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These have to be the cream of the crop of American homes when it comes to architecture. They both have Victorian style architecture dating back to the 19th century. These are remarkable pieces of artwork.
The painted ladies are beautiful buildings. They really are. When most people think of SF's painted ladies, they think of the 6 along Alamo Square. Those are the most famous (in large part due to the skyline in the background... think Full House opening credits), but there are a number of other clusters in the city (4-6 houses in a row).
Still, I'm a bigger brownstone fan. I always have been. What's more is that entire neighborhoods in Brooklyn are all brownstones. I think the effect is much more impressive than a cluster of painted ladies (no matter how beautiful) surrounded by more bland architecture (One of my biggest gripes with residential SF is just how many buildings waste that ground floor streetwall with garages... a blemish on an otherwise strikingly beautiful city). The stonework in many of those brownstones just blows my mind as well. I love the Victorians, but the brownstones take this one for me.
The painted ladies are beautiful buildings. They really are. When most people think of SF's painted ladies, they think of the 6 along Alamo Square. Those are the most famous (in large part due to the skyline in the background... think Full House opening credits), but there are a number of other clusters in the city (4-6 houses in a row).
Still, I'm a bigger brownstone fan. I always have been. What's more is that entire neighborhoods in Brooklyn are all brownstones. I think the effect is much more impressive than a cluster of painted ladies (no matter how beautiful) surrounded by more bland architecture (One of my biggest gripes with residential SF is just how many buildings waste that ground floor streetwall with garages... a blemish on an otherwise strikingly beautiful city). The stonework in many of those brownstones just blows my mind as well. I love the Victorians, but the brownstones take this one for me.
San Francisco has Victorian rowhouses across the entire city - it's easily the most common housing stock in SF.
The question should be San Francisco-style Victorian rowhouses vs. Brooklyn Brownstones
^i know. I'm just saying they are mixed among other architectural types while many pockets of Brooklyn's brownstones are more uniform and in much larger groups. My GF lives in a nice old Victorian in San Francisco.
The painted ladies are beautiful buildings. They really are. When most people think of SF's painted ladies, they think of the 6 along Alamo Square. Those are the most famous (in large part due to the skyline in the background... think Full House opening credits), but there are a number of other clusters in the city (4-6 houses in a row).
Still, I'm a bigger brownstone fan. I always have been. What's more is that entire neighborhoods in Brooklyn are all brownstones. I think the effect is much more impressive than a cluster of painted ladies (no matter how beautiful) surrounded by more bland architecture (One of my biggest gripes with residential SF is just how many buildings waste that ground floor streetwall with garages... a blemish on an otherwise strikingly beautiful city). The stonework in many of those brownstones just blows my mind as well. I love the Victorians, but the brownstones take this one for me.
Like both, and love that image with the painted ladies and the skyline. To me that style always feels like the beach. Not too far from NYC (or Philly which has some very similar brownstones are these painted ladies) but on this they are both different but great. For a city I would probably say the brownstones as they feel more city to me but enjoy both styles.
They vary dramatically on the inside from single use to multi use
NY folks can give a better description on their differences
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