the Lyon-Martin House
Virtual Tour of the Lyon-Martin House
This virtual tour of the Lyon-Martin House was created by the digital historic preservation firm CyArk. The tour is organized into a total of 17 stations, taking in areas including the front yard, living room, second-floor landing and kitchen. At each station, visitors can use four keys on their keyboard to move in three dimensions and the right mouse button to rotate the camera 360 degrees, Each station is accompanied by historic commentary, reflections and interviews provided by LGBTQ historians, friends and family members of Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin including Marcia Gallo, associate professor of history at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas; Don Romesburg, professor of gender and women’s studies at Sonoma State University; and Kendra Mon, the daughter of Phyllis and Del. Finally, the tour incorporates the voices and reflections of Phyllis and Del Martin themselves, drawn from the extensive oral histories and interviews conducted prior to the deaths and held in the GLBT Historical Society’s archives.
Scroll below the tour for background information on Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin.
Click here to go to learn more about the project on CyArk’s webpage.
About Phyllis Lyon & Del Martin
Phyllis Lyon (1924–2020) and Del Martin (1921-2008) were lesbian pioneers and activists. Together with three other lesbian couples, they cofounded the first lesbian civil and political rights organization in the United States, the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) in 1955. The name was chosen to echo the well-known Daughters of the American Revolution as well as after the 1894 poetry collection The Songs of Bilitis by the French author Pierre Louÿs (1870–1925), which featured lesbian content.
Originally intended as a social club, DOB soon transcended this function under Lyon and Martin’s efforts. The pioneering group established chapters around the country; organized discussion groups; offered information and support; and worked to improve the legal and social status of lesbians. Lyon and Martin served as editors of its nationally distributed publication, The Ladder, which began publication in 1956. The first national periodical for lesbians in the U.S., it offered a lively mix of features, letters, interviews, reviews, fiction and other resources.
Lyon and Martin were involved in numerous other organizations dedicated to fighting for LGBTQ rights throughout their lives, including the struggle for marriage equality. They were married on February 12, 2004, in the first same-sex wedding to take place in San Francisco after Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered the city clerk to begin providing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Though that marriage was voided by the California Supreme Court in August 2004, they married again on June 16, 2008, in the first same-sex wedding to take place in San Francisco after the California Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in California.
The couple was together for over 50 years, until Martin’s death in 2008. Phyllis Lyon lived on in the home they shared together until her death in April 2020.
About the Lyon-Martin House
Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin purchased the house at 651 Duncan Street in San Francisco in 1955, the same year that they co-founded the Daughters of Bilitis. The small, 756-square foot cottage was the beating heart of the organization. For five decades, the Lyon-Martin House provided both a cozy home for the couple and a meeting space and mailing address for queer, feminist and progressive organizing. The house was sold in 2020 following Lyon’s death, but the structure and the surrounding property are a historical site of international significance.
Friends of the Lyon-Martin House, a preservation group formed following the sale of the house, led the campaign to designate the house a San Francisco Landmark, a goal successfully achieved when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimosly voted to bestow this status on the house on May 4, 2021. Friends of the Lyon-Martin House is now working with the property owner, the city and other stakeholders to document the historic structure and plan for its long-term future.
Additional Resources
Primary source set: Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin
Digital archival collection: Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin Papers (Collection no. 1993-13)
Click here to go to an online exhibition about Phyllis and Del’s involvement in the Council on Religion and the Homosexual on the website of the LGBTQ Religious Archives Network.
About Friends of the Lyon-Martin House
Friends of the Lyon-Martin House is a nonprofit group organized in 2020 to advocate for the preservation of the longtime home of trailblazing lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, located in San Francisco’s Noe Valley neighborhood. Our mission is to document and preserve the Lyon-Martin House for the purpose of educating San Francisco’s LGBTQ community and the public about the significance of Lyon and Martin’s lives and work. The group is a fiscally sponsored project of the GLBT Historical Society.
About CyArk
CyArk is a nonprofit organization committed to empowering our connection with historic places. Founded in 2003, CyArk pioneered the application of 3D recording technologies to the preservation and celebration of cultural heritage and has worked with local partners at over 200 sites in more than 40 countries. CyArk strives to connect new audiences to heritage through place-based web, mobile and immersive experiences that inspire reflection, conversation, and imagination.
Friends of the Lyon-Martin House is a sponsored project of the GLBT Historical Society. The contents of this page reflect the views and opinions of the project, and do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of the GLBT Historical Society. For information about becoming a sponsored project, contact donate@glbthistory.org.
Banner photograph: The Lyon-Martin House in San Francisco; photograph by Shayne Watson.