Tuesday, February 1, 2011

havens street, san francisco


When I want to sit in a quiet little piece of nature in the middle of San Francisco, I often go over to Havens Street off Leavenworth near Union. It is one of those pedestrian streets with a little pathway and a bench at the end. What many don't know is that the garden at the front (right near the Leavenworth entrance), called "Tova's Garden", was designed by famed landscape architect, Thomas Church late in his career.  I always wander slowly through the garden all the way to the end of the walkway and sit on the lone bench with a book for awhile.

3 comments:

  1. Enchanting, Leslie. You have a real gift for locating and depicting these precious spaces.

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  2. Apologies if this comes across as pedantic, but Tova's Garden is actually behind 1132 Union -- the dark shingle clad Wurster renovation. From Havens, you only see the rear wall of the garden (the white wood frame with translucent panels). The gardens near Leavenworth which one can walk through (without passing through a gate) were for the most part created by a resident of 2033 Leavenworth over the past 20-30 years. When he started, it was just weeds, ivy, and garbage. Now it's beautiful.

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  3. Love to be corrected...Thanks Anonymous! So hard to get good information on gardens I find as they evolve so organically with different people caring for them over many years. Do you know who the resident was that has been working on the garden? Would love to know.

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