 Fireproof in SFSix fires between 1849 and 1851 destroyed large parts of rapidly growing San Francisco. Clearly fires were a significant hazard for a town filled with structures made of wood. Local attorney (and future Chief of Staff of Lincoln's armies) Henry Wager Halleck felt that public confidence needed to be bolstered by building a structure that would be impenetrable to fire or flood. A civil engineer trained at West Point military academy, Halleck was very able to guide the development of San Francisco's first fireproof building, the Montgomery Block, located at 628 Montgomery Street at Washington Street. A new style of architecture for office buildings inspired by the ..... |
• Kezar Pavilion - An Ongoing Legend  Kezar Pavilion - An Ongoing Legend
I remember one of my first visits to the legendary Kezar Pavilion. It was the early 90s, and I must've been around 8 years old. My father took my two brothers and me to the Pavilion for a Pro-Am summer basketball game. The fans were going crazy, the game was great, but amidst all of this I remember one moment quite clearly. After the game my older brother came running back to the rest of us. "I got to shake hands with Tim Hardaway!" a Golden State Warriors legend from the glorious TMC* days of the late 80s and early 90s. I was full of jealousy. But this was the kind of place Kezar was: an intimate sports venue where a kid could get close and personal with his ..... |
• San Francisco Tunnel History and Miscellany San Francisco Tunnel History and Miscellany San Francisco is a city of hills (over 50 by one San Francisco Chronicle count), and consequent-ly a city with many tunnels. There is a tunnel running from Aquatic Park under the Fort Mason bluff, built in 1914 and now abandoned, which was constructed to haul materials for building the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition (PPIE). The tracks ran from South of Market along the Embarcadero into the Presidio for the State Belt Line Railroad. The tunnel was closed in the 1970s. PPIE construction began in 1912 in an area called Harbor View, known today as the Marina District. Around this time the Civic League of the Improvement Clubs of San Francisco created a Tunnel Committee to p..... |
• Katrina Cottages and SF Earthquake Cottages  Katrina Cottages and SF Earthquake CottagesOn the Gulf Coast, an entrepreneur has manufactured "Katrina cottages" to sell to hurricane victims as a permanent alternative to FEMA trailers in which many are still housed. How do these Katrina cottages compare to the San Francisco earthquake shacks, provided as alternatives to tents a hundred years ago? The new cottages range in size from 308 to 1,175 square feet compared to earthquake shacks that were 140 to 252 square feetóbut today's cottages are meant to be permanent housing, whereas the earthquake shacks were built as temporary refugee camps. However, just as ultimately many of these shacks later served as the basis for larger structures, the Katrina cottages are designed as "Gro..... |
 Grauman's TheatersOne of Hollywood's early theater impresarios created his first theaters in San Francisco. Sid Grauman (1879-1950) is best known for Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles. This lavish 1927 movie palace is famous for its celebrity handprintsóalso footprints, hoofprints, knees, and legsóthe in the cement in front of the building. Grauman was also one of the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Born on St. Patrick's Day to Jewish parents, he was named Sidney Patrick Grauman. "I owe my tremendous success to the Man Upstairs," Grauman frequently said, "but having a name that got the Jews and the Irish behind me was what cinched things." He was born in Indiana i..... |
• The Fairmont Hotel Celebrates 100  The Fairmont Hotel Celebrates 100She is a Grand Dame, the jewel in the crown of Nob Hill. She is the Fairmont Hotel, and she is turning 100 this month. When Silver King James Fair purchased the hillside at Mason and California Streets back in the late 1800s, his intent was to build the largest mansion in the neighborhood. However, when he died in 1894 this lot was still undeveloped. It remained so until 1902 when his daughters Tessie Fair Oelrichs and Virginia Fair commissioned the architectural firm of Reid & Reid to develop plans for a large hotel with the look of an Italian Renaissance Palace. By 1906, the Fairmont Hotel, 600 rooms, seven stories high, made of gray granite, cream marble, and terracotta stone, st..... |
• Craftsman Building on S. Van Ness Avenue  Craftsman Building on S. Van Ness AvenueAn unusual American example of Craftsman design principles applied to housing for the urban working class stands at South Van Ness Avenue and 26th Street. Built by the T.B. Potter Realty Company in 1905, it is a clinker brick and shingle building consisting of 16 attached cottages. Curiosity about this structure led Bathsehba Malsheen to delve into its history – and ultimately to gain San Francisco landmark status for the structure. The units originally contained Craftsman detail such as coffered redwood ceilings and leaded glass cabinets. And each unit has a small private courtyard in the back. The mystery is why there is no other example of this style of building in San Franciscan Ameri..... |
• San Francisco’s Le Petit Trianon  San Francisco’s Le Petit TrianonSan Francisco has several representations of European landmarks, including Marie Antoinette's Le Petit Trianon. The original building at Versailles Palace in France was built between 1763 and 1768 for Louis XV’s favorite mistress, Madame de Pompadour (Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson). Unfortunately for her, she died before the estate was completed. Louis then gave it to his next favorite mistress, Madame du Barry (Jeanne Bécu). When Louis XVI became monarch, he gave the estate to his wife, Marie Antoinette, who used it as a retreat from palace life. The architecture was called the Greek style, a transition between the Rococo of the early 18th century and the Neoclassical of the later part ..... |
