty to their own community in a   and once in a while you might also find
                                            similar way. In 2011, they presented the
                                                                                a sign with a photo of someone stealing
 STOP ON
 THE HIDDEN                                 idea to the city, who approved it under   a flower. Vigilante justice can
                                                                                be creative.
                                            one condition: they had to pay for it
 STAIRCASE                                  themselves. Most of the names on the
 TOUR WAS                                   steps are people in the neighborhood   If you hang a right at the top of the 16th
 THE HIDDEN                                 who donated money toward the project.   Avenue Tiled Steps, you’ll eventually
 GARDEN                                     Artists Aileen Barr and Colette     encounter Noriega Street and the
                                                                                entrance to the zigzagged wooden
 STEPS, ONE                                 Crutcher, who had previously designed   staircase that leads to Grandview
 BLOCK OVER                                 the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps, were   Park. The amount of wind at the top
 ON 16TH                                    called in to spearhead the design. The   is shocking, but it’s worth it for the
                                            completed mosaic, to which donors had
                                                                                panoramic splendor, including a view of
 AVENUE.                                    contributed over $216,000, was installed   Golden Gate Park.
 THEY WERE                                  in 2013. In addition to the art tiles,
 BUILT IN THE                               the hillside was planted with a variety   This behemoth of a park was the dream
                                            of succulents, like the popular rosette-
 1930S OUT OF                               shaped aeoniums.                    of Scotland-born John McLaren, who
                                                                                wanted a park on the West Coast that
 PLAIN GRAY                                                                     would rival Central Park. (It’s actually
 CEMENT.                                    We soon arrived at the first set of stairs   20 percent bigger!) He managed to
                                            Aileen and Colette tackled, on Moraga   create an evergreen expanse, despite the
                                            Street. Greg laughed and explained,   existing landscape of sand dunes. He
                                            “They are called the 16th Avenue Tiled   loved trees but hated statues, and if he
                                            Steps, though, because the people on   could not win the battle against one, he
                                            16th Avenue paid for them, and the   was known to rearrange the park to hide
                                            people on Moraga did not.” Alice Yee   it as much as possible by planting trees
                                            Xavier and her friend Jessie Audette   or other greenery.
                                            had a vision for the steps in their
                                            neighborhood. Jessie had lived in Rio   From this high up, it’s easy to see how
                                            de Janeiro, where painted stairs are   compact San Francisco really is. At
                                            plentiful, and they were inspired to   about seven miles by seven miles, it
                                            bring the same vibrancy to their corner   holds more than 850,000 residents in
                                            of the world. The stairs feature a sun at   comparison to the Bay Area’s whopping
                                            the top, then a moon, a stream, a river   7.5 million.
                                            that runs through a forest, and, finally,
                                            the ocean. On one particular step, you’ll   The tour wound down and through the
 Clockwise from Top Left:                   find a tea kettle tile with Alice and   Forest Hill neighborhood where Willie
 Various stops on the Hidden Stairways Tour   Jessie’s names on it and two tea cups
 include a charming cottage, a hillside garden                                  Mays, one of the greatest baseball players
 alongside the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps, and   with Aileen and Colette’s names.   ever, lived for a short while in a home on
 the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps themselves.




 26 | AMERICAN LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE                                                               americanlifestylemag.com | 27
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