Tours of the Tales

Notice the abundance of flowers along the lane.  

As you near the eastern end of the lane, take care walking on the old ballast stones that pave this end of the lane.  Also, be cautious while walking down these steps during the spring and summer when vines tend to grow across them.  

You may have noticed that the steps in the photos do not resemble the current steps.  The City and County of San Francisco completed replaced the old steps a few years ago with the current – and much less rickety – steps. 

The older wooden steps at Taylor Street are the wooden stairs used for Barbary Lane in all three of the miniseries.  The new steps were also used for Barbary Lane in the recent Netflix series “Tales of the City.”

Here’s Mary Ann climbing the Barbary Lane steps for the first time in the “Tales of the City”.

​On the landing of the steps Mary Ann (Laura Linney) was introduced to Michael (Marcus D'Amico) by Mona (Chloe Webb) in the “Tales of the City” miniseries.  

“There’s nothing to see, sweetie.  There must be three planks left from the old house.”

“I just wanna see the lane.  It’s a perfect day for it, and I’ve never even climbed those steps.”

(Michael Tolliver Lives)

In late Spring, 2016, the Macondray Lane steps were completely replaced; however, the design of the steps was kept.

Macondray Lane (two blocks long, midway between Green and Union, running between Leavenworth on the west and Taylor on the east)

Although in the Tales books Barbary Lane is located where Havens Lane is (below in this tour), and at one time Armistead Maupin lived in a rooftop studio apartment (he called his own “pentshack”) that overlooked Havens, in various interviews and in the commentaries for the Tales miniseries’ DVDs  , he repeatedly states that Macondray Lane was the true inspiration for Barbary Lane.      

Visualize:  It’s Christmas Eve 1976, and Anna Madrigal is sitting on these steps after her clairvoyant realization that Edgar Halcyon (who has just passed away) will not be coming to her Christmas Eve party (Tales of the City).

Mary Ann returned to San Francisco in November 2008 (Mary Ann in Autumn).  Before going to Michael’s house in the Castro, she visited her old haunts on Russian Hill.  From the foot of the steps, she could see Alcatraz.  She could smell the moss on the steps beneath her feet.  And after climbing the wooden steps of Barbary Lane, she caught the heel of one of her Ferragamos on the ballast stones.

In late Spring, 2016, the Macondray Lane steps were completely replaced.  The design of the steps, however, was kept.  

In Michael Tolliver Lives, Ben asked Michael to take him to Barbary Lane.

Later in “Tales of the City”, Anna Madrigal (Olympia Dukakis) and Mona (Chloe Webb) climbed the stairs after an evening at Beach Blanket Babylon; Mona remarked it was inevitable that she lived at 28 Barbary Lane.  In “More Tales of the City”, Jon (Billy Campbell) carried Michael (Paul Hopkins) up the steps when Jon brought Michael home from the hospital.  

Macondray Lane (at Taylor Street) has the iconic wooden steps.  (And like the wooden steps of Barbary Lane, from time-to-time, some of the boards on the Macondray steps needed replacing.)  It also has the verdure of the mythical Barbary Lane. 

It is not unusual to see fellow Barbaryphiles carrying a copy of Tales of the City slowly strolling down this lane hoping to run into Anna Madrigal and her children.

Macondray Lane