 The Saga of Sutro LibraryAdolph Sutro is obviously one of the towering figures of San Francisco history, and his legacy is indelibly enshrined in our landscape and several important institutions. The Sutro Library, located at San Francisco State University since 1982, houses approximately 40% (about 100,000 volumes) of the original legendary massive Sutro collection, salvaged from the fire-proofed Montgomery Block after the destruction of 1906. Stored in warehouses on Battery Street, the balance of the collection was destroyed. Sutro had initially planned to build a library at Sutro Heights, then decided to use half the acreage subsequently given to the University of California, on Mount Parnassus (now Mount Sut..... |
• Lighthouses Around San Francisco Bay  Lighthouses Around San Francisco BayOur friends from other locations think of this area as sunny California. But if you live around San Francisco Bay, you know about the fog. And there are other dangers for ships, including strong gales, rocks, and shoals. Lighthouses were built here since Gold Rush times to warn ships of the dangers. I spoke with City Guide Patricia Duff, who works for the United States Coast Guard in their Lighthouse Divestiture program. As Patricia told me, the lighthouses were operated by the U. S. Lighthouse Service until 1939, when the Coast Guard took control. By the 1970s, most lighthouses were automated, mariners were using GPS systems, and the keepers were not needed at these sites. The keepers’ qu..... |
 Who Knows About 650 Geary?While traipsing around the Tenderloin, researching another project, your editor sighted a very interesting Moorish style building at 650 Geary Steet. GuideLines put out a call to see if anyone knew the history of this building. Thank you to all who responded including Bob Bowen, Don Andreini, Peter Field, Gary Holloway, Ulla Kaprielian, and Ernie Ng. The building, San Francisco Landmark #195, is today the location of the Alcazar Theater. It was built in 1917 at a cost of $150,000 as the Islam Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. The Shriners, a men’s social and charitable organization of the Freemasons, used the building until 1970. The building was designed by Scott..... |
• Tom Maguire: A Colorful Character in SF’s Theatrical Past  Tom Maguire: A Colorful Character in SF’s Theatrical Past
In her book The San Francisco Stage: From Gold Rush to Golden Spike, 1849-1869, Misha Berson remarks on the beginnings of theatrical life in San Francisco: Theater was only getting its start in the Atlantic states when San Francisco was founded during the Gold Rush. Thus, the far frontier city began its theatrical life as an equal among equals as far as theatrical experience was concerned. Given San Francisco’s importance in the development of the theater in the United States, it is interesting to examine the background and life of one of those who produced and directed on those early stages. Tom Maguire ran San Francisco’s first legitimate house for serious actors, the Jenny Lind. Th..... |
 Old Vedanta TempleIts roofline an architectural confection of fanciful domes and graceful galleries, the Old Vedanta Temple at the corner of Webster and Filbert Streets is a vibrant landmark of the Cow Hollow neighborhood. The spirited architecture of this building, however, has a firm spiritual foundation. The structure is said to be the first Hindu Temple in the Western Hemisphere. From 1905 until the community outgrew the space and dedicated the “New” Vedanta Temple in 1959 at Fillmore and Vallejo Streets, just a few blocks away, the Old Temple served as the home for what became the Vedanta Society of Northern California. An early pamphlet published by the Society noted that the Temple “…may be consider..... |
• Where Was the Valencia Hotel?  Where Was the Valencia Hotel?Little did I know when I entered Cherin’s Appliance store on Valencia Street that I would find answers to a question I hadn’t been able to solve. Luckily, Michael Cherin waited on me. During our conversation I asked him if he know where the Valencia Hotel had been. He said, “Right here,” but then for validation he asked his grandfather, Lou Cherin, who is the family historian. Lou said no, the Valencia Hotel was across the street. Built in 1898, the Valencia Hotel was a four-story wood frame structure with a brick foundation. The Mission district was originally a marshland with creeks and shallow lakes. Landfill began in the 1860s, and in 1888 four hundred acres of solid ground had been..... |
• Eureka Benevolent Society and Henry Mauser in San Francisco  Eureka Benevolent Society and Henry Mauser in San Francisco
When the ground started shaking at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the three-story frame building at 436 O’Farrell, which housed the administrative offices of the Eureka Benevolent Society, was empty of workers, so no lives were lost at the site. However, after the fire raged throughout so much of San Francisco on that inauspicious day and the two that followed, only portions of the front and rear exterior walls remained standing. Having to start over was nothing new for the members of the Eureka, first organized in 1850 to provide financial assistance to “Israelites landing here, broken in health or destitute of means.” Founder August Helbing, only 25 years old when he convince..... |
• Landmarks Versus National Historic Places  Landmarks Versus National Historic PlacesDid you know that the Mission Dolores is both a San Francisco Landmark and a California Historical Landmark, and also holds a place on the National Register of Historic Places? And do you know the difference in these designations? Many buildings on our tour routes display plaques indicating landmark status, but the process for achieving each form of recognition is different. National Historic Places and Landmarks The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) includes over 80,000 listings, of which over 2,400 are designated as National Historic Landmarks. Landmarks are designated by the Secretary of the Interior for their national significance. Historic places are nomi..... |
