As their name suggests, Victorian houses were developed during the Victorian era (1849-1915). The city is said to have had as many as 48,000 of them, but many were destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and subsequent fire, particularly in the Nob Hill district. A further 16,000 were demolished during the Second World War, many of which were used for military purposes. Today, 14,000 remain, mainly in the Alamo, Haight Ashbury, Russian Hill and Castro districts.
Did you know that? Victorian houses are also called Painted Ladies after the book "Painted Ladies - San Francisco's Resplendent Victorians" by Elizabeth Pomada and Michael Larsen.