When Nicole Meldahl received an email from one of the former operators of San Francisco’s storied Cliff House in August, she wasn’t sure what to expect. “I have something I’ve been wanting to tell you for a long time,” it read.
The executive director of the Western Neighborhoods Project, an organization dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of the city’s foggy Richmond and Sunset districts, knew the sender, Mary Hountalas, well. Maybe it was a long-forgotten artifact, Meldahl thought, or news of something else she wanted to donate.
“I had no idea this was going to be what she offered,” Meldahl told SFGATE over the phone this week…