Part Three: The Tenderloin
Tenderloin Chronicles
INTERSECTION: ELLIS & LARKIN STREETS
Nearly all of the architectural data specified in this chapter was painstakingly researched by the late Anne Bloomfield and later by Michael Corbett, with whom I worked on a survey of the Tenderloin for the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. My photography spans the years 2003 to 2008, which accounts for the differences in quality. While I have also included some of the district’s history, gleaned from both my own research and personal experience, what I offer here is primarily a tour of the visual delights of the Tenderloin. As I was walking by the Marathon Hotel when I took this photograph, with the Marathon I shall begin.
Marathon
MARATHON HOTEL – 710 ELLIS ST.
(Formerly Marathon Apartments). 1907. Architects: Crim & Scott. 4 stories, pressed brick facade, sandstone entry and quoins, galvanized iron cornice, brick window moldings, base altered.
During the reconstruction that followed the 1906 earthquake and fire, the most common building materials used for central city housing were brick, galvanized iron, terra cotta and stucco. The real stonework used in the Marathon’s construction places it a cut above the rest. The quoins and the elaborate entablature that frames the entranceway are carved from sandstone, as is the belt course that divides the upper-level rooms from the ground-level storefronts. The only metalwork is the cornice, which has unfortunately been allowed to deteriorate past the point of being repairable in many places. The Marathon is an impressive building, but its owners have done little to maintain it. So, it rots away, the possibility of restoring it becoming more remote with each passing day.
MARATHON HOTEL – 710 ELLIS ST.
The Marathon’s entrance has been terribly abused, yet it is still beautiful to me in a haunting, almost morbid way. The stonework is soft and porous, so the yellow paint is now a permanent part of it. It is hard to imagine why the lamps were removed, although I suspect the process of removal was violent. What grates against my soul is that everything degrading the entry’s former elegance was done out of sheer, crass commercialism.
MARATHON HOTEL – 710 ELLIS ST.
The back of the Marathon reveals the dilapidated condition of the building.
MARATHON HOTEL – 710 ELLIS ST.
The Marathon fascinates me for its unique details and as a study in decay, which has compelled me to return to it repeatedly. With each visit, my eye has been attracted to something I hadn’t noticed before. This time it was the pilaster that seems to support the belt course where it ends behind the entablature. The capital is carved to look like a fringed belt with a single tassel that hangs down over the pilaster. At the very top of the tassel is a tiny, delicate flower that in all likelihood has gone completely unnoticed and unappreciated for many years.
Forgotten
MARATHON HOTEL – 710 ELLIS ST.
Although the storefronts have been radically and disharmoniously altered, one can still get a feeling for what a handsome building the Marathon was in its heyday by taking in the Ellis Street facade as a whole.
Hotel Essex
HOTEL ESSEX – 684 ELLIS ST.
1912. Architects: Righetti & Headman. 7 stories, stucco facade, bracketed balcony with iron railing, corner pavilions, French Renaissance ornamentation, large intact lobby.
Designed by James Francis Dunn, the Art Nouveau facade of the Essex stands out against the neighboring Classical Revival buildings. Its neon blade sign is especially fine. Now owned by the Community Housing Partnership, the Essex began undergoing renovation late in 2007.
Night Signs - Essex
HOTEL ESSEX – 684 ELLIS ST.
By the end of April 2008, renovation of the Essex was complete. While the paint job is disappointing, the new marquee and restored blade sign are stunning, although it seems the latter may still have some electrical problems. Even so, the corner of Ellis and Larkin is utterly transformed after dark by the torrid glow of new neons.
Ellis below Larkin
2007 Survey
DAVID MANOR, CRESCENT APARTMENTS, APARTMENT BLDG., AGATE APARTMENTS
David Apartments (formerly Chevy Chase Apartments). 360 Hyde St. 1925. Engineer/owner: William Helbing Co. 5 stories, stucco facade, arched entry.
Crescent Apartments. 359 Hyde St. 1916. Architect: Louis H. Gardner. 6 stories, pressed brick & galvanized iron facade.
