This small garden with three terraces and two gazebos was created in 1957 by renowned landscape designer Thomas Church in his signature modernist "California Style" and has been preserved unchanged since. Very few of Church's gardens are open to the public, so this is a rare chance to enjoy some design history and a quiet respite from the bustle of nearby Lombard St.
The Fay-Berrigan house to which the garden belongs has been unoccupied for a generation now, so there's no one to mind if you peek in the window at the glamorous and decaying furnishings.
The most famous occupants of this house were Joe and Marjorie Finocchio, who brought the art of drag to mainstream America. Joe had a eureka moment in 1936 when a drunk patron climbed on stage to do a female impersonation and created Finocchio's, the first SF club "where all the most beautiful women were men". It hosted world-class performers drawing a large desegregated audience only some of whom were there for the prostitution.
Among those who definitely came for the art during the club's 63-year history were Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, Tallulah Bankhead, Errol Flynn, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, Lena Horne, Joan Crawford, Barbra Streisand, Mae West, Elizabeth Taylor, Liza Minnelli, Cher, Bette Midler, and many other stars.
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