There was a time when San Francisco leaders couldn’t demolish Victorian homes fast enough.
They were called an architectural “pestilence” and derided as “Gothic horrors.” Even the beloved Painted Ladies along Alamo Square, stars of the “Full House” opening credits and now a Top 10 San Francisco tourist attraction, were in a zone slated for demolition.
Then something unexpected happened: Bright colors arrived.
A 1960s and early 1970s movement to save the ornate homes coincided with the first bold paint jobs on Victorians, layering the facades with seven colors or more. The trend appeared organically and then spread, like a rainbow wand had been waved up and down the block. And with the color came attention — and value…