out and about: the presidio

A restored building near the Main Post Lawn

When my mom and I first visited the Presidio, I was in junior high school, and what is now a National Park was an active Army base. My mom took me on a tour she’d read about in the paper. I don’t remember being allowed into any of the buildings, but we walked around the nearly empty streets and learned when the buildings had been built, who they’d been built for and what they were used for at the time.

My mom and I have always shared a love of historic places and buildings. She loves to imagine the people who once occupied a space, their lives, their families, exactly how they used each room. I, on the other hand, like the broad strokes. I like to know the history, but I’m more interested in how to preserve that history while making a space useful now. Perhaps selfishly, every home I walk into, I imagine living in. If it needs refurbishment, I imagine how it could be accomplished. I decorate it, choose paint colors, and wonder if I could find historic photos of it in order to restore it to its former beauty.

So, all those years ago, the Presidio was a wonderful playground for my imagination, lovely homes in all shapes and sizes separated by lawns instead of fences, barracks that looked more like grand homes themselves, than rooming halls. I loved it.

A lot of the buildings were not in use, and even those that were inhabited were in desperate need of paint and TLC. Even then, however, the Presidio’s natural beauty was breathtaking. I remember the incredible quiet of the place. We ate lunch at a snack bar that overlooked Crissy Field and the San Francisco Bay, with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands beyond, and lovely as it was, no one was eating there but us! On a patio overlooking a Top Ten List kind of view of the city, we saw that almost no one was walking on the Main Post Lawn. Here was a place that had been built to be inhabited by hundreds, thousands of soldiers, and it felt abandoned. The Presidio was in a state of transition—no longer needed as an Army Post, but not yet sure what the future held. It left me with an impression of deep loneliness, if a place can be lonely. In retrospect, it was a place that wanted desperately to be inhabited, to be used.

 

Who wouldn't want to work here?

I’ve visited the Presidio a few times since, and continue to be excited over how much use and activity these beautiful spaces are getting now that it has transitioned from Army Post to National Park. It looks to me as though, little by little, the buildings are being exquisitely restored by The Presidio Trust and inhabited by all kinds of businesses and organizations. It feels a bit like a small town within the city of San Francisco. The quiet that I experienced as a child still exists, it is one of the most peaceful places I’ve visited in The City, but there also exists a sort of hum of use, of a space being occupied and enjoyed in this era while paying thoughtful respect to its past.

On my most recent trip, I was excited to see that most of the Main Post Structures are in daily use, and have been for a while. They now house the Presidio Trust and an information building for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (which the Presidio is now part of), both of which have exhibits on the history of the park; and also the Walt Disney Family Museum, which I've heard great things about from friends, but have yet to visit myself. There are also restaurants scattered around the Presidio, ranging from a Starbucks, to upscale snack bars and lunch spots, to fine dining. 

 

The inviting front porch of the inn

Most notably, the beautifully restored Inn at the Presidio showcases a gorgeous restoration of the historical Pershing Hall, which once housed unmarried army officers and is listed on the National Register of Historical Places. The inn is a masterful example of mixing a painstakingly accurate restoration and seismic retrofitting of a historic building with the conveniences and luxury that contemporary visitors expect of a boutique hotel. I was thoroughly impressed by the entire place and immediately began an imaginary vacation there, which consisted mostly of wiling away hours at a time sipping lemonade on the front porch rocking chairs.

When I got home, I was so excited about the restoration of the inn that I did a little research and found a Youtube video that The Presidio Trust posted about the restoration process:

The Presidio is vast, and it feels like several visits wouldn’t be enough to uncover all of its quiet corners and stunning vistas. A park ranger at the Information Post suggested getting a lay of the land on the free “PresidiGo” shuttle, which I will have to save for my next visit when I have a little more time. This time, I contented myself with walking the perimeter of the Main Post lawn and taking in the views, and perhaps (mentally) moving into a few of the homes I drove by on my way back to the real world. Upon moving in, my first purchase would definitely have to be a rocking chair for the front porch. Until then, I'll just enjoy the views, the history, and the miraculous calm and quiet in the middle of a major city.

The Main Post Lawn, looking toward the Marin Headlands