Lloyd Lake (San Francisco)


Lloyd Lake, also known as Mirror Lake or Kissane Lake, is a clay-lined lake in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco,
named in memory of Reuben Hedley Lloyd, the park commissioner. It is home to a wide variety of non-native, non-migratory birds. Birds to be found within the lake area include geese, Pekin ducks, Muscovy ducks, Campbell ducks, mallards, gulls and pigeons.

Architecture

The lake is home to some early San Francisco architecture: the remains of Alban Nelson Towne's 1101 California Street, Nob Hill house can be found by the lake, between JFK Drive and Crossover Drive. After the 1906 earthquake and fire devastated the building, his wife presented the portico, popularly known as "Portals to the Past", to the park in 1909. All that remains of the mansion are the ionic columns of the entrance, which stand in isolation.

In popular culture

The site is mentioned in Alfred Hitchcock's film Vertigo as a place where Madeleine Elster enters a trance and becomes possessed. "Portals to the Past" also play a significant role in the novel License to Ensorcell by Katharine Kerr.