News from the Heart & Soul of San Francisco
By THOMAS REYNOLDS Sultry, soulful, swinging singer Kim Nalley remembers when she got her first big break in San Francisco. It was the early ’90s, and the manager of Harry’s on Fillmore called to see if she might fill a slot for a band that had cancelled. But Nalley was otherwise engaged. She had a…
FILLMORE HAS ALWAYS had a claim on guitarist Carlos Santana, and not only because of his many appearances at the Fillmore Auditorium. For a number of years his studio was on Fillmore Street next door to the Clay Theater. Now he’s back as part of the first special exhibition at the Fillmore Heritage Center. “A…
In the springtime, a few weeks after the cherry trees blossom and the air turns fragrant with rosemary, the roses of Rose Court begin to bloom. There are roses of many colors and kinds, some brought from the altar of nearby St. Dominic’s Church. They’ve been given a chance to live on in the garden…
By Don Langley While helping to form the Webster Street Historic District in the late ’70s, Marie Cleasby insisted she wanted to paint her house purple. Like her neighbors, she wanted to form the district as a hedge against further expansion of the California Pacific Medical Center, which abutted the back of her property. But…
Fillmore milliner Ruth Garland Dewson took a stroll down the red carpet in the heart of Hollywood on April 27, 2008, when she was honored for her ceaseless — and ultimately successful — efforts to free a woman imprisoned for more than two decades. On an evening of Tinseltown glitter in the grand ballroom of…
Observing the local market, you would never guess the national real estate market is in a much different state. We’ve recently had a large influx of properties on the high end, and many of them have gone sold quickly. We are also seeing homes being quietly shown before going onto the multiple listing service, two…
Perhaps the last word to come to mind on the leafy outer blocks of Jackson Street is “bitter.” Yet it was here, at 3680 Jackson — during an afternoon of fund-raising in the neighborhood on April 6 that included an earlier stop at the Getty mansion on Broadway — that Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama…
Diana Arsham’s rooftop garden has changed considerably in the 25 years since she grew her first crop of pole beans and saw them eaten by the birds. Vegetables take far more vigilance — and water — than other plants she has embraced as her ecological consciousness has grown and she has become ever more committed…
FIRST PERSON | Gary Neatherlin Years ago I began experimenting with aquariums. I have several — freshwater and saltwater — in my apartment above Fillmore Street. So I was pleasantly surprised when a friend told me about an unusual aquarium display at a relatively new store, Aqua Forest Aquarium, located just down the street at…
By Barbara Kate Repa In a city not shy about renaming its streets, Fillmore Street may soon stand in jeopardy of being redubbed HeidiSays Way. In just over six years, Heidi Sabelhaus, who exudes a mix of serenity and style, has built a mini-empire covering the fashion gamut — from sophisticated day-to-evening collections to casual…