City Style: Create a San Francisco-Inspired Space

In 1850, the gold rush drove settlers westward. Populations boomed, especially in areas in and around Northern California – San Francisco among them. 

Fast-forward through some tumultuous times (including the San Francisco Earthquake in 1865 and the effects of the Civil War on the country as a whole), and San Francisco gets the world’s first Levi Strauss jeans factory and the city’s first cable cars – marking the beginning of a thriving economy. 

Fast-forward about a century, and you get the peak of the hippie counter culture in San Fran’s infamous Haight-Ashbury district – where the world watched, thanks to the help of mass media coverage, a new era of fashion and lifestyle unfold.

Visit the Golden Gate City today, and marks of the ‘60s hippie movement can still be found – whether through the city’s infamous murals, street style or quirky architecture. 

Even the “crooked” streets and steep hills seem to “embrace their differences,” right along with their residents.

Of course, at its heart, San Francisco is also a bay city. From Pier 39 at Fisherman’s Wharf to the fresh fish markets around every corner, thousands of tourists flock each year to see the sweeping ocean views, breathe the crisp, salty air and dine on some of the ‘freshest-caught’ food in the world.

From its beginnings as a gold rush attraction to its current role as ‘fisherman’s paradise,’ San Francisco is nothing if not industrious. 

Perhaps San Francisco’s prevalence of union workers across a breadth of industries (who embodied a pragmatic way of life and seemed to live in ‘jeans-and-a-t-shirt’) gave rise to the counter fashion of the hippies. One can’t counter, after all, without something to counter against.

In any case, influences of both aesthetics can still be seen in the fashion and design of the city today. And for the artist-at-heart, inspiration can be found everywhere he looks, from the quaint charm of Ghirardelli Square to the secrets and lore of Alcatraz Island – and every steep, crooked hill in between.

Get inspired by more Golden Gate looks at a Living Spaces near you.