Lyon-Martin House

The designation was initiated by Board Resolution No. 507-20, adopted on 20 October 2020 and approved by the Mayor on 30 October 2020, which identified the property as 649-651 Duncan Street, Assessor's Block 6604, Lot Nos. 036 and 037; Lot 036 measures 2,848 square feet. It was recommended by Historic Preservation Commission Resolution No. 1170, the Fact Sheet is dated 17 February 2021, and the Planning Department record carries Docket No. 2020-011305DES. The Fact Sheet states Architect: Unknown and Year Built: Unknown, and gives a period of significance of 1955 to 2020. A building was put up on the parcel in 1907-1908 on a permit issued to the owner, Charles L. Duning, for a one-story cottage costing $300 and measuring 20 feet by 20 feet, clad with rustic siding; the present footprint, in the Fact Sheet's words, appears to have been constructed sometime between 1914 and 1938. The Daughters of Bilitis was founded in San Francisco in 1955 by four couples, among them Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, who lived at 651 Duncan Street; the 1957 Polk's Directory lists both at the address. Martin was elected the organisation's president in 1955, served as national president from 1957 to 1960 and edited The Ladder from 1960 to 1962; Lyon was its secretary in 1955 and edited The Ladder from 1956 to 1960. The Ladder began publication in 1956. Lyon and Martin met in Seattle, Washington, in 1950, both working for building-trades publications.