Recovered from the brink of extinction, at home in the Financial District.

A man-made island in scenic San Francisco Bay.

First LEED-certified gas station in the United States.

Oakland's beautiful monumental cemetery.

From the Difference Engine to the Cray-1, all under one roof.

This concrete tangle of square pipes has stood as a proud thorn in the city's side since the '70s.

This Oakland fairytale kingdom, fiercely devoted to childlike whimsy, was an early inspiration for Disneyland.

Antiques by the Bay.

From the sky, a kaleidoscope of color brightens the grey landscape of the San Francisco Bay.

Tenacious mummies survived dental problems, eternal entombment, and more than their fair share of devastating fires.

This (occupied) house is 10 feet wide and full of spite.

One woman's Viking Castle on Lake Tahoe.

After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.

An extraordinary final resting place full of oversized art, amazing statues, and dead celebrities.

A burnt orange monolithic dome structure perched on a hillside near Interstate 280.

An overlooked and unassuming engineering marvel.

A sign at the end of the Santa Monica Pier marks the traditional end of the legendary American highway.

San Francisco's oldest surviving monument and meeting place for 1906 survivors.

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

The programmatic glory of LA's giant whiskey barrel building has become an upscale reminder of the city's kitschy roadside past.

A still functioning vaudeville carousel that has operated for over a century boasts a colorful menagerie and past.

A massive ultra-modern church presents a science-fiction view of Catholicism's inclusive future.

Bonsai garden in Oakland is curated by the first non-Japanese female bonsai master in the United States.

Visible below the waves are memorials to the city's Gold Rush dead.