A restored 1920s cascade stairway provides one of the best views of Oakland's Lake Merritt.

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

Odd stone and concrete monuments in the "Poet of the Sierras" eclectic folly garden.

An elaborate gift from Claus Spreckels is now a piece of San Francisco history.

A 19th-century Gothic, castle-like statehouse by the Mississippi River.

A tour de force of a fountain, memorializing a man who loved fountains more than anything else.

Enjoy a slice while browsing the world's largest collection of pizza memorabilia.

Yo, Adrian!

A layered tribute to the work of mosaicist Isaiah Zagar.

Faceless white figures loom over the city from the rooftop.

Over 315,000 preserved amphibians and reptiles in jars.

One of few lasting examples of the brief octagon craze that developed into folly.

A man-made island in scenic San Francisco Bay.

A Barbary Coast watering hole built into a Gold Rush shipwreck.

A collection of memorabilia from the Beat era in the back of a San Francisco bookstore.

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

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

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

A nondescript building that's been functioning as a speakeasy for nearly a century and a half.

Tiki luxury on Nob Hill.

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

A collection of 20th-century automata, penny arcade games, and musical contraptions.

Carnivorous plants, medieval aphrodisiacs, and the largest original wood structure glass conservatory in the western hemisphere.

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