Apartment Building. 615-629 Ellis St. 1909. Architect: Crim & Scott. 2 stories; brick structure with galvanized iron cornice and terra cotta trim; flat arches, floral moldings with keystones around entryways; composition: attached flats; Renaissance/Baroque ornamentation; vestibules: marble walls, terrazzo stairs, paneled ceilings; alterations: security gates.
Agate Apartments (formerly Dorothy Apartments). 635 Ellis St. 1914. Designer unknown. 4 stories, painted Flemish bond brick facade, entry changed.
Hyde & Ellis
2007 Survey
PEARSONIA APARTMENTS, APARTMENT BLDG., EROS APARTMENTS, CLARKE APARTMENTS, KILLILEA APARTMENTS, APARTMENT BLDG.
Pearsonia Apartments. 401 Hyde St. 1924. Designer unknown. 7 stories, stucco facade, high arched entry.
Apartment Building. 419 Hyde St. 1922. Contractor: O. E. Carlson. 4 stories, stucco facade, cornice removed.
Eros Apartments. 425 Hyde St. 1923. Architect: M. A. Hunt. 5 stories, stucco facade, new marble entry, aluminum door.
Clarke Apartments (formerly Myrtle Apartments). 437 Hyde St. 1922. Builder/owner: E. V. Lacey. 4 stories, stucco facade, stripped & stuccoed.
Killilea Apartments. 451 Hyde St. 1909. Builder/owner: M. J. Killilea. 3 stories, painted brick facade.
Apartment Building. 455 Hyde St. 1926. Contractor/owner: J. Stour. 11 stories, stucco facade, aluminum sash.
Yale
YALE HOTEL – 633 LARKIN ST.
(Formerly Erleen Hotel). 1911. Designer unknown. 3 stories, stucco facade, entry altered.
The distinctive Deco motif that defines the Yale Hotel’s sign was used for many hotel neons in San Francisco during the 1920s.
Detective Story
CRAWFORD APARTMENTS - 620 EDDY ST.
1910. Contractor: Mess-Nicholson Co. 4 stories, stucco facade, a little ornament missing.
In 1923, the pioneering crime fiction magazine Black Mask published Dashiell Hammett’s story Arson Plus, which introduced the character known as “the Continental Op”, an otherwise nameless San Francisco detective agency operative. Hammett was at the beginning of his writing career, eking out a living with income from his pulp fiction and from book reviews published by Forum, a literary journal. During that time, before he became famous, he resided at the Crawford Apartments.
Winter Morning - Hyde Street
2007 Survey
PRINCESS APARTMENTS, COSMOPOLITAN APARTMENTS, HYDE STREET STUDIOS (behind trees), LA VOZ LATINA, CENTRAL CITY SRO COLLABORATIVE
Princess Apartments. 155 Hyde St. 1926. Architect: H.C. Baumann. 6 stories, stucco facade, giant Spanish Colonial Revival entry.
Cosmopolitan Apartments (formerly Hotel LaSalle). 225 Hyde St. 1927. Designer unknown. 6 stories, stucco facade, base totally altered.
Hyde St. Studios (formerly Fox Film Corp., then Wally Heider Studios). 235 Hyde St. 1931. Probable architects: O’Brien Bros. & W.D. Peugh. 2 stories, Art Deco stucco facade.
La Voz Latina (Formerly RKO Distributing Corp.). 251 Hyde St. 1930. Architects: O’Brien Bros. & W.D. Peugh. 2 stories, Art Deco stucco facade.
Common space for CCSROC & La Voz Latina (Formerly United Artists, Inc.). 255 Hyde St. 1930. Architects: O’Brien Bros. & W.D. Peugh. 2 stories, Art Deco stucco facade, tragic/comic masks w/collars & ties.
Central City SRO Collaborative (formerly Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distribution Corp.). 259 Hyde St. 1930. Architects: O’Brien Bros. & W.D. Peugh. 2 stories, stucco facade w/lion heads.
The west side of Hyde Street below Eddy. Film buffs may be interested to know that Wally Heider Studios is where I recorded the score to Thundercrack! in 1975.
Adrian & Lafayette
ADRIAN HOTEL & LAFAYETTE COFFEE SHOP
1907. Architects: Salfield & Kohlberg. 5 stories, brick & terra cotta facade, arcaded top story.
On the other side of Hyde St. are the Adrian Hotel and the Lafayette Coffee Shop of local renown. I like this image because it shows nothing more recent than the Coca-Cola sign, making it a real window into the past.
