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

San Francisco’s century-old Christmas Tree.

Half of a house.

Nestled in the heart of San Francisco’s bustling Financial District stands a unique homage to the Mayan and Beaux Arts.

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

Alleyway plaque commemorating the death of a fictional character in The Maltese Falcon, not far from the author's home.

This tall and trim architectural oddity is one of the skinniest buildings in San Francisco.

Poetic, metallic giraffes adorn a square off an Edinburgh thoroughfare.

The newsstand that never closes its doors—well, almost never.

The Flatiron Building's storied West Coast cousin is a lot more into religion.

With statues of Nelson Mandela and Harvey Milk this monument has been called the Mount Rushmore of California.

A sudden forest of traditional Papua New Guinean art works is hidden in a corner of Stanford University.

The U.K.'s first underground railway line is now a lively thoroughfare for runners and cyclists.

A mysterious painting of the self-declared Emperor of the United States watches over a local hof-brau.

San Francisco's oldest operating hotel, with a Victorian atmosphere and a "haunted" fourth floor.

A historic hotel that made a cameo in Hitchcock's classic film has no intention of letting guests forget its fame.

This unmarked and unloved Manhattan subway grate created one of the most iconic images in American cinema.

Historical figures from New York City's Catholic community reside in Midtown.

The mummified relics of an American missionary.

This morbid scene depicts the Darwinian drama of death on the African savannah.

This impressive scene portrays the elusive forest giraffe of Central Africa.

Cryptic messages embedded in the New York City sidewalk.

The walls are decorated with whimsical murals painted by the creator of the Madeline franchise.

The front yard of an Upper East Side town house hides the last fragment of one of New York's most famous theatres.