• Hollywood Stars Visit San Francisco's Chinatown  Hollywood Stars Visit San Francisco's ChinatownIn 1947, near the end of an unhappy five-year marriage, Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth sat in a dark theater and tensely watched a Chinese opera production. Only four years earlier, Hollywood’s “Boy Wonder” had married “The Love Goddess,” but whatever happiness they had once enjoyed was short-lived. They had come to San Francisco’s Chinatown not for the theater, but to make a film of their own, Lady from Shanghai. In the movie, Orson Welles’s character gets caught up in a murder scheme, and he confronts Rita Hayworth’s character in a pivotal scene that takes place during the Chinese opera performance. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll likely remember that the climactic last scene takes ..... |
 SF Theater Quiz
|
• Castro Movie Makeover: Glimpses of the Castro from 30 Years Ago  Castro Movie Makeover: Glimpses of the Castro from 30 Years Ago
Guides for the Castro: Tales of the Village tour have been able to observe the ongoing retrofit to the Castro as its appearance from 30 years ago is brought to life. The time warp is all part of the Gus Van Sant film entitled Milk. The biopic on the life of the first openly gay man elected to office in the United States stars Sean Penn as Harvey Milk and Josh Brolin as Dan White. Filming began on January 22, 2008, and is slated to continue until March 15th. For those of us who walk the Castro and, through our stories, evoke the images of decades ago, these are exciting times! Construction workers have altered the Castro Theatre marquee to use the color palette from the late seventies. The..... |
• Wayside Chapel of St Francis  Wayside Chapel of St FrancisThe City’s smallest and largest churches once stood side-by-side atop Nob Hill. Perched in the shadow of Grace Cathedral, the Wayside Chapel of St. Francis opened on May 28, 1945. When the Episcopal Bishop wanted a chapel where people could come 24 hours a day to pray for their loved ones at war, the bishop’s chaplain suggested they convert a tiny construction shed on the California Street side of the still-unfinished cathedral. Built in 1932, the wooden structure had been used as the fund-raising office for the cathedral building campaign, and subsequently as Dinwiddie Construction’s on-site office. And thus in the waning years of World War II, generous donors helped to convert it i..... |
 Crystal Palace Market “The Palace was an emporium dedicated to the palates of the cosmos. It probably had food from Saturn. It was the FAO Schwarz of the stomach.” Thus author Gus Lee describes the Crystal Palace Market of his youth in China Boy, the fictionalized account of his boyhood that was San Francisco’s choice for this fall’s “One City/One Book” shared reading experience. His description is no exaggeration. During its 36-year run, the 71,000-square-foot market imported goods from at least 37 countries to provide the most varied offerings in the country. Its 65 shops included four dairy stands – selling 36,000 eggs daily –, four poultry stands, six butcher shops, three fish markets, and seven fruit..... |
• Albion Castle – San Franciscans, their Beers, and the Story of One Brewery  Albion Castle – San Franciscans, their Beers, and the Story of One BreweryNineteen-year-old John Burnell, already an experienced brewer trained in London, came to San Francisco in 1868. He bought a parcel of land with large flowing springs in an area where brothers Robert and Philip Hunter managed real estate transactions for the new city – an area known today as Hunter’s Point. Here in the 1870s Burnell established the Albion Porter & Ale Brewery. The building he erected, featuring a three-story tower reminiscent of a Norman castle from Burnell’s native England, has always been known as the Albion Castle. The Castle was recently in the news when it was auctioned off for $2.1 million. The building has walls two to three feet thick and was built with stone t..... |
• The SF Chronicle Building Restored  The SF Chronicle Building RestoredSan Francisco’s first skyscraper, whose original façade has been hidden for more than 40 years, is presently undergoing restoration. Located at 690 Market Street at the corner of Kearny and 3rd Streets, the structure was originally the Chronicle Building, but has been known in recent years by its tenant, Washington Mutual. It was the Chronicle's home until 1924 and shares the important “newspaper corner” intersection with the Hearst and former Call buildings. The building’s 1889 brick and stone façade was covered with white enamel sheets in a 1962 modernization, but at least some of the original material was preserved underneath. Interestingly, although it is historically known as the Ch..... |
• San Francisco Armory in the Mission  San Francisco Armory in the MissionCity Guides offers three different tours in the Mission. None venture remotely near the hulking ugly pseudo-Moorish Armory building at 1800 Mission Street. With clinker brick exteriors, four octagonal towers, and 200,000 square feet of space, this forbidding structure was built in 1912-14 as an arsenal for the US National Guard, replacing one in the Western Addition destroyed in 1906. Its ultimate cost, including land, was $500,000. Besides its official function as a military training and storage facility, it was used frequently for sporting events and prizefights. Said to be the largest building of architectural importance in the Mission, it has the largest unsupported enclosed volu..... |
• Ella Castelhun - A Lesser Known Woman Architect  Ella Castelhun - A Lesser Known Woman ArchitectIn 1901, the State of California adopted a law that required all practicing architects to be licensed, either demonstrating their experience in the field of architecture or passing an exam and fulfilling requirements in education and experience. Julia Morgan was the first woman to appear on the roster of licensed architects, receiving license number B344 in 1904. The second woman licensed to practice architecture in California was Ella Castelhun, who received license B358 in 1905. In contrast to Morgan, she remains little known. Unfortunately, her file is not available at the State of California Architects Board. The last record of her architectural career is her inclusion in the 1920 r..... |
