Owl Tree

"Bohemian Club Across the Street Next time you're walking around Lower Nob Hill, stop for a drink at a little bar named The Owl Tree. From the window seat, you'll see a looming, ivy-clad, red brick fortress across the intersection of Post and Taylor. This is the city clubhouse of the highly exclusive men’s society, The Bohemian Club. Look closer, and you’ll see an etching of an owl staring right back. But it’s not just any owl: This one looks particularly startled and is surrounded by the words “Weaving Spiders Come Not Here.” The line, from Shakespeare’s "A Midsummer Night’s Dream," is the club motto and serves as a warning to leave all outside concerns at the door. The club and its infamous summer retreat in a forest clearing 50 miles north of the city started as an artists’ retreat, but for a century it has been only “bohemian” in name, and holds some dark secrets. The gathering spot of old-money conservative men has welcomed every Republican president since Herbert Hoover to its summer camp, (until Donald Trump, who reportedly never got an invite). The GOP leaders weren’t all fans though — Richard Nixon wasn’t impressed by the sacrificial burning of a human effigy in front of a giant owl. The gathering spot of old-money conservative men has welcomed every Republican president since Herbert Hoover to its summer camp, (until Donald Trump, who reportedly never got an invite). The GOP leaders weren’t all fans though — Richard Nixon wasn’t impressed by the sacrificial burning of a human effigy in front of a giant owl."