Just Before Dawn
ADRIAN HOTEL – 493 EDDY ST.
Although 5:00 a.m. is not a very healthy time to traipse about the Tenderloin with a camera, I occasionally like to do so because photographs taken in the early morning hours can evoke a pathos that is unattainable at other times of day.
Lafayette at Night
LAFAYETTE COFFEE SHOP – 250 HYDE ST.
The Lafayette Coffee Shop is the diner of choice for many people living in Tenderloin residential hotels. What makes this diner so attractive to me are its signs and interior decor, which have remained largely unchanged for more than half a century. At night, in its blaze of neon lights, the Lafayette looks very much like a carnival midway attraction.
Night Signs - The Lafayette
LAFAYETTE COFFEE SHOP – 250 HYDE ST.
Not long after I took this photograph, the Lafayette’s sign was repaired. At the same time, the original hand-lettered signs at the bottom of the windows were painted over with stenciled lettering. Alas, sic transit gloria mundi!
Yosemite
YOSEMITE APARTMENTS, GARAGE
Yosemite Apartments (formerly Bonita Apartments). 480 Eddy St. 1924; Architect: Edward E. Young. 6 stories, steel frame structure with brick and tile walls, decorative brickwork, galvanized iron cornice, Renaissance/Baroque ornamentation; vestibule: pedimented pilaster order entry, red tile floor, cornice molding, pilaster order doorway; storefronts: transoms.
Machine shop converted to garage by 1929. 466 Eddy St. 1920. Owner and builder Louis D. Stoff. 1 story, brick structure with galvanized iron cornice; alterations: roll-up steel door, front window filled in since 1984.
Klinge
ELITE GARAGE & KLINGE APARTMENTS
Elite Garage. 460 Eddy St. 1927. Architect: Norman W. Mohr. 2 stories, reinforced concrete structure, stucco facade, cornice, steel windows, decorative moldings over windows and doors; alterations: steel roll-up doors.
Klinge Apartments. 450 Eddy St. 1924. Builder: Francis O’Reilly. 4 stories, reinforced concrete structure, stucco facade, 3-story bow windows, cornice; vestibule: arched entry, marble floor, cornice molding, arched door with sidelights.
Jefferson
HOTEL JEFFERSON - 440 EDDY ST.
(Formerly Hotel Ormond). 1906. Architect: M.J. Lyon. 5 stories, brick, terra cotta & granite facade.
The Jefferson was the first SRO to be taken over through the Master Lease Program by the Tenderloin Housing Clinic. Especially at night, the hotel looks like the setting for an old Alfred Hitchcock film.
Ghost Light
HOTEL JEFFERSON - 440 EDDY ST.
Early Morning - Eddy Street
2007 Survey
JEFFERSON, FAIRFAX, KINNEY, VERONA & CADILLAC HOTELS
Hotel Jefferson (formerly Hotel Ormond). 440 Eddy St. 1906. Architect: M. J. Lyon. 5 stories, brick, terra cotta & granite facade.
Fairfax Hotel. 420 Eddy St. 1907. Contractor: Frank J. Klimin. 3 stories, stucco facade.
Hotel Kinney (formerly hotel Leo). 410 Eddy St. 1907. Architect: Emil John. 4 stories, brick & imitation stone facade.
Hotel Verona (formerly Rosslyn Hotel, Hotel Burbank). 317 Leavenworth St. 1910. Designer unknown. 6 stories, Flemish bond brick & galvanized iron facade, beamed lobby.
Cadillac Hotel. 380 Eddy St. 1907. Architects: Meyer & O’Brien. 4 stories, brick & terra cotta facade, E-plan, base partially restored.
My favorite stretch of Eddy Street, photographed at my favorite time of day.
Jefferson Marquee
HOTEL JEFFERSON - 440 EDDY ST.
Whenever I walk down this stretch of Eddy Street, I enjoy the patchwork quilt of overlapping signs and fire escapes that recede into the distance. It is a tribute of a sort to the cosmopolitan character of the Tenderloin. People from all walks of life and from many different countries are everywhere you look, making the Tenderloin one of San Francisco’s most diverse neighborhoods.