• The Russian Connection in San Francisco  The Russian Connection in San FranciscoWe all know about Fort Ross in 1830, Sebastopol, the Russian River, and Russian Hill, where artifacts of buried Russian sailors have been found. Perhaps we also know that the founding of the Presidio may have been inspired by Charles III of Spain because of concern about Russian incursions from the north. A few of us know about the Russian exploration of San Francisco Bay in 1812, when the Russian-employed botanist von Chamisso first described the California poppy, took a specimen back to St. Petersburg, and enshrined it in the Russian Museum, where it still resides as the “type specimen,” the original. Most of us have heard the romanticized love story of Count Rezanov and Concepcion Arg..... |
• San Francisco Coffee Roasters  San Francisco Coffee RoastersCoffee is one of the most exported commodities in the world. It originated in Yemen and by the 1400s trading brought it to Africa, Arabia, and the Mediterranean. After achieving popularity in Europe in the 1600s, “the Wine of Araby” traveled to America, where by the end of that century it overtook beer as the favorite breakfast drink. During the Mexican-American War in 1846, it was a ration for soldiers. Traders spread coffee to other hot climate growing areas, including the East and West Indies. And just like the Gold Rush immigrants traveling to California, green coffee beans also came by ship. San Francisco became a center for coffee roasting businesses, with coffee a main part of t..... |
• San Francisco Emporium Rooftop Holiday Tradition  San Francisco Emporium Rooftop Holiday TraditionA ferris wheel, merry-go-round, train, and visit with Santa Claus and his elves – all these treats and more awaited visitors to the rooftop holiday carnival presented every Christmas by the Emporium on Market Street. Once upon a time this venerable department store also boasted an indoor ice rink and an auditorium for lectures and concerts by The Emporium Orchestra. The last Christmas carnival was held in 1995, the Emporium’s 100th anniversary year and the year the store closed. A reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle interviewed visitors and quoted an Emporium employee who boasted, “Our Santa is the best Santa in the Bay Area.” (In fact, there were two Santas, separated by screens..... |
• The San Francisco Ferry Building Clock  The San Francisco Ferry Building ClockFerry Building Guides were recently treated to a talk by Dorian Clair, a specialist in antique clocks who in 2000 began working on the Ferry Building’s famous timepiece. Today the Ferry Building still boasts its original Special #4 clock made by the Boston clock maker E. Howard in 1898. It is the largest dialed, wind-up, mechanical clock in the world. Before the ’06 quake, this top-of-the-line clock lost only two seconds a week. Although the clock is now powered by an electric motor installed by Dorian, the old weight and pendulum system is still in place and could be hooked up in a few hours. This system’s one-ton weight, which dropped 48 feet in 8 days when it powered the clock, now..... |
• Art Deco in San Francisco's Downtown  Art Deco in San Francisco's DowntownOne day in the spring of 2003, fellow City Guide Bob Bowen and I visited the lobby of the Telephone Building on New Montgomery Street. We were on a trial walk for a revived Downtown Deco Tour, which a few of us had decided to bring back to life after conducting Art Deco Marina for several years. A security guard working for SBC, which then owned the building, kindly allowed us into the inner sanctum. We stood in the wide lobby of San Francisco’s first real high-rise, with its dark marble walls, occasionally accented by shiny metal trim. A glorious multi-colored ceiling in the pattern of a Chinese quilt brightened the space, and various animal forms seemed to float overhead. Above the elev..... |
• Yerba Buena Lane: San Francisco's Newest Street  Yerba Buena Lane: San Francisco's Newest Street
Although open since 2002, the pedestrian-only thoroughfare named Yerba Buena Lane is finally coming into its own. With the recent opening of the Contemporary Jewish Museum and Jessie Square, many people are now taking notice of this lively and interesting area for the first time. Yerba Buena Lane allows pedestrians to flow from the Union Square area north of Market Street to the museums and public landscapes of Yerba Buena Gardens south of Market (SoMa), without a long detour down to Third or Fourth Street. At 550 feet long, it is designed to provide a convenient corridor for over 5 million people annually, fulfilling a vision of urban planners over 50 years in the making. Historical..... |
• Archbishop’s Mansion in San Francisco Archbishop’s Mansion in San Francisco The handsome French Second Empire structure was built in 1904 for San Francisco’s second Archbishop, Patrick Riordan (1841-1914). A major architectural asset and anchor to the Alamo Square Historic District, it was at the turn of the century an important symbol of the Catholic Church’s prominence in San Francisco’s religious, social and cultural life. The Mansion’s architect was Frank Shea, who worked on several projects for the Catholic Archdiocese, including St. Vincent de Paul on Steiner Street and Holy Cross on Eddy Street. Archbishop Patrick Riordan played an important role in San Francisco history. Arriving in 1882, he set about building churches, schools, and hospitals. The Arc..... |
• Emporium Dome Celebrates 100  Emporium Dome Celebrates 100Editors’ Note: The October 2004 GuideLines featured a story on the Emporium dome when it was hoisted on a perch for a year during construction of the Westfield Centre. The following article revisits the story with some new information and permission from the Bancroft Library to publish another photo. September 2008 was the 100th birthday of the dome in the Westfield Centre. In 1896 a cooperative of merchants rented space at the Parrot Building at 835 Market Street and called their venture the Emporium. As its signature feature, the building contained a magnificent dome. The Parrot Building was designed by Albert Pissis, who also designed the James Flood Building across t..... |
