It’s hard to pass one vibrant home in San Francisco’s Mission District without a second look.
Richard Segovia’s house, or the “House of Latin Rock,” is coated with a colorful mural of Latin American performing artists like Carlos Santana, Maria Medina and Pete Escovedo.
Every inch of the home is detailed with portraits of historic musicians, rendered in saturated blue, green and orange hues.
Past the front door, Segovia’s living room and rehearsal space are lined with hundreds more photos, records and recognitions from the community: a collection representing decades of music history.
On Tuesday, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors is gearing up to approve landmark status for the house, honoring Segovia’s home and its role in the neighborhood’s rich musical history.
The property “serves as a physical anchor for the Latin Rock musical movement,” said Supervisor Jackie Fielder, introducing the proposal at a planning committee meeting the day before. “For decades, this house has functioned as an active cultural hub, serving as a rehearsal space, recording studio and collaborative environment for local artists.”
“I have been to many jam sessions at this house, before I became supervisor,” added Supervisor Myrna Melgar, laughing.
Segovia said he was “ very honored and very happy” that his home is in the process of receiving the designation, which will protect it from being demolished or altered in the future without the city’s permission.
“ My family would be ecstatic,” Segovia said. He believes that, once anointed with landmark protection status, his house will reaffirm the Mission District “as alive and something that we can call our own.”
Segovia, who is 72, was born and raised in the Mission, where he continues to reside with his wife Tammy. He’s lived in the “House of Latin Rock” since he was 10, and it would be the third landmark in San Francisco that is also a private residence — along with the “Painted Ladies” in Alamo Square, and the Mrs. Doubtfire House in the Pacific Heights neighborhood.
The mural on his home is dedicated to a musical movement that he helped build, with distinctly San Franciscan roots: Latin rock.
Segovia describes Latin rock as a mixture of blues and Afro-Cuban rhythms and percussion. He credits its creation to a Mission-based band called The Aliens, which was formed in 1964. San Francisco’s psychedelic rock scene also heavily influenced the genre as it evolved during the 1960s.
Fielder sought the designation after visiting Segovia’s home to award him with a Certificate of Honor for his volunteer work supporting the development of student musicians within his home studio space.
“ She came upstairs, saw all the pictures,” Segovia said. “By the time she got to the music room, it was like, ‘Richard, we have to make this house a landmark.’ I said, ‘Let’s go for it.’”
In its proposal to grant the designation, the city’s Historic Preservation Committee described Segovia’s house as “one of the Mission District’s most significant cultural and public art landmarks.”
The committee stressed the significance of the home to the musical movement that its mural honors, as well as its embodiment of the visual art tradition, “Mission Muralismo.”
“The mural reflects the tradition of using public art to document community history, honor cultural identity, and reclaim space through color and storytelling,” the committee said. “Like many landmark murals in the neighborhood, it incorporates portraiture, cultural symbolism, and expressive movement to celebrate local heroes and build a sense of shared memory.”
In order for the designation to be approved, the Board of Supervisors will need to reach a unanimous vote in favor of the proposal. But a representative from Fielder’s office said the proposal had not received any opposition, only “wholehearted support” from the neighboring community.
The house’s mural was originally created in 2017 by a local youth program within the mural arts organization Precita Eyes, in collaboration with community muralists Max Marttila and Fred Alvarado.
Segovia said the mural continues to evolve under the care of the original muralists and other local artists. He has worked with them to update and restore the painting since then, and he estimated that around 200 performers are currently depicted on the mural.
But the “House of Latin Rock” has been a home for music long before the iconic mural graced its exterior. Segovia recalled how, as a teenager, he would open up his garage to play music for the neighborhood when his parents were gone for the day.
“Back in the day, garages were filled with music,” Segovia said. After Santana’s 1969 performance at Woodstock, “the whole Mission District went from the battle of the barrios to the battle of the bands.”
But his homebrew performances stopped abruptly one day, when his parents came home early.
“Boy, was I in trouble,” he said. “But then that’s when I knew that music was gonna be my life, you know?”
As the young Segovia grew into a professional music career, his home gradually turned into a creative hub for professional musicians across different genres. Like the Mission, he said, the house is alive — with a way of constantly bringing new faces through its doors.
“It operates on its own,” Segovia said. “People are drawn to it now because of the years of dedication and music that I gave my whole life to.”
KQED’s Elize Manoukian contributed to this report.