Meet the man who leads tours of San Francisco City Hall

"Greg Bayol's favorite part of taking visitors around San Francisco City Hall is seeing the supervisors' legislative chamber. The ceiling might look like carved wood, he says, but it's painted plaster. Today's tour group - a man visiting from Dublin (in the East Bay, not Ireland), a young couple who just moved here from Seattle, and this reporter - admire the deception."

"The wood paneling on the legislative chamber walls is real though, Bayol says. It's Manchurian oak - softer and easier to carve than the oak species native to the state, shipped over from now-extinct forests in Asia. The curtains in the legislative chamber remain drawn at all times to keep the wood panels from bleaching. The chamber's doorknobs are crowned with bronze artichokes - a species native to the Mediterranean, not California, but symbolic of hopes, dreams, and good times."

The supervisors' legislative chamber ceiling resembles carved wood but is painted plaster. The chamber walls feature genuine Manchurian oak paneling shipped from now-extinct Asian forests and are protected by drawn curtains to prevent bleaching. Bronze artichoke doorknobs reference Mediterranean origins and symbolize hopes and good times. The grand staircase was redesigned to present its full length to visitors instead of a side profile and remains a popular site for wedding and quinceañera photos. The rotunda rises 307 feet, exceeding the U.S. Capitol dome, and its dome carvings of dahlias signify ties to Mexico and Central America.

Read at Mission Local