Down Eddy Street
HOTEL FAIRFAX – 420 EDDY ST.
1907. Contractor: J. Klimm. 3 stories, stucco facade.
Kinney
HOTEL KINNEY - 410 EDDY STREET
(Formerly Hotel Leo) 1907. Architect: Emil John. 4 stories, brick & imitation stone facade.
Seven years after being closed because of fire damage, the Kinney was at last repaired. The hotel reopened mid-summer, 2006.
A New Day
2007 Survey
HAMLIN, K & H and ALLEN HOTELS
Hotel Hamlin (Victory Hotel for a short time, then renamed Hamlin Hotel). 387 Eddy St. 1909. Designer unknown. 6 stories, glazed brick facade, galvanized iron balconies.
K & H Hotel (formerly Lando Hotel, Hotel Troy, Hotel LeBurt, Lester Hotel, Hotel St. George). 395 Eddy St. 1906. Architects: Rousseau & Sons. 3 stories, brick facade, arcaded top story, some brick base infill.
Allen Hotel. 411 Eddy St. 1907. Architect: Julius E. Krafft. 3 stories, brick facade.
The intersection of Eddy and Leavenworth is to me one of the most photogenic locales in the Tenderloin, so the buildings surrounding it appear in a number of my images. The brickwork of the K and H (St. George) Hotel is exceptionally beautiful, with its suggestion of a columned arcade. The cornice is an unusual design that compliments the columns and arches perfectly.
Allen
ALLEN HOTEL - 411 EDDY STREET
1907. Architect: Julius E. Krafft. 3 stories, brick facade.
The Allen Hotel is another example of a rooming house with upstairs rooms and ground floor storefronts (see National in Part Two: Mid-Market Street).
Night Signs - The Allen
ALLEN HOTEL – 411 EDDY ST.
The sign for the Allen Hotel is cookie-cutter signage — it could just as easily read Bates Motel. It is an American icon, deserving of a place in the Smithsonian.
Lower Leavenworth
2007 Survey
K & H HOTEL, McALLISTER TOWER, YMCA, PAGE HOTEL, HOTEL HURLEY, IVANHOE APARTMENTS, APARTMENT BLDG., APARTMENT BLDG., MORNING SIDE APARTMENTS, ALLEN HOTEL
K & H Hotel (formerly Lando Hotel, Hotel Troy, Hotel LeBurt, Lester Hotel, Hotel St. George). 395 Eddy St. 1906. Architects: Rousseau & Sons. 3 stories, brick facade, arcaded top story, some brick base infill.
McAllister Tower. 100 McAllister St. 1927. Architects: Miller & Pfleuger and Lewis P. Hobart. 28 stories, steel frame structure with brick walls; articulated steel frame with recessed copper spandrels; set-back skyscraper; Gothic ornamentation.
YMCA. 220 Golden Gate Ave. 1909. Architects: McDougall Brothers. 8 stories, steel frame structure with brick walls, granite and terra cotta trim.
Page Hotel (formerly Page Apartments). 161 Leavenworth St. 1907. Architect: Martens & Coffey. 4 stories, brick facade, base painted.
Hotel Hurley (formerly Kenyon Hotel, later Hotel DeWalt). 201 Leavenworth St. 1914. Engineer: Albert W. Burgren. 6 stories, brick & galvanized iron facade.
Ivanhoe Apartments. 223 Leavenworth St. 1915. Designer unknown. 3 stories, stucco facade, round-headed windows 2nd floor, entry reworked.
Apartment Bldg. 225 Leavenworth St. 1912. Engineers: Nicholas & Ploeger. 3 stories, stucco facade.
Apartment Bldg. 237 Leavenworth St. 1922. Architect: E. H. Denke. 4 stories, stucco facade, replacement door.
Morning Side Apartments (formerly Grand Rapids Apartments, Chester Apartments, Lady Florence Apartments). 245 Leavenworth St. 1910. Architect: H. Geilfuss. 6 stories, Flemish bond brick & galvanized iron facade, giant pilasters, new doors.
Allen Hotel. 411 Eddy St. 1907. Architect: Julius E. Krafft. 3 stories, brick facade.
Early Sunday Morning
K & H HOTEL – 395 EDDY ST.
