The "crookedest street,"
section of Lombard. |
Pat
Montandon was the hostess with the mostest until she was cursed at
her
1000 Lombard Street home, right before
the eyes of San Francisco society and visitors including Ted Kennedy. She
wrote about it in The Intruders. Published in 1975, the book is former
TV hostess Montandon's account of a hex violently levied at this Lombard
Street apartment house at the foot of the crookedest street by a tarot
card reader "quivering with rage" because Montandon neglected to serve
him a drink at one of her celebrated parties. What follows, its publishers
said, was "a terrifying confrontation with the supernatural." Certain facts
are known. At least three deaths, including a suicide, occurred at the
house in the late 1960s. Also among the dead was Montandon's secretary
Mary Louise Ward, who died in a fire here under unusual circumstances.
Montandon also attributed a string of personal setbacks to the curse. Allegedly
the house was given a clean bill of health following an exorcism. Montandon
moved out anyway. She continued to be a true San Francisco celebrity who:
sued TV Guide over a typo that referred to her as a call girl, was very
briefly married to
Melvin Belli,
conducted round table rap sessions at her society luncheons, presided over
house blessings, wrote a column for the Examiner, and published books.
In stark contrast to her 1000 Lombard residence, Montandon dubbed her later
home at 1591 Shrader Street "The Enchanted
Cottage." When a Monterey Cypress at the end of the driveway of The
Enchanted Cottage had to come down after a 1997 windstorm, Montandon commissioned
sculptor Jack Mealy to carve a huge angel into its trunk. The statue was
named "Angel of Hope" by Montandon, who
has since sold The Enchanted Cottage and published a book, "Celebrities
and their Angels." Pat is the inspiration for the character Prue Giroux,
aka Pam Fontainbleu, in Armistead Maupin's Tales
of the City. |