San Francisco leads the world in being a city that celebrates and safeguards its rich and colorful queer past. Yet today, the Lyon-Martin House, longtime home of the late trailblazing lesbian activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon – and one of San Francisco’s few LGBTQ landmarks – is in imminent danger of demolition by neglect.
Lyon and Martin purchased the modest 756 square foot cottage on a huge double lot (649-651 Duncan Street) – nestled in the Noe Valley hills overlooking the city – in 1955, the same year they co-founded the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), the first lesbian civil rights organization in the United States. The Lyon-Martin House was the beating heart of the DOB, and it was there that Martin, Lyon, and an extraordinary number of internationally renowned figures laid a foundation for today’s LGBTQ rights movement.
Working with the American Psychiatric Association, Martin and Lyon helped to declassify homosexuality as a psychiatric disorder in 1973. In 1976, Martin published “Battered Wives” – one of the first books on domestic violence in the United States, still revered as a work of feminist literature. Martin and Lyon’s activism, underpinned by the feminist mantra “the personal is political,” culminated in their historic 2008 marriage – the first same-sex wedding officiated in the state following the California Supreme Court’s ruling overturning the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. Martin passed not long after her second wedding to her beloved wife. Lyon lived in the Lyon-Martin House until her passing in April 2020. t
After learning that the Lyon-Martin House had been purchased and slated for redevelopment less than a year after Lyon’s death was announced, the Friends of Lyon-Martin House and the office of gay San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman (now the board president) mobilized to designate 651 Duncan Street (one half of the lot) a San Francisco Landmark in 2021. But the landmark designation alone does not ensure protection from demolition. A landmark left to deteriorate can reach a point where demolition becomes inevitable. This could be the sad reality facing the Lyon-Martin House today unless swift action is taken to save this irreplaceable piece of San Francisco history.
San Francisco has a choice
The property owner received entitlements from the San Francisco Planning Department to build a four-story-over-garage-with-basement single-family home on the 649 side of the 649-651 Duncan Street lot but has not requested a building permit to begin construction. The Friends of Lyon-Martin House is holding out hope that the property owner will sell the entire double lot for the right price and walk away from the redevelopment plans.
In the meantime, San Francisco has options. The city must hold the property owners accountable for maintaining the designated landmark and enforcing local, state, and federal preservation laws. The mayor’s office and Board of Supervisors could lend a hand and protect the Lyon-Martin House through acquisition, financial incentives for restoration, and/or intervention by city agencies.
The Friends of Lyon-Martin House hope to see a community-based solution for the future of the house, such as creating affordable short-term housing and a scholar-in-residence program for studying the papers of Lyon and Martin at the GLBT Historical Society.
The Lyon-Martin House is more than a historic site marked by a plaque – it is a cornerstone of LGBTQ rights movements. Lyon and Martin spent their lives fighting for our community; now’s the time we stand up for their legacy.
What you can do
The time to act is now! Call on city officials to take immediate action before it’s too late. Join the Friends of Lyon-Martin House by signing up at www.lyonmartinhouse.org. Follow us on Instagram for the latest news and updates at www.instagram.com/friendsoflyonmartinhouse. As a fiscally-sponsored project of the GLBT Historical Society, the Friends of Lyon-Martin House is leading efforts to document its history and ensure the site serves as an enduring educational and cultural resource. To donate, please visit glbthistory.org/lyon-martin-house.
Shayne Watson, a lesbian, is an architectural historian based in the San Francisco Bay Area and owner of Watson Heritage Consulting. For the past 16 years Watson has volunteered her time to the preservation of LGBTQ historic sites. She co-authored the Citywide Historic Context Statement for LGBTQ History in San Francisco (2015), a report that provides guidance for the San Francisco Planning Department on how to identify, document, and preserve properties of LGBTQ significance throughout the city. Watson is co-founder of Friends of Lyon-Martin House and serves on the advisory board of the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District.
Rendering of approved project at 649-651 Duncan Street (available at sfplanninggis.org/PIM). Image: From SF Planning