Field Notes: Kenny Alley, Holiday Architecture Book Fair, and Oakland's Last Old Redwood

"A home's layered past SF Heritage is bringing together its annual Holiday Open House and big book sale at the Haas-Lilienthal House, where visitors can step into decorated parlors, sip something warm, and pose beside the family's well-worn Christmas tree. Downstairs, the ballroom becomes a trove of architecture titles, city histories, and rare San Francisco directories hundreds of books that reflect the house's own layered past."

"Seasonal traditions Across the Bay, tea has found new forms and familiar comforts. From Filoli's sunlit terraces to Noe Valley's whimsical Lovejoy's Tea Room, steeped leaves meet pastries, seasonal touches, and local ingredients, each space offering its own rhythm. At the Japanese Tea Garden, a green tea in Golden Gate Park carries decades of history, while coastal Lovey's Tea Shoppe blends seaside calm with classic service. Big hotels like the Palace and Fairmont continue century-old traditions, pairing chandeliers and live music with refined sweets"

"The Napa Valley Wine Train shifts into holiday mode this season, trading its usual slow roll through the vines for a parade of cocoa, carols, and window-glow scenery. Families can catch Santa at the station before choosing their own pace on board from the cookie-and-hot-chocolate ride to a full three-course dinner under the glass of the Vista Dome. Grownups get their own indulgence with the Peppermint Tea journ"

SF Heritage will host a Holiday Open House and big book sale at the Haas-Lilienthal House on December 7, noon–3 p.m., with an accessible entrance and RSVP recommended. Decorated parlors will welcome visitors and the ballroom will offer hundreds of architecture and San Francisco history titles. Tea offerings across the Bay range from Filoli terraces and Noe Valley's Lovejoy's Tea Room to the Japanese Tea Garden and coastal Lovey's Tea Shoppe, with hotel traditions at the Palace and Fairmont and seasonal reservations through January. The Napa Valley Wine Train runs holiday-themed rides from cookie-and-hot-chocolate outings to three-course dinners in the Vista Dome. Local highlights also include where to find ladybugs in Oakland, the Old Survivor redwood, award-winning mole sauce, ancestral quilts, and Bruce Lee's Bay Area history.

Read at sfist.com