(Formerly Lando Hotel; later Troy Hotel, Hotel LeBurt, Lester Hotel, Hotel St. George). 1906. Architects: Rousseau & Sons. 3 stories, brick facade, arcaded top story, some brick base infill.
Originally owned by Morris and Meyer Lando, this splendid structure began life as an office building and was converted to a rooming house by 1914. After several name changes over the years, in 1982 it was rechristened as the Hotel St. George, a name befitting the building’s dignity and grace. Twenty years later, under new ownership, it was renamed the K & H Hotel, a truly awful name for this little architectural gem. Happily, the old St. George sign is still there, as it serves to keep alive a bit of history worth remembering.
Three Hotels
HOTEL KINNEY, HOTEL VERONA, CADILLAC HOTEL
Caddy corner to the Hotel St. George is the Hotel Verona, which is next to the Hotel Kinney and across Leavenworth from the Cadillac Hotel, a very small part of which can be seen in the background. The Hotel Verona is a cut-rate tourist hotel and is a fairly large building, but I have neither seen anyone entering or leaving it, nor seen more than two or three rooms with lights on at night. I don’t know how the owners manage to stay in business.
The Hotel Kinney was closed in 1999, after a fire burned out several rooms. Instead of having the building repaired, the owners kept it boarded up for seven years, leaving the Kinney as a home for just the spiders and the mice.
Night Signs - The Verona
HOTEL VERONA – 317 LEAVENWORTH ST.
(Formerly Rosslyn Hotel, later Burbank Hotel). 1910. Designer unknown. 6 stories, Flemish bond brick & galvanized iron facade, beamed lobby.
The only light at the Verona, besides its neon sign, comes from a room at the top. It’s like this most nights and the effect is unsettling and eerie.
View from the Empire Market
2007 Survey
CADILLAC HOTEL, HOTEL ELM, LENICE LEE APARTMENTS, PENWELL APARTMENTS, HERALD HOTEL
Cadillac Hotel. 380 Eddy St. 1907. Architects: Meyer & O’Brien. 4 stories, brick & terra cotta facade, E-plan.
Hotel Elm (formerly Hotel Rand). 364 Eddy St. 1909. Designer unknown. 5 stories, glazed brick & galvanized iron facade.
Lenice Lee Apartments (formerly Eddystone Apartments). 340 Eddy St. 1911. Designer unknown. 6 stories, stucco & terra cotta facade, new door.
Penwell Apartments. 326 Eddy St. 1923. Architect: Andrew H. Knoll. 6 stories, stucco facade, keystones removed.
Hotel Herald. 308 Eddy St. 1910. Architect: Alfred Henry Jacobs. 7 stories, brick & terra cotta facade, base partly restored.
Sunset - The Cadillac
CADILLAC HOTEL – 380 EDDY ST.
1907. Architects: Meyer & O’Brien. 4 stories, brick & terra cotta facade, E-plan.
Owned and operated by Leroy and Kathy Looper’s Reality House West since 1977, the Cadillac was the first non profit-owned SRO in California. It was the model for supportive housing as a means to reduce homelessness in San Francisco. Leroy’s numerous contributions to the community have had a deep and lasting impact and have assured him of an honored place in the City’s history. His title of “Father of the Tenderloin” is well-deserved.
Hotel Elm
HOTEL ELM - 364 EDDY STREET
(Formerly Hotel Rand). 1909. Designer unknown. 5 stories, glazed brick & galvanized iron facade.
The Elm is a wonderful example of how the restoration of an old neon sign can uplift and brighten the urban environment.
Night Signs - The Elm
HOTEL ELM – 364 EDDY ST.
The Elm was one of the first hotels in the Tenderloin to completely restore its neon sign. The sign had been reinstalled just days before I took this photograph, so it was absolutely pristine. The dark blue aura surrounding the tubes spelling out “hotel” shows that the tubes are brand-new. As white tubes age they take on a yellowish hue, so that blue — so dark it is nearly indigo — tells a little story of its own.
Battambang
MANILA TOWNHOUSE APARTMENTS - 335 EDDY ST.
(Formerly Estelle Apartments). 1916. Designer unknown. 3 stories, stucco & galvanized iron facade, base altered.
