Overview

Maiden Lane is an upscale pedestrian shopping enclave just off Union Square and around the corner from Hermès. The name is not without irony. Back in San Francisco's rowdier days, this was Morton Street and the transactions that took place here involved women who were anything but maidens. There are a few terribly chi-chi cafes among the art galleries and extravagant stores, but also a few shops that stock affordable items. Also of interest is the only building in San Francisco designed by Frank Lloyd Wright at 140 Maiden Lane. Its striking brick exterior houses a spare but harmonious interior that echoes Wright's spiral design of the Guggenheim Museum in New York.