Then … Teddy arrives home in his Mitsubishi Tredia and is seen here about to climb the steps to his front door at 720 Steiner Street in the Alamo Square neighborhood of San Francisco.
… and Now, the house is one of the famous Painted Ladies, aka the Seven Sisters, facing Alamo Square Park. The house at far left is the original home of Matthew Kavanaugh, the builder of the iconic row - note that it’s styled differently from the other six. 720 Steiner is the only house in the row whose steps are on the right; perhaps Mr. Kavanaugh wanted to distance himself from his neighbor’s comings and goings?
… in 1978 … several movies over the years filmed scenes at one of these homes including Invasion of the Body Snatchers in 1978 whose leading lady Brooke Adams’ character also lived at 720 Steiner (see her below about to walk up the front steps and note that its basement hadn’t yet been converted into a garage). Director Phillip Kauffman’s better composition of his shot captured all 6 of the similarly styled Victorians.
Another name for the houses is Postcard Row because of their ubiquitous presence on postcards like this one.
Teddy’s daughter Missie, (Kyra Stempel) lets him in. In this shot of them in the lobby we see a vestibule between it and the front door…
… which tells us that the interiors were not filmed at 720 Steiner. In the photo below taken in the real 720 Steiner living room the front door can be seen on the left. No vestibule there, it’s a completely different spatial layout.
Chuckles from the movie audience are understandable when Teddy meet’s his daughter’s boyfriend, Shelley (Michael Zorek) who, as we will later see, has a thing going on with Teddy’s wife.
Then ... At 720 Steiner Street, the home she shares with Geoffrey, Elizabeth is getting worried about an inexplicable change in his demeanor and behavior. She wakes one morning and follows him down the staircase as he leaves the house.
... and Now, the railings and walls have since been painted over and there's no longer artwork covering the window.
As she watches through the front window he dumps something, she knows not what, into the back of a garbage truck (just like the truck seen earlier outside the dry cleaners where the owner complained to Matthew that his wife "... not my wife"). What is going on?
Then ... Later she follows him again; he leads her across a footbridge where the telephoto lens pulls the background, including a stainless steel sculpture, towards us.
... and Now, this is the footbridge over Washington Street looking south across Maritime Plaza (map) towards One Embarcadero Center. The sculpture, still there, is by Swiss sculptor Willi Gutmann. A closer view of the same sculpture was seen in the 1974 movie The Conversation.
Then ... She watches, puzzled, as he meets a group of people she has never seen before.
... and Now, this is the escalator of the One Maritime Plaza office highrise which connects the plaza level to the street level lobby; it was called the Alcoa building when the movie was filmed (map). Forty years on, the lobby, including the bench against the back wall and the lights arrayed around the walls, looks much the same.
Elizabeth wanders through town with an eerie feeling that everyone around her has changed in some way.
Then ... She passes a cable car on Powell Street pulling in to the turntable at Market (map). On the surface things look normal, but she is convinced there's a conspiracy going on.
... and Now, a cable car awaits its turn to rumble down to the turntable. Sephora, an upmarket beauty products store, has replaced the International restaurant and the building next to it now housing Burger King has a shiny new exterior. The old California Cafe sign painted on the side of the building at top center has survived remarkably well over the years.
Elizabeth Driscoll (Brooke Adams) spots a colorful flowered pod in her neighborhood park that she hasn't seen before. She picks one, taking in its heady aroma.
Then ... As a group of schoolkids goes by she decides to take it home.
.... and Now, this was filmed in Alamo Square Park in the Alamo Square neighborhood (map). The homes in the background are on Hayes Street, along the south side of the park.
Then ... The kids are heading to the park's playground. The sight of a black-garbed priest staring expressionlessly at them as he swings alongside a child has a disquieting effect on us. Who is he? Why is he there? Already we are feeling an unease that will only grow stronger as the story unfolds. (The priest by the way is Robert Duvall, in an uncredited cameo).
.... and Now, there's still a playground there but it's significantly fortressed and now ADA compliant.
Then ... She crosses the road to her place at 720 Steiner Street, the one on the left, one of the famous Painted Ladies along the east side of the park. She doesn't know it yet but carrying that flower into her home is a very bad idea.
.... and Now, tourists flock to photograph this row of Victorians, often called 'Postcard Row'. Built in the 1890s, they have been lovingly maintained over the years by their proud owners. The tree in front of her house has been moved to create access to a garage addition.
Here's one example of the many postcards that have iconized the Painted Ladies over the years. (By the way, did anyone notice the Painted Ladies' gables emulated above in the playground 'Now' image?)
Then ... Inside the home she greets her partner Geoffrey Howell (Art Hindle), glued to the TV - he's a big Warriors fan, just like most of today's Bay Area sports fans.
.... and Now, here's how the same room at 720 Steiner looks today.