Fay Park

Fay Park is a tiny quarter-acre sanctuary on the steep northeast slope of Russian Hill. Most travelers walk right past it, focused on the famous hairpin turns of Lombard Street just one block away. While the rest of the neighborhood hums with tourist activity, this space remains quiet and intimate. It is the only public park in California that was once a private residence and garden designed by the renowned landscape architect Thomas Church. The garden dates back to 1957, when owners Mary and Paul Berrigan commissioned Church to transform their rugged hillside property. Church was a pioneer of the California Style of modern landscape design, which emphasized seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor living. He replaced the original, messy paths with a series of symmetrical terraces linked by stairs and ramps. These stone-walled levels climb the slope, decorated with boxwood hedges, ornamental shrubs, and fruit trees that feel more like a private estate than a city park. One of the most charming details of the design can be found at the very top of the garden. You will see two twin latticed gazebos that serve as the focal point of the upper terrace. These structures were a personal nod to the military career of Brigadier General Paul Berrigan. Their design is inspired by the castle towers that appear on the official logo of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, his alma mater. The park exists today because of a final wish made by Mary Fay Berrigan. The land had been in her family since 1869, originally settled by her uncle, a successful soap manufacturer. After the Berrigans passed away without children, they bequeathed the home and the garden to the city of San Francisco. The site officially opened to the public in 2006, preserving a rare, meticulously designed slice of mid-century private life for anyone to walk through.