• Court of Appeals and Old Main Post Office Building  Court of Appeals and Old Main Post Office BuildingPenny Bradshaw had the wonderful idea for the Class of 2008 to keep in touch on a regular basis by meeting for lunch once a month to discuss and share experiences, and Tuesday, October 7th, was scheduled for our “first date.” When I discovered that the United States Court of Appeals and Old Main Post Office were offering a docent tour that day (and had a café on site!), seven of us met on the steps of this most beautiful example of an American Renaissance / Beaux Arts classical style building and took the tour given by Ms. Ellie Foster, docent since ’97, who had previously volunteered at various museums in Washington, D.C. This building has a special meaning for me since it was here, ..... |
• The Call Building of San Francisco  The Call Building of San FranciscoSan Francisco’s Call Building shared the spotlight with the Ferry Building as the city’s most notable landmark at the turn of the twentieth century. San Francisco’s first skyscraper, it was depicted by Thomas Kinkaid in his nostalgic painting San Francisco Market Street, and it stands as a point of reference in locating other structures in historic photographs. We can credit the very public feud between two leading San Francisco families for the construction of this grand building. Claus Spreckels dominated the sugar industry from the 1860s until 1905, when the new C&H co-op broke his monopoly. After gaining control of Hawaiian cane sugar production through his ownership of the Hawaii..... |
• The Old Mint Building in San Francisco  The Old Mint Building in San FranciscoCity Guide Larry See recently joined the San Francisco Museum & Historical Society’s members-only tour of the Old Mint and shares this report: Built in 1874, at one time the Old Mint held about one-third of all of the gold in the nation. It sits on bedrock just ten feet below the surface. The foundation is four feet thick, with two-inch reinforcing iron bars interlaced all though it. The walls are a combination of very thick sandstone on the outside with granite and brick in the interior. Huge heavy iron shutters protect the windows. The ceilings are approximately 20 feet high, with graceful brass lighting hung from the ceiling. There was only one "slightly" successful known inc..... |
• Timothy Pflueger Gets a Street  Timothy Pflueger Gets a StreetThanks to City Guide Therese Poletti, on December 16th the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, at their last meeting of the year, passed a resolution to rename the former Chelsea Place, a short alley behind 450 Sutter, Timothy Pflueger Place, honoring the city's great architect of the 20s, 30s, and 40s. Therese brought the resolution to outgoing Board President Aaron Peskin, who reported that the resolution was passed in a unanimous vote. In fact, Supervisor Jake McGoldrick was so enthused about the proposal that he asked to be a co-sponsor. Therese, author of the recently released book Art Deco San Francisco: The Architecture of Timothy Pflueger, became interested in Pflueger's work..... |
 St. Dominic’s ChurchDominicans first arrived in San Francisco from Spain in 1850, and established their first priory in 1863 at Van Ness and Broadway. That same year, the Dominican Friars paid $6,000 for the city block bounded by Steiner, Bush, Pierce, and Pine Streets, anticipating the future development of what was still the largely open country of the Western Addition. picture1left300 The first St. Dominic’s Church, blessed in 1873, was a small, unpretentious wooden church at the corner of Bush and Steiner Streets. To accommodate a rapidly growing congregation, a second, much larger church was built of brick on the same site; this church opened in 1887 but was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake. During the..... |
 St. Rose AcademyFrom January 1906 until June 1990, St. Rose Academy shared with St. Dominic’s Church the city block purchased in the Western Addition by the Dominican friars in 1863. picture1left300 The oldest private girls’ school in San Francisco when it closed in 1990, St. Rose was founded by the Dominican sisters of San Rafael in 1862. It soon outgrew its first convent on Brannan Street between Third and Fourth Streets, and moved into its new St. Rose Academy on Tyler Street (later renamed Golden Gate) between Steiner and Pierce in 1878. After this building was consumed by fire in 1893, the school found temporary quarters at two other sites before constructing their new academy on the land owned by ..... |
 2830 Pacific Avenue HouseThis house is one of the spectacular Georgian brick mansions atop the Gold Coast Hill. It is the westernmost of a pair of twin homes designed in 1910 by Nathaniel Blaisdell for George Lingard Payne, a manufacturer of carriage bolts. Payne shared the $42,500 residence with his wife, five children, chauffeur, cook, and four lodgers, but only for the winter seasons; they summered in Mill Valley. picture1left300 2830 Pacific boasted up-to-the-minute conveniences, like an early Otis elevator, laundry and trash chutes, and two walk-in Hermann safes. It featured a ground floor ballroom, landscaped garden terrace, and an unusual side driveway commodious enough for up to ten vehicles, leading to ..... |
The Prelinger Library Last month while visiting the show Green Dimensions at Lower Fort Mason, Building D, I came across an exhibit in the lobby, a fascinating continuously changing video about the history and landscape changes in the Bay Area coastal regions. This display was produced by the Prelinger Library, a facility unknown to me, and to everyone else in my vicinity. I decided to investigate, and thus spent several hours one Sunday afternoon, on site. The Prelinger Library is a unique private collection located in a faceless obscure building just off Folsom Street at 8th. It is staffed by the Prelingers, a welcoming and helpful couple, who are solely responsible for the collection, retrieval, classificat..... |
