The key to turning shifting dunes into the green oasis of Golden Gate Park.

A hidden gem, named after a San Franciscan icon, offers spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean.

A walk-in working camera obscura produces 360-degree live images of the San Francisco coast.

The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

A winding path built in secret on the edge of the continent.

This private residence was the template for one of the most beloved television homes of all time.

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

Staircase winds down the side of Telegraph Hill through gardens, wild parrots flying overhead.

Floating man-made island and upscale restaurant.

27-room home built with the fortune of a sugar magnate.

Built in 1906, this unique building was the first Hindu temple in the United States.

A huge musical instrument played by the ocean.

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

Inside this museum, the history of the Walt Disney Family empire is on full display.

At the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, a small sign basically begs for a high-five.

Beneath the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge is the “Gibraltar of the West Coast,” a fort built to protect the San Francisco Bay from naval attack.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

Concrete strongholds stand guard over the Golden Gate.

Ruins of a once-prized railroad station in New York.

A beautifully designed asylum was resurrected as a hotel and art center with a ghost story or two.

One of Frank Lloyd Wright's greatest—and favorite—architectural masterpieces was almost lost.

The seat of Buffalo government is a gorgeous Art Deco palace.

A 19th-century architectural wonder designed by the "father of the skyscraper."

This vessel is believed to be the oldest operating fireboat in the world.