The most compelling features of this building are its signs, both new and old. The Khmer script of the Battambang Market marquee and the antique, shield shaped metal armature are an interesting juxtaposition of cultures and times. One of the earliest writing systems used in Southeast Asia, Khmer script has evolved over a thousand years and is descended from the ancient Brahmi script of India.
Herald
HERALD HOTEL - 308 EDDY ST.
1910. Architect: Alfred Henry Jacobs. 7 stories, brick & terra cotta facade, base partly restored.
Now that it has been restored, the Herald is one of the most glamorous buildings in the Tenderloin, looking much as it did almost a century ago.
Clock - Boeddeker Park
JONES & EDDY STREETS
Boeddeker Park is a tiny, inner city park in the middle of the Tenderloin. Since its opening and dedication over twenty years ago to the late Fr. Boeddeker, the Franciscan who established the St. Anthony Foundation, the park has been plagued with problems; primarily drug dealing, open drug and alcohol consumption, gambling and the intimidation of all who are not engaged in these activities. Ironically, the Tenderloin police station is just across the street from the park entrance.
The City’s response to these problems was to erect a tall, stout fence of steel around the perimeter of the park and along both sides of the brick-paved path that runs through the park’s middle. The result of this shortsighted and heavy-handed solution is a park that looks and feels like a prison exercise yard. One of the park’s nicer features is the clock that stands at its entrance, thankfully outside the fence.
View from the Park
HOTEL DRAKE, HARRIMAN APARTMENTS, ROOSEVELT GARAGE
Hotel Drake (formerly Eddy Hotel [1911-1923], Hotel Glynn). 235 Eddy St. 1906. Architect: Arthur H. Lamb. 3 stories, brick structure with stucco facade; pilaster order, enframed windows with keystones, Renaissance/Baroque ornamentation; vestibule with tile floor, cornice molding; lobby: desk lobby with cornice molding.
Harriman Apartments (formerly Standard Apartments). 245 Eddy St. 1924. Architects: William Helbing Company (1924), George Miers (1983). 6 stories, steel and reinforced concrete structure, stucco facade with arched entry, belt course, cornice; vestibule: vaulted space with marble floor; lobby: pilaster order, marble floor; alterations: security gate, aluminum windows, storefronts partly remodeled, aluminum replacement door.
Roosevelt Garage (formerly Metropolitan Garage). 265 Eddy St. 400 car parking garage. 1924. Architect: Henry C. Smith. 4 stories, reinforced concrete structure, stucco and cast concrete facade, buttresses, decorative spandrel panels, peaked windows, belt course, cove cornice; Gothic ornamentation; blade sign with metal armature covered by plywood; sign altered.
Frank Capra, the great American director of populist movies such as Meet John Doe (1941), lived at the Hotel Drake (then named the Eddy Hotel) in 1921, the year he directed his first film, Fultah Fisher’s Boarding House.
Taylor & Eddy
HOTEL WINDSOR, ALEXANDER RESIDENCE, HOTEL RITZ
Hotel Windsor. 238 Eddy St. 1909. Architect: Charles R. Wilson. 6 stories, painted brick, base totally altered.
Alexander Residence (formerly Olympic Hotel). 230 Eddy St. 1928. Architects: Clausen & Amandes. 13 stories, stucco facade, base & entry altered, new marquee.
Hotel Ritz. 216 Eddy St. 1910. Architect: Ralph Warner Hart. 5 stories, brick facade, new marquee, base & entry altered.
All three of these hotels have been rehabilitated and converted to supportive housing. Most recent was the Alexander Residence, by the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, which has its offices across the street in the Franciscan Towers.
Franciscan Towers
FRANCISCAN TOWERS - 201-229 EDDY ST.
(Formerly Hotel Clark). 1914. Architect: Henry H. Meyers. Rooming house with 153 rooms 127 baths, rehabilitated with 105 units by Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp. 1998, remodel architect unknown. Structure brick; stylized fluted pilasters, cove cornice; 2-part vertical composition; Moderne ornamentation; alterations: exterior completely remodeled in Moderne style ca. 1950, lobby remodeled, windows replaced with aluminum sash since then.
