San Francisco Sightseeing Articles

Just in San Francisco would a house with a tree that shoots fire be measured a future museum site. That is, if saw player extraordinaire and former hotelier Bob Pritikin has his way. According to a statement in the San Francisco Chronicle, Pritikin, who often throws lavish fundraisers at his residence-sort of an adult's fun house with kitschy memorabilia strewn throughout-is hoping to "pay the bills, make a nice contribution to the community and have some daytime visitors" by transforming his mansion into a museum. He originally suggested the less-than-humble "Only in San Francisco" name for the prospective museum site, though his hopes were dashed after learning that the city's Convention & Visitors Bureau already owns said URL.

The visiting groups would be quite small, limited to 20 people per day, six days a week, says the Chronicle. Pritikin's idea, if realized, would place his home in the esteemed, eccentric company of one of the Bay Area's other homes-turned-tourist attractions, the Winchester Mystery House. This isn't Pritikin's first hubris-driven campaign on behalf of his home, having previously lobbied for it to have it turned into San Francisco's mayoral residence in 2004. That plan predictably never took off, and handsome politico Gavin Newsom is dwelling elsewhere these days.

Don't expect a day at the hypothetical Pritikin Museum to come cheap, despite it being decidedly less distinguished than the de Young, MoMA, Academy of Sciences, and basically every one of San Francisco's other noted museum destinations. Its owner plans to charge "$49 a pop for a docent-guided tour, a magic show, and a Mexican lunch," with highlights including a three-foot tall Transamerica building look-alike constructed from condom boxes, and a mural depicting a famous topless dancer riding a zebra.