Armistead Maupin is leaving San Francisco for Santa Fe
July 25, 2012 12:51 PM Subscribe
A headline rivalling “Batman to leave Gotham”: “Maupin to leave San Francisco.” But before the Tales of the City author (previously) moves to Santa Fe with his husband, you can pick up Armistead Maupin’s house for a mere $1,198,000. (28 Barbary Lane is not for sale.)
I'm not even from SF and it seems like an even bigger headline. Probably because, for all the good he does, Batman might be commuting in for all the rest of the world knows:
When I read about this elsewhere earlier this week, this was my fave part:
"Many of my friends have visited me there over the years and their memory is stamped on it for me," he said. "People connected with the first 'Tales of the City' miniseries: Laura (Linney) and Olympia (Dukakis). Ian McKellen once stayed and left a note: 'Gandalf slept here with Magneto.'
"I hope it goes to someone who loves it well and long as I have done."
As much as I sometimes fantasize about having money or real estate, rarely do I want something as much as I wanted this place.
(Related: maybe my favorite picture of my partner and I ever; I do not like how I look in it, but that is overwhelmed by my joy looking at it overall.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:15 PM on July 25, 2012 [3 favorites]
When I read about this elsewhere earlier this week, this was my fave part:
"Many of my friends have visited me there over the years and their memory is stamped on it for me," he said. "People connected with the first 'Tales of the City' miniseries: Laura (Linney) and Olympia (Dukakis). Ian McKellen once stayed and left a note: 'Gandalf slept here with Magneto.'
"I hope it goes to someone who loves it well and long as I have done."
As much as I sometimes fantasize about having money or real estate, rarely do I want something as much as I wanted this place.
(Related: maybe my favorite picture of my partner and I ever; I do not like how I look in it, but that is overwhelmed by my joy looking at it overall.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:15 PM on July 25, 2012 [3 favorites]
It's a lovely house, and the price seems low given the history and the location. (For non-SF-ers, yes, it still is that bonkers here.) I'd put a bid on it in a heartbeat if I were in funds to do so.
posted by feckless at 1:20 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by feckless at 1:20 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
I was just going to say that I thought the house seemed undervalued.
posted by purpleclover at 1:21 PM on July 25, 2012
posted by purpleclover at 1:21 PM on July 25, 2012
While I have harbored a desire to visit SF, never have I wished to reside there.
UNTIL NOW.
posted by Kitteh at 1:22 PM on July 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
UNTIL NOW.
posted by Kitteh at 1:22 PM on July 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
Bigger news to me is that Maupin is writing an Anna Madrigal book! Also, what a gorgeous house. I wish them happiness in Santa Fe.
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:24 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:24 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
Aww man that's my old neighborhood. I loved living there. The price does seem a bit low considering the location and the Maupin cachet, but maybe the real estate agent is looking for a bidding war, which isn't all that unusual.
posted by ambrosia at 1:32 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by ambrosia at 1:32 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
Mr.s Maupin and Turner
Messrs.
So please to have learned, and to have the need to learn, this little piece of etiquette. How good is marriage equality?!
posted by snorkmaiden at 1:40 PM on July 25, 2012 [7 favorites]
Messrs.
So please to have learned, and to have the need to learn, this little piece of etiquette. How good is marriage equality?!
posted by snorkmaiden at 1:40 PM on July 25, 2012 [7 favorites]
Metafilter gays need to band together to buy this house.
posted by roger ackroyd at 1:44 PM on July 25, 2012 [7 favorites]
posted by roger ackroyd at 1:44 PM on July 25, 2012 [7 favorites]
Magic Kingdom for Sale, indeed.
posted by mykescipark at 1:48 PM on July 25, 2012
posted by mykescipark at 1:48 PM on July 25, 2012
So please to have learned, and to have the need to learn, this little piece of etiquette. How good is marriage equality?!
"Messrs." as the plural of "Mr." actually dates back to the late 18th century. It's properly pronounced "messers" (although I don't think anyone would blink if you said "misters"), and if you'd like to hear it in use, listen closely to "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite": "Messrs. K and H assure the public / Their production will be second to none."
But I agree that it's a really neat fragment of English, and it's wonderful that we have it available now. I predict situations in which, for example, Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones get married and decide to combine and hyphenate their last names, and etiquette would indicate that they be referred to as Messrs. Smith-Jones.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:52 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
"Messrs." as the plural of "Mr." actually dates back to the late 18th century. It's properly pronounced "messers" (although I don't think anyone would blink if you said "misters"), and if you'd like to hear it in use, listen closely to "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite": "Messrs. K and H assure the public / Their production will be second to none."
But I agree that it's a really neat fragment of English, and it's wonderful that we have it available now. I predict situations in which, for example, Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones get married and decide to combine and hyphenate their last names, and etiquette would indicate that they be referred to as Messrs. Smith-Jones.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:52 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
I already have friends who are the Messrs. HisLastName-OtherHisLastName! With a young Master HisLastName-OtherHisLastName and a young Miss HisLastName-OtherHisLastName to boot.
Living in the future is wonderful sometimes.
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:55 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
Living in the future is wonderful sometimes.
