Historic photo courtesy of cliffhouseproject.com

2009 marks the 100 year anniversary of the venerable Cliff House out on the Great Highway. Just to be clear, that’s 100 years of the third version of the Cliff House built in 1909 by Dr. Emma Merritt, daughter of Adolph Sutro.

The first two Cliff Houses, both wood structures, were destroyed by fire. So Dr. Merritt was sure to ask for a “a fire-proof structure” when he hired the noted San Francisco architectural firm of the Reid Brothers.

In honor of their centennial, the Cliff House is offering some specials in their two restaurants. Every Wednesday evening, enjoy a special $19.09 three-course, prix fixe dinner menu in their Bistro. Or if lunch is more your thing, you can get a three-course prix fixe lunch every Tuesday in Sutro’s at the Cliff House for just $20.09.

And if you think the Cliff House is just for tourists, think again. Head Chef George Morrone took over in January after noteworthy successes at downtown restaurants Aqua and Fifth Floor. The food is getting high marks lately and let’s face it, the Cliff House restaurants have some of the best views in the city.

The Cliff House will also host a Centennial Gala on November 4, 2009. Chaired by Dr. Cynthia Soyster, a direct descendant of Adolph Sutro, the evening promises hors d’oeuvres, beverages, dancing, live music, history exhibits, and a fashion show of period ball gown, with a contemporary twist.

The gowns on display will made from recycled Cliff House menus, memorabilia and photographs, and are styled to match eras of the four buildings, which over time comprise the Cliff House’s history. Visit the Cliff House website for information on the event and to purchase tickets.

Special thanks to Jim over at SF Citizen for sending this news my way.

Sarah B.

The backyard within our backyard, the SF Botanical Garden, is looking for a few good docents.

Their next docent training session begins on September 12 and will emphasize the plants and gardens of South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Chile, which will be in bloom during the training.

Classes will be held on ten Saturday mornings from 9:30 am until 12:30 pm, beginning September 12. There will be one evening session. This will be the first part of a two-part docent training class (the second part is optional).

Training will focus on Evolution, Plant Identification, Biodiveristy, Earth Movement, Plant Distribution, and the Medicinal Uses of Plants. In addition to the focus on Southern Hemisphere plants, students will also spend time in the Ancient Plant Garden and the Redwood forest.

The training class costs $75 and includes a textbook. For more information, including an application, visit the SF Botanical Garden website.

And don’t worry. Even if you make mincemeat out of your house plants, you can still be a docent. According to the website, “You do NOT need any special plant or science background to enroll, only a desire to learn and share your knowledge with garden visitors.”

Sarah B.

A well-known, local children’s author and his wife invite you to enjoy their favorite family movie on Sunday, September 13 at The Balboa Theater: Young Frankenstein.

Daniel Handler, a.k.a Lemony Snicket, and his wife, Lisa Brown, are co-hosting a benefit for the Richmond District libraries campaign, whose mission is to renovate the Richmond and Anza Branch Libraries. View event flyer

The public is invited to a free screening of this classic 1974 Mel Brooks comedy (trailer below). A special reception with Daniel Handler will also take place before the film at 11am. Admission to this reception is $25 for adults and children under 12 are FREE. The film, which is free, will begin at 12noon.

RSVP is required for this event, even if you just want to attend the free screening. To make a reservation or for further information, contact Sara Bassett at The Friends of the San Francisco Public Library: sara.bassett@friendssfpl.org | (415) 626-7512 x106. Please RSVP by Friday, September 4th.

Sarah B.

The festival is officially over. I hope everyone had a great time! I leave you with a great aerial image of the festival with our neighborhood in the background and a clip of Dave Matthews Band performing “Why I Am”.

See you next year, Outside Lands!

Sarah B.

Photo from sfoutsidelands.com

I stopped by the house auction at 463 16th Avenue this afternoon. I was curious to see how a house auction actually works. Plus I wanted to see the inside of this 4 bedroom house that was listed at $625,000.

I arrived a little before 3pm and there were about 40 people milling around outside. I took a quick tour through the house and then we were told that everyone had to get out as the auction was about to start.

The interior of the house was neglected compared to the freshly painted exterior. Not surprisingly, there were no interior shots included with the house’s online listing.

While the house had nice (though worn) hardwood floors throughout, original mouldings, and a built-in buffet in the dining room, the house needs some real tender loving care. See the slideshow below for interior shots of the house.

And the kitchen and bathrooms? Well let’s just say I’m not sure how a family managed to call it home. There is a large garage on the bottom that could hold two cars, but curiously, it looked like an annex of Green Apple Books, with long shelves holding thousands of books.

I’m no contractor, but it’s safe to say you could spend $200,000 fixing up this home.
The auction was put on by Reliance Realty with a real estate investment group called reicircle.com. At 3:15 the auctioneer gave some brief background on the property and the auction process. And then we were off, with bidding starting at $525,000.

The auction took about 30 minutes. The auctioneer thought he was very funny, injecting cheesy jokes throughout the process. But in reality, he was not very good and often lost track of where the bidding was and who had last bid. Thankfully he had some able assistants helping him out.

