Category: Programs

Spring 2013

On April 27, 2013, NCCSAH members toured San Francisco’s most distinguished residence parks, the 100-year old garden suburbs of St. Francis Wood and Ingleside Terraces. Included were interiors of houses by Henry Gutterson and Masten & Hurd.

Fall 2012

Architectural Historian Judith Marvin led a fabulous NCCSAH tour of Calaveras County in October.  The tour began with a great dinner of “chicken in a barrel” at Judy’s amazing Queen Anne Style ranch house near the town of Murphys.

The next day we had perfect weather, a fascinating tour of the 1870s Hotel Leger in Mokelumne Hill where we had a wonderful lunch. Judy’s colleague archaeologist Julia Costello led a very insightful tour of the town that included her own house! In the afternoon we toured the Angel’s Camp Historical Museum and the town of Angel’s Camp. Then we had a delicious dinner prepared by local caterer Lila & Sage in the Hovey Winery (who provided us with many fine local wines) in Murphys.

The next day it was a real treat and surprise to see the small town of Sheep Ranch (population 37) which has the impressive 1880s Pioneer Hotel, a old dance hall (still in use) and a wonderfully weathered general store with its original 1930s gas pump.

Thank you Judy! We learned so much about Calaveras County buildings and history while having a really fun trip.

More information on the tour is included in the Calaveras Tour Newsletter

Spring 2012

Early Saturday morning, June 2nd, saw a dedicated group of NCCSAH members and guests gather for an outstanding tour of ecclesiastical stained glass at five locations in San Francisco.

Ian Berke’s enthusiastic interest in American stained glass was the inspiration for this tour. At each stop Ian gave an interesting narrative that explained the various types of glass and the glassmaking processes, and helped the audience to recognize the various types and styles of the art. With Ward Hill, he provided historical information on each church. William Kostura offered insights on the history of St. Mark’s and Calvary Presbyterian, and Prof. Paul Turner spoke on the history First Unitarian Church.

The tour included a bag lunch stop at Alta Plaza Park, and at the close of the day Maggie and Ian Berke graciously hosted a reception at their Pacific Heights home, whose American decorative arts collection merits a tour all its own.

Thank you to the following people who helped to make this tour possible: Susie Moore and Rev. John Anderson at St Johns Presbyterian, Alan Nicholson at Trinity Episcopal, Carol Fox and Joe Beyer at Calvary Presbyterian, Kerry Parker at First Unitarian, and Amy Mallor and Rabbi Larry Raphael at Sherith Israel.

A mini-bus from Peninsula Tour, ably driven by Ronald, provided transportation among several of the sites.

More information on the tour is included in the Stained Glass Tour Newsletter

Fall 2011

The Fall, 2011 NCCSAH event was a all day tour October 22 by Caltrain of five historic San Francisco Peninsula railroad stations. We are of course grateful to Caltrain for providing transportation (!) and also want to thank the following tour guides who gave us excellent tours of the five railroad stations:

Vern Bruce, Millbrae Historical Society, led the tour of the Millbrae Railroad Depot; Russ Cohen, Hillsborough-Burlingame Historical Society, had a talk about and led the tour of the Burlingame Railroad Depot; Steve Staiger, historian with the Palo Alto Historical Society, gave a presentation about the history of the Palo Alto Railroad Depot; Robert Marshall, CEO of the South Bay Historical Railroad Society led the tour of the Santa Clara Railroad Depot and related buildings; Rod Diridon, Director of the Mineta Transportation Institute, gave an excellent Powerpoint presentation on high-speed rail and led the tour of the Diridon (Cahill) Railroad Depot in San Jose.