Lower Taylor
2007 Survey
(left): HOTEL WARFIELD, WARFIELD BUILDING (right): GOLDEN GATE THEATER, GRAND APARTMENTS, 111 TAYLOR ST. APARTMENTS, CURRAN HOUSE, FRANCISCAN TOWERS
Rooms
CAMELOT HOTEL (rear) – 124 TURK ST.
(Formerly Hotel Portola; later Marathon Hotel, Lowell Hotel, Argue Hotel). 1907. Architect: Albert Farr. 6 stories, stucco facade, cornice stripped, base & entry altered.
Another piece of vanished urban landscape is the rear of the Camelot Hotel, seen from Taylor Street about halfway between Turk and Eddy. Not long after I took this picture, TNDC built the Curran, low-income housing on Taylor Street. No longer visible from the street, the rear wall of the Camelot and the side of the Drake Hotel now form the back of a courtyard for the Curran:
CURRAN COURTYARD
Original Joe’s
ORIGINAL JOE’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT - 144 TAYLOR ST.
On 12 October 2007, a $2 million fire burned out this 70 year-old Tenderloin landmark. Although a sign on the front door says, “Closed due to fire, opening soon”, rumor has it that the owner, Marie Duggan, daughter of the original Joe, has been having problems with the insurance company. Missed by all in the neighborhood and by many people around the world, we hope that the restaurant’s closing will, indeed, be only temporary.
ORIGINAL JOE’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT - 144 TAYLOR ST.
Dawn Over Taylor Street
P. DUNPHY BUILDING – 142 TAYLOR ST.
1908. Architect: E. A. Bozzio. 4 stories, brick structure; decorative window frames including third level arches, bracketed cornice and pediment; 2-part vertical composition; Renaissance/Baroque ornamentation; vestibule: tile floor; base stripped & stuccoed.
This lovely creation is one of my favorite buildings and I had photographed it numerous times, but was never satisfied with the results. One morning, on my way home from a pre-dawn shoot, there was a light, drizzling rainfall. I was getting chilled, so I was more focused on getting home and getting warm than on my surroundings. I had walked a good hundred feet or more past this building when it finally hit me that the time to get the photograph I wanted was that very moment. I turned and walked back to find the right vantage point, took several shots, and continued home wetter but happier.
Warfield
HOTEL WARFIELD - 118 TAYLOR ST.
(Formerly St. Ann Hotel; later Hotel Lennox, Bard Hotel, Hotel Winfield). 1907. Architect: Ross & Burgren. 4 stories, brick facade.
Old signs and painted advertisements had a simple, direct and engaging way of communicating that is sorely lacking in much of present-day advertising. The old parking sign invites one in, its lovely, curved arrow pointing the way. The Par-T-Pak ad for mixers is direct and to the point, without implications of increased sexual attraction or any of the other fantasies advertisers nowadays use to sell products. Sadly, the parking sign no longer exists.
William Penn
2007 Survey
WILLIAM PENN HOTEL - 160 EDDY ST.
(Formerly Hotel Cecil; later Hotel Kern). 1906. Architect: Albert Pissis. 4 stories, brick, arched entry, quoined windows, new door.
Designed by the architect of the Hibernia Bank Building at One Jones Street, the William Penn was constructed soon after the earthquake and fire of 1906. Next to it, looking eastward, are the Empress, Crystal and Bijou hotels, with the Parc Renaissance Hotel looming in the background.
Exit Theater
STOREFRONT, WILLIAM PENN HOTEL - 156 EDDY ST.
The William Penn’s storefront was the site of the well-known Albatross Bookstore until 1983, when it was replaced by the Exit Theater. Since then, the Exit has become San Francisco’s center for experimental theater and the producer of the annual San Francisco Fringe Festival.
Sunset - The Empress
EMPRESS HOTEL – 144 EDDY ST.
(Formerly Langham Hotel). 1907. Designer unknown. 6 stories, brick & galvanized iron facade, restored & remodeled entrance & lobby.
A building that epitomizes the value of preserving the architectural integrity of a neighborhood, the Empress Hotel is one of the most beautiful old residential hotels in San Francisco.
Sunrise - Hotel West
WEST HOTEL - 141 EDDY STREET
(Formerly Hotel Langham; later Hotel Dunloe, Hotel Zee). 1908. Architects: Cunningham & Politeo. 5 stories, painted brick & galvanized iron facade.
