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Church Street House Photos

Church Street House: a collective house since 1981

Church Street House, which has been a collective house since 1981, has been home to numerous artists, writers, and activists over the years. Some highlights:

Filmmaker Peter Adair worked on the ground-breaking "Word Is Out" documentary (the first full-length film about coming out) while living in the house.
Author Margo Adair wrote "Working Inside Out" while living in the upper flat.
Several magazines have been produced in the house, including Green Letter (1989-92), GroundWork (1992-97), and Reclaiming Quarterly (1996-present). The total number of magazine-issues produced in the house is over 50 and counting.
Many direct actions have been planned in the house, including blockades at Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab and Nevada Test Site.
Countless music jams have enlivened the house, from Folk and Bluegrass to Caribbean and African music.
And renowned and extremely dedicated author Luke Hauser completed work on his first and possibly most important magnum opus, "Direct Action" An Historical Novel," not to mention writing many important emails during his sojourn in the house!

Below are some pictures of our house and our neighborhood (the nether zone betwixt the Castro and the Mission Districts, known locally as "Duboce Triangle").

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The 200 block of Church Street - our house is in the next block. This block is home to a bookstore, a bar, a cafe, a head-shop, a crystal shop, half a dozen small restaurants from burritos to sushi to crepes - and Sparky's all-night diner, a favorite post-Spiral Dance gathering spot.

Ten or twelve years ago, tenants helped re-paint our 1880s Victorian - I preferred purple and blue, but the consensus was grey with a little purple trim... Maybe next time.

The house from the back yard. Central San Francisco houses are built side by side in solid blocks, with no open access from the street. The back yards form a partitioned green zone. Ours varies from full-out garden to cat-jungle.

One of the numerous murals within a few blocks of our house. This amazing Goddess mural, "Tonantsin Renace" (Tonantsin Reborn), by artist Colette Crutcher, is just around the corner on 16th Street.

Click the photo to see a larger version of this shot.

Click here to see more of Colette Crutcher's art.

Another favorite mural, this one by Mona Caron. This mural, on the side of a corner store across the street from our house, depicts the history of San Francisco as a series of vignettes on nearby Market Street (the street which connects Downtown to the Castro - see next photo).

Castro Street, home of San Francisco's gay culture and a beacon of liberation for everyone, is four blocks from Church Street house.

The Castro Theater, as depicted in the film "Milk," is the heart of the neighborhood. Harvey Milk's camera shop was nearby.

The post office where Direct Action, Reclaiming, GroundWork, Teen Earth Magic, and other nonprofits based at Church Street House get their mail is two blocks away.