Despite the large crowd that gathered, only about 10 people ended up bidding on the property. Most people, like me, were there to see what was going to happen. Bidding got up to $700,000 pretty quickly and then moved up in $1000 to $2000 incremements for the next twenty minutes.

Final bids were traded between a woman named Sue, and a man named David who was there with his family. The winning bid was placed by David, at $791,000.

From here, David will have three business days to get all his financing in order and go into escrow. If he doesn’t qualify, then the real estate company will move onto the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place bidders until a final, qualified buyer is found.

So rest assured that the real estate market is alive and well in the Richmond District.

Sarah B.

The crowd outside 463 16th Avenue for the auction

The auctioneer from reicircle.com

The auctioneer congratulates the winning bidder

Tomorrow’s Chronicle will include an article about the music and arts festival entitled “Outside Lands sees smaller, more mellow crowd”. Whether it’s the warmer weather or higher ticket prices this year, the festival seems to have calmed in its second year.

Some nearby neighbors have complained about hearing the acts “note for note” from their living rooms, but overall, there have been few tirades about the event which last year, drew 130,000. The Chronicle surmises that the high ticket prices may have played a part in the more subdued crowd.

“On-site police officers and medics said there were no major disturbances. In part, the ticket prices – $95 for a single-day ticket and $225.50 for all three days – played a role in attracting an inexcusably well-behaved crowd for a rock ‘n’ roll concert.”

Well, at least one Twitterer bemoaned the high ticket prices: “Being a grad student sucks….m broke as always..couldn’t go to the concert at Outside Lands in GG park with my friends “.

A quick look at Twitter chatter about Outside Lands reveals that attendees seemed pretty happy with Saturday’s lineup:

“had so much fun at the outside lands festival today-black eyed peas rocked it.”
“Outside lands day 2=a HUGE success. This pic of DMB pretty much sums up how awesome the day was.”
“Such a good day. Outside lands festival ROCKED!”

Let’s hope the final day gets the same great weather and music. If you’re heading out for the shows, have fun! And if you’re not, tune into the live Youtube webcast to catch bands like Ween, Modest Mouse, Dead Weather and the Family Band.

Did you make it out to the festival? Leave a comment and let us know how it was!

Sarah B.

Photo: Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle

The lead singer of Incubus, Brandon Boyd, performs on Friday | Photo by sfoutsidelands.com

Pearl Jam performs | Photo by Flickr member M Skaffari

Photo by sfoutsidelands.com

Street Sweeper Social Club performs | Photo by sfoutsidelands.com

If you’re more of a fan of music on a small stage, there are plenty of small shows happening in the Richmond District this weekend. All of these cafes and bars have regular live music throughout the week.

Bazaar Cafe, 5927 California near 22nd Avenue
Fri: The SHE’S, 7pm
Sat: Singer/songwriters Mary Elizabeth Beckman and Wolf Larsen, 7pm
Sun: Singer/songwriter Vernon Bush, 6pm

Beach Chalet & Park Chalet, 1000 Great Highway
Fri: Patrick Greene Trio, 7pm-10pm
Sat: 8-29 Bayonics, 2pm-5pm
Sun: 8-30 Kapakahi, 2pm-5pm

Plough & Stars, 116 Clement Street
Fri: Acoustic Grateful Dead with Dave Stein, Shoshana Zisk, Jeff Faust, and Chris DeJohn, 9pm
Sat: Ashley Rains, 9pm
Sun: Seisi̼n РJack Gilder, Kevin Bemhagen, Richard Mandel & friends

Rockit Room, 406 Clement Street
Fri: Yukmouth from the Luniz + Speical guests (I got 5 on it !), 9pm
Sat: Artofficial / James Whiton / Tracorum (Outside Lands After party), 9pm

Simple Pleasures Cafe, 3434 Balboa Street
Sun: Rob Modica & Friends, 3pm

Some videos below of the Bayonics from 2007 and one of singer Vernon Bush performing “”I’m Still Here” with the Glide Memorial Church choir (GREAT voice!).

Sarah B.

SF Weekly has an amusing article on a real artery-clogger: the Belfast Bap sandwich. This Irish sandwich is “Irish bacon, Irish sausage, scrambled eggs, and cheddar cheese folded into a fluffy roll the size of a boulder”. Uh oh, that sounds pretty tasty.

The sandwich is $6 and you can get it at John Campbell’s Irish Bakery at 5625 Geary at 21st Avenue. The bakery is open Monday through Saturday 7am-10pm, and Sunday from 7am-8pm. And if you’re next door enjoying a game and a pint at the Blarney Stone, you can order one there too.

I’ll have to check out John Campbell’s Bakery. According to the website, “John holds the Order of The Master Baker from Belfast, Belfast City, and holds a Guilds Bakery Certificate making him the repository of many decades of baking tradition in the authentic old style.” The bakery opened in 2007.

The bakery, especially its scones, gets top reviews on Yelp, and they promise authentic Irish baked goods “made in the very same fashion with the very same ingredients that your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents might have enjoyed.”

Sarah B.

Photo by Flickr member mightyohm