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:55 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
Awesome house and I, too, love that location. I looked at a room just a couple blocks away and it was probably my favorite place I looked at. Shame competition for rooms in SF is as absolutely insane as it is.
But looking is fun - I actually also looked at a room that was in Harvey Milk's apartment! Right there on Castro Street, there's even a plaque outside it. The room was small and expensive, but if they had offered it to me I would have *had* to take it.
posted by alaijmw at 1:56 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
But looking is fun - I actually also looked at a room that was in Harvey Milk's apartment! Right there on Castro Street, there's even a plaque outside it. The room was small and expensive, but if they had offered it to me I would have *had* to take it.
posted by alaijmw at 1:56 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
Batman works in Gotham, but lives in New Jersey.
Come on, the books straight up say that Wayne Mansion is in the Palisades. He's a bridge and tunnel man.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 1:57 PM on July 25, 2012 [3 favorites]
Come on, the books straight up say that Wayne Mansion is in the Palisades. He's a bridge and tunnel man.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 1:57 PM on July 25, 2012 [3 favorites]
I've seen "Messrs." before but had never considered using it in a modern context--and it's perfect. Faint of Butt, do you have a female equivalent up your sleeve as well? Mesdames is the best one I can think of.
posted by snorkmaiden at 2:01 PM on July 25, 2012
posted by snorkmaiden at 2:01 PM on July 25, 2012
The cost of a house there now would make Herb Caen and Sunny Jim Rolph leave San Francisco.
posted by blucevalo at 2:05 PM on July 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by blucevalo at 2:05 PM on July 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
Faint of Butt, do you have a female equivalent up your sleeve as well? Mesdames is the best one I can think of.
Wikipedia suggests "Mmes." (mesdames, as you said) or either "Mss." or "Mses." (presumably pronounced "mizzuz"). I'd probably go with "Mmes.," to stay consistent with the French "Messrs."
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:07 PM on July 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
Wikipedia suggests "Mmes." (mesdames, as you said) or either "Mss." or "Mses." (presumably pronounced "mizzuz"). I'd probably go with "Mmes.," to stay consistent with the French "Messrs."
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:07 PM on July 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
I would HATE living in that house. If I lived that close to Amoeba Records I'd be bankrupt in a week.
posted by Fnarf at 2:16 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Fnarf at 2:16 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
Just came in to agree with the "that price seems absurdly low" crowd. Oh SF real estate...
posted by aspo at 2:17 PM on July 25, 2012
posted by aspo at 2:17 PM on July 25, 2012
aspo: "Just came in to agree with the "that price seems absurdly low" crowd. Oh SF real estate..."
I believe you but I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the concept. $1.2 million for 1600 square feet? It's a nice house and I love SF but wow.
posted by octothorpe at 2:34 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
I believe you but I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the concept. $1.2 million for 1600 square feet? It's a nice house and I love SF but wow.
posted by octothorpe at 2:34 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
The MeFi Gay Cabal has a lead on a new headquarters, I see...
posted by jph at 2:37 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by jph at 2:37 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
TINGC...
(but if there was, I'd be all in.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:42 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
(but if there was, I'd be all in.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:42 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
How much for just the deck?
posted by villanelles at dawn at 3:18 PM on July 25, 2012
posted by villanelles at dawn at 3:18 PM on July 25, 2012
Holy crap, I used to live right down the street from him. I routinely parked my car in front of his house. I had no idea I was carrying my groceries past Tales in the City.
(No, I'm not a millionaire. There's a lovely turn-of-the-century building at the base of the cross-street, Williard, that's got three flats, and a steep backyard covered in redwoods and rhododendrons, right next to the Farnsworth Steps. I shared the middle flat with a bunch of fellow dot-commies. Those panoramic views of San Francisco you see in the house listing? We had them too from the bay window in our living room. I paid a few hundred bucks a month in rent for them back in 1997-1999.)
posted by sobell at 3:32 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
(No, I'm not a millionaire. There's a lovely turn-of-the-century building at the base of the cross-street, Williard, that's got three flats, and a steep backyard covered in redwoods and rhododendrons, right next to the Farnsworth Steps. I shared the middle flat with a bunch of fellow dot-commies. Those panoramic views of San Francisco you see in the house listing? We had them too from the bay window in our living room. I paid a few hundred bucks a month in rent for them back in 1997-1999.)
posted by sobell at 3:32 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
There’s a pop-up site for the house: Tales of the City Home.
posted by joeclark at 6:31 AM on July 26, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by joeclark at 6:31 AM on July 26, 2012 [1 favorite]
I could not buy an apartment I'd want, in Zug, Switzerland, for that price. Of course, unemployment here is extremely low, and they keep building more apartments.
posted by Goofyy at 7:27 AM on July 26, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Goofyy at 7:27 AM on July 26, 2012 [1 favorite]
Santa Fe was ruined back in the 1970s by New York Peasants.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 10:10 AM on July 26, 2012
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 10:10 AM on July 26, 2012
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Here's a nice 2011 story on Mr.s Maupin and Turner including a happy photo of the two.
posted by Nelson at 1:14 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]