 Terra Cotta in SFThere is a multitude of terra cotta building decoration in San Francisco, and much of this is thanks to the town of Lincoln, 30 miles northeast of Sacramento. The town began in 1861 as a railroad terminus on land owned by railroad pioneer Theodore Judah. Civil War veterans settled in the area to raise cattle and orchards, and coal mining began in 1873. In 1874, when a source of high quality clay was discovered nearby, several Chicago businessmen decided to open a clay products manufacturing plant. A year later Gladding McBean opened as the first producer of clay sewer pipe west of the Rockies. Sewer pipe was, and continues to be, Gladding McBean’s main product. In 1884 the company began ..... |
• Harold G. Stoner and Adolph G. Sutro  Harold G. Stoner and Adolph G. SutroAdolph Sutro is well known as a former Mayor of San Francisco, owner of the Cliff House, and builder of the Sutro Baths. His lesser known grandson, Adolph G. Sutro, teamed up with one of San Francisco's most prolific - yet largely unknown - architects, Harold G. Stoner, to bring their own legendary landmarks to the "City by the Bay." It was Sutro's grandson who commissioned Harold G. Stoner to design the magnificent medieval mansion that once stood high above San Francisco on Mt. Sutro. Built for $250,000 in the middle of the Great Depression, it was called "La Avenzada." Two decades after being sold to ABC in 1948, the City deemed it a firetrap and required its demolition as part of th..... |
 GuideLines QuizDo you know what and where this building is? picture1left250 The building is the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, a gift to the City from Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, and home of the San Francisco Fine Arts Museums. The building is based on the Palais de la Legion d’Honneur in Paris, France. This is the back of the building. The sculptural figures on the dome are based on the gods and goddesses: Jupiter, Mars, Apollo, Minerva, Diana, and Ceres. The busts (thirteen in all) are based on unidentified people of their day. GuideLines heard that the sculptures are made of fiberglass and contacted Elisabeth Cornu, retired conservator, to confirm. She told us: They a..... |
 Marines Memorial TheaterIf you've recently seen a show at Marines, you probably noticed that although it's a plain auditorium, it's in pristine shape. This is due, in large part, to the current manager, Roxanne Goodfellow. She was also instrumental in redoing the Post Street Theatre some years ago, but unfortunately, that space has closed. These are both important houses in San Francisco theatre history, but Marines holds an especially pivotal place in the history of regional theatre in the United States. picture1left300 Until the 1920s, regional theatre was alive and well in San Francisco. Then the Shubert brothers, among others, came on the scene, and bought and built theatres where they brought shows f..... |
 GuideLines Quizpicture1left600 The photo is taken from the top floor of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) looking out the window facing Minna Street. You can find Waldo, the creation of author Martin Handford. SFMOMA is the first museum on the West Coast devoted to modern and contemporary art. In 1935, art patron Albert Bender donated 36 artworks, including The Flower Carrier by Diego Rivera, to begin the museum's collection. GuideLines discovered that the museum has nothing to do with Waldo. People at the business located at 170 Minna believe that the building owner put Waldo on the roof...... |
 A Note On SpeakeasiesDuring a recent Palace Hotel tour, a guest asked if there was a speakeasy in the hotel during Prohibition. Author and GuideLines contributor James R. Smith gave us some information on speakeasies: Every hotel had a speakeasy of some sorts. There were a couple of federal arrests at the Palace, so they did have one but I don't know exactly where. The Sir Frances Drake built a speakeasy between floors, although no one drank there. Liquor was sent up to the rooms. Prior to Prohibition, no respectable woman would drink in a bar. San Francisco speakeasies were usually restaurants, and that's when women first drank in public. Playland had a speakeasy as well. |
• Willis Polk – His Work is Everywhere!  Willis Polk – His Work is Everywhere!My interest in the architect Willis Polk began when I trained as a docent at Filoli, a mansion he designed in Woodside. It continued when I became a guide for the tour City Scapes and Public Places. On that tour, the number of Willis Polk designed buildings is remarkable. Of course, I had seen a house he designed on Russian Hill, but I did not realize how much he was a part of the Arts and Crafts movement. A number of individuals were involved in that movement and worked together including Joseph Worcester, A. Page Brown, Ernest Coxhead, and Willis Polk. The first houses Polk designed in San Francisco showed that he was aware of the Shingle Style popular on the East Coast, had ..... |
• Coffee Dan’s - Most Popular SF Speakeasy  Coffee Dan’s - Most Popular SF SpeakeasyNo one should forget San Francisco’s riotous Coffee Dan’s. The original club opened in 1879 as a cabaret located in the basement below Daniel Davis’ restaurant on the southeast corner of Sutter and Kearny. After the earthquake and fire of 1906, Dan moved his club to Powell and O’Farrell Streets. Like its predecessor, it opened for breakfast, serving customers long past dinner with entertainers that belied the apparent low station of the café. Posh city magazine The Wasp proclaimed Coffee Dan’s the rendezvous for San Francisco’s elite in their May 20, 1916 issue. picture1left250 Dan died in 1917 and son John Davis took over management. It was Prohibition and Coffee Dan’s was now..... |
