The House of Days – San Francisco, California - Atlas Obscura
Places near me Random place
The House of Days is permanently closed.

The House of Days

San Francisco, California

An unassuming grey box sitting on San Francisco's Pier 17 is a "sky diary" of the coastal city's temperamental weather. 

View all photos
The blink-and-you'll-miss-it-housing Hiding in Plain Sight (Used with Permission)
The blink-and-you'll-miss-it-housing Hiding in Plain Sight (Used with Permission)
Description of the House of Days sky diary. Hiding in Plain Sight (Used with Permission)
A photo mosaic of photos, each tile representing a day. Hiding in Plain Sight (Used with Permission)
103
157
Top Places in San Francisco
View of the ruins from the hillside. The original stairs would have come down on the far left. The curved edge of the original aquarium and the outline of the diving well are on the right.
Ruins of the Sutro Baths
San Francisco, California
San Francisco Columbarium
San Francisco, California
McElroy Octagon House
San Francisco, California
 See All

As the old saying goes, “If you don’t like the weather in San Francisco, wait five minutes and it will change.” The House of Days backs this adage up with photographic proof. 

Housed in a building that once contained a searchlight to scan the bay for invaders during wartime, this unassuming exhibit is easy to miss. Built in 2009 as part of the Outdoor Exploratorium, The House of Days records an image of the sky once every 24 hours, creating a ‘sky diary’ illustrating a day’s worth of changing light and weather. 

A small window allows viewing of the images, with a set of controls that allow the viewer to toggle between 24 images arranged in a grid or a single photo, with a wheel that allows you to scroll backwards and forwards in time.

Update September 2016: Along with the other Fort Mason Exploratorium exhibits, the House of Days was deinstalled in July of 2015.

Know Before You Go

Head up McDowell Drive towards Fort Mason center from the base of the Municipal Pier

astronomy science
Community Contributors
HashielDammit
Added by
HashielDammit
James Ricci
Rachel
M
Edited by
James Ricci, Rachel, Milo Vella
Published
April 11, 2013
Edit this listing
Make an Edit Add Photos
Nearby
Aquatic Park Tombstones
0.09 miles
The Stern of the Brigantine Galilee
0.13 miles
Stern of the Niantic
0.24 miles
Want to see fewer ads? Become a Member.
Near This Place
San Francisco, California

Aquatic Park Tombstones

Visible below the waves are memorials to the city's Gold Rush dead.
San Francisco, California

The Stern of the Brigantine Galilee

Once the fastest ship from San Francisco to Tahiti, the Galilee now lays in pieces in three different cities.
San Francisco, California

Stern of the Niantic

The only visible piece of San Francisco's most famous shipwreck.
The Long Now Orrery
San Francisco, California

Long Now Orrery

A modern mechanical planetary system, part of a 10,000 year clock.
Related Places
Millican, Oregon

Pine Mountain Observatory

In the high desert east of Bend, the University of Oregon maintains a research observatory on a remote mountain peak.
Springfield, Vermont

Stellafane Observatory

An amateur telescope-making club has been gathering at this Vermont site for more than a century.
Mitaka, Japan

National Astronomy Observatory Japan Mitaka Campus

The headquarters of one of Japan’s leading astronomy research institutions features several historic observatory facilities and a 2,000-year-old burial mound.
Leuven, Belgium

'Primeval Atom'

An installation that makes understanding the size of the universe a walk in the park.
In partnership with KAYAK

Plan Your Trip

From Around the Web