• Pier 70 – A View from Inside  Pier 70 – A View from Inside Pier 70, which lies on the cusp of the Dogpatch Historical District, is not your typical pier - it is almost 70 acres in size. The long wharf, made of timbers that at one time extended from 20th Street into the bay, is now mostly gone. It is a place I discovered not long after moving from New York to San Francisco five years ago. I was attracted to the area because of its similarities to the waterfronts of port cities located on the east coast. It is also one of the few remaining spots in this city where brick industrial buildings continue to stand their ground - even after earthquake, fire, and the decline of industrialization. Shipbuilding and repair thrived here for over 150 ..... |
 The Octagon House2011 marks the 150th anniversary of the (McElroy) Octagon House, owned by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in California (NSCDA-CA). It is located on the corner of Gough and Union Streets in Cow Hollow. Octagonal structures have been documented as early as 300 B.C. Early North American examples include Thomas Jefferson’s private retreat Poplar Forest, built in Virginia in 1806, and the Octagon House in Washington, D.C. built in 1801. This building served as a temporary White House during the War of 1812, and formerly served as the headquarters for the American Institute of Architects. These buildings were popularized in North America and Canada in t..... |
• San Francisco’s St. Francis Wood  San Francisco’s St. Francis Wood In my current work, San Francisco's St. Francis Wood, the history is told of one of the country's most successful examples of a City Beautiful "garden suburb" through historical images and photographs. Known for 100 years as one of San Francisco's finest residential neighborhoods, early visitors were impressed with the graceful streets, parks, and landscaping designed by the renowned Olmsted Brothers and the classically-inspired public monuments designed by the prominent architect John Galen Howard of the University of California. The houses reflect many period revival styles and the talents of dozens of architects, yet the effect is homogeneity of scale, color, and style.This ..... |
• From Nickelodeons to Movie Palaces  From Nickelodeons to Movie PalacesThe following is an excerpt from Therese Poletti's book, Art Deco San Francisco, The Architecture of Timothy Pflueger.In the spring of 1920, a trio of brothers-William, Elias, and George Nasser-came to see Timothy Pflueger. They had got Pflueger's name from the Humboldt Bank, where they had obtained a loan to expand their growing neighborhood theatre on Castro Street.The Nassers owned two small theatres in the Mission district where Pflueger lived and a larger theatre on Castro in the Eureka Valley neighborhood. In 1907 their father, Abraham, an immigrant from Lebanon, turned the family market on Collingwood and Eighteenth streets into the Liberty. In its first incarnati..... |
• Pied Piper Returns to Palace  Pied Piper Returns to PalacePublic reaction was swift and vocal when the Palace Hotel in March announced plans to sell its Maxfield Parrish painting “The Pied Piper” at Christie’s auction house. Twitter feeds streamed, online petitions popped up, and the hotel switchboard began buzzing relentlessly. Even San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee called, asking hotel management to reconsider. picture1left600 How could a “mere” painting generate such passion and affection? The main reason probably is its longevity. It’s been hanging behind the bar at the hotel since 1909, with a brief interruption during Prohibition when it moved to a ballroom after the bar was closed. The painting returned to the bar a..... |
 Celebrating Our SurvivorsThe eight buildings here are among the few that survived the 1906 disaster and are still standing today. The Ferry Building has gone through several renovations, but now – restored and repurposed – it’s back and better than ever. Only the Call Building, once called “the handsomest tall building in the world” by architectural critic B.J.S. Cahill, is unrecognizable in its current form. In the late 1930s, the dome was removed to permit the addition of six additional floors and the entire building received an Art Deco makeover. picture1left180 picture5left180 picture6left180 |
• Modern Engineering for Earthquake Safety  Modern Engineering for Earthquake SafetyA conversation with Robert Reitherman, Executive Director of the Consortium of Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering (CUREE), a non-profit organization devoted to the advancement of earthquake engineering research, education, and implementation. For information on CUREE and their research go to: www.curee.org. What was learned from the 1906 disaster that helped engineers make buildings safer? The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake occurred a little too early in history for major engineering lessons to be learned. Today we know that unreinforced masonry buildings -- buildings with brick walls that have ..... |
• At Last: Julia Morgan receives AIA Gold Medal  At Last: Julia Morgan receives AIA Gold Medal
The American Institute of Architects Gold Medal is considered to be the profession’s highest honor. The Gold Medal honors an individual whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture. In December 2013, the AIA Board of Directors voted to give the 2014 award to Julia Morgan. picture1right300 Recognition from AIA for her architectural achievements would come 57 years after her death. Morgan’s grandniece received the award on her behalf at the AIA 2014 National Convention and Design Exposition in Chicago on June 28. Morgan, who died in 1957, won a litany of firsts and established a new precedent for greatness in the field. A build..... |
• The Emporium: Grand Dame of Market Street  The Emporium: Grand Dame of Market StreetMany native San Franciscans have fond memories of the “Big E.” It was the place where you got your first grown-up jacket, did your back-to-school shopping, and rode the big slide on the roof or, at Christmas time, the train. Christmas also meant a visit with Santa and a photo. A trip downtown was something special that you dressed up for, and in the 1950s that meant gloves and a hat. picture1left350 The Emporium aimed for a middle-class clientele, and for over 100 years after its founding in 1897 it not only succeeded but thrived, despite near total destruction in the 1906 earthquake. The Union Square stores — Magnin, the City of Paris, and the White House — catered to the hig..... |
• Preserving Downtown Open Spaces  Preserving Downtown Open Spaces Hidden throughout downtown San Francisco are dozens of small parks, rooftop gardens, indoor atriums, plazas and other restful spaces known to city planners as POPOS – Privately Owned Public Open Spaces. SF City Guides’ City Scapes tour takes walkers into some of these spaces in the Financial District, and other tours like South of Market Architecture Stroll visit them. Although there are specific regulations regarding public access to these spaces, several building managers and property owners have recently been testing the boundaries of the law. picture2right200 First some background on POPOS. In 1961, New York City passed the nation’s first comprehensive zoning ordinances designed to ..... |
• Ferry Building Clock Springs Forward  Ferry Building Clock Springs Forward
Time Travel picture1left200 “If you want to join us, you need to be there at 1:15am sharp. We change the clock precisely at 2am,” said Paul. I thought, this is going to be interesting. I had just met Paul Bailey-Gates at History Days at the Old Mint. He had stopped by my table, which was piled high with copies of my book, San Francisco’s Ferry Building. While chatting, he mentioned that he goes up into the Ferry Building tower every spring to help Dorian Clair, who maintains the 1898 clock, and adjust the time for Daylight Savings Time. Paul asked if I’d like to accompany them, and I leapt at the chance. He would have to get permission for me to go, and a few days l..... |
San Francisco’s Le Petit Trianon
by Susan Saperstein
San Francisco has several representations of European landmarks, including Marie Antoinette's Le Petit Trianon.
The original building at Versailles Palace in France was built between 1763 and 1768 for Louis XV’s favorite mistress, Madame de Pompadour (Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson). Unfortunately for her, she died before the estate was completed.
Louis then gave it to his next favorite mistress, Madame du Barry (Jeanne Bécu). When Louis XVI became monarch, he gave the estate to his wife, Marie Antoinette, who used it as a retreat from palace life. The architecture was called the Greek style, a transition between the Rococo of the early 18th century and the Neoclassical of the later part of the century.
The Presidio Heights copy is located at 3800 Washington Street and is designated a San Francisco and national historic landmark. It was built from 1902 to 1904 for Marcus and Corinne (Cora) Koshland. Marcus Koshland was the son of Simon Koshland, who founded Koshland Brothers - a firm importing and exporting wool, hides, and fur.
Simon came to the United States from Bavaria, first moving to Philadelphia, then Sacramento in 1850, before settling in San Francisco. Marcus and Cora were the parents of Daniel Koshland, a president of Levi Strauss & Co. and the namesake of the Daniel E. Koshland San Francisco History Center at the San Francisco Public Library. This house was his boyhood home.
The Koshlands decided to build this house after visiting Versailles. The Washington Street side of the house is a faithful representation of the original Le Petit Trianon. The building, almost 18,000 square feet, has a grand marble staircase leading to a front terrace, and a three-story atrium with marble columns. The first floor features conservatories on either side of a marble rotunda. The house originally had eight marble fireplaces and more than 20 rooms. Daniel Koshland said, “It was always a home,” even with its huge size. It is still a single family house.
The Koshland’s housewarming party was a Marie Antoinette costume ball. Invitations were purchased in Paris and hand delivered to the invitees.
Two years after it was built, the home withstood the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, but the columns and steps were damaged, as seen in the following photo. The Koshlands opened their home to 60 people after the earthquake. One person recalled going to Fort Mason daily to get water because the water mains were broken.
Cora Koshland, a founder of the San Francisco Symphony Association and one of the first directors of the San Francisco Opera Company, used her home to present concerts. She invited music critics to review the performances, which were hosted in the rotunda rather than the ballroom because it had better acoustics. She could accommodate almost 100 guests sitting on the stairs and the floor.
Yehudi Menuhin and Isaac Stern both had their musical debuts at the house as children. Cora Koshland was among several people who paid for Stern’s music education, and she convinced one composer who did not like child protégés to listen to Menuhin, with the result that the composer agreed to compose for the young man. Many other artists played or visited the home, including Igor Stravinsky, Jascha Heifitz, and Leonard Bernstein.
The house stayed in the Koshland family until Cora Koshland’s death in 1953, and has been owned by several people since that time. In 1982 it was the site of the annual San Francisco Decorator Showcase. At one point in the 1980’s, the owner wanted to open an art gallery, but the Presidio Heights neighbors protested and the plan was abandoned.
SOURCES:
Our City: The Jews of San Francisco, Irena Narell
Landmark Preservation Advisory Report, chateauversailles.fr/en/122_The_Petit_Trianon.php
San Francisco History Center files
Le Petit Trianon after the 1906 Earthquake, courtesy of SF History Center, SF Public Library
3800 Washington Street, courtesy of Eric Bennion.
Send comments and questions to guidelines@sfcityguides.org
Material of San Francisco City Guides. Please give credit to the author and SF City Guides if referenced or reproduced.