The West, located next to the Ambassador and across the street from the Empress, was recently rehabilitated, as was its jaunty neon sign. It is now operated as supportive housing by the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation. Owned by Vasilios Glimidakis from 1967 to 1984, the hotel was the center of the Tenderloin’s Greek sector during that time.
Hotel Ambassador
AMBASSADOR HOTEL - 55 MASON STREET
1911 & 1922. Architects: Earl B. Scott & K. McDonald. 6 stories, brick & stucco facade.
The Ambassador was originally the Ferris Harriman Theater and Hotel. In 1923, following additional construction, it was rechristened with its current name. The theater was converted to a garage in 1929. The hotel was the home of science fiction and true crime writer Miriam Allen de Ford from 1936 until her death in 1975. She is probably best known for her book The Real Bonnie and Clyde, published in 1968.
AMBASSADOR HOTEL - 55 MASON STREET
The stately Ambassador has been beautifully renovated by the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation. I like to call this my postcard view of the building.
AMBASSADOR HOTEL - 55 MASON STREET
An early morning view of the Ambassador, showing its nicely restored neon sign.
Joy of Life
CRYSTAL HOTEL (rear) – 130 EDDY ST.
(Formerly The Gotham Lodgings, later Belva Hotel). 1908. Architect: Charles R. Wilson. 4 stories, painted brick, beveled glass fanlight.
From 1912 until her retirement in 1917, this was “Diamond Jessie” Hayman’s brothel. The first floor was leased out as a saloon, the parlors and madam’s suite were on the second floor, and the girls’ suites, dining room and kitchen were on the third. It was lavishly decorated and had a champagne cellar stocked with wines from all over the world. According to one of her girls, Beverly Davis, Jessie’s prices were staggering.
I was captivated by these walls long before I had a camera to photograph them. What a feast for the imagination! The two archaic, painted advertisements are wonderful enough, but the peculiar, tin-covered room that hangs on the back of the hotel is a real enigma. I often wondered why it was built and if it was still used. Then I met someone who knew a person who once lived in the room to which it is attached. They had used the annex as an extra bedroom of all things. It is only wide and long enough to contain a folding cot, with little room to spare.
The question of why this curious extension was originally built not only remains unanswered, but is now also moot. The eight story Mason Street Housing, going up at 149 Mason Street and scheduled for completion in 2009, has made these walls just another page in history.
Bristol Hotel
BRISTOL HOTEL - 56 MASON ST.
(Formerly The Athens lodgings; later Hotel Belmont). 1908. Designer unknown. 4 stories, painted brick facade, base altered below string course.
Across Mason Street from the Ambassador Hotel is the Bristol, a hotel that has in recent years become somewhat infamous for its rodent infestation.
Mason & Turk
2007 Survey
(left): HOTEL METROPOLIS, HOTEL AMBASSADOR (right): BRISTOL HOTEL, POLO’S RESTAURANT (now the Crash Club)
Dalt
DALT HOTEL - 34 TURK ST.
1910. Architect: Charles W. Dickey. 7 stories, brick facade, base & entry altered, new marquee.
The Dalt is another acquisition of the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, which has been renovated and now serves as supportive housing. Next to the Dalt is McDonald’s Bookstore (also known as “A Dirty, Poorly-lit Place for Books”), the place to go for bibliophiles in search of the offbeat and arcane.
DALT LOBBY
Dahlia
DAHLIA HOTEL – 74 TURK ST.
(Formerly Hotel Taylor, later Hotel Thames). 1907. Architect: Norman R. Coulter. 4 stories, brick facade.
A city’s buildings and signs are the loci of its history. Our ability to relate to and understand the past is diminished when these links to our city’s time line are removed. Think of the importance of your personal keepsakes and mementos. What are they but tangible links to someone, or some place in time that you hold dear and wish to remember? Though time-worn and neglected, the Dahlia’s sign was a piece of Tenderloin history; now gone, forever.
Source: San Francisco History Center, S.F. Public Library
From a local news article in 1937:
When hotel men tried to get the Dahlia Hotel at 74 Turk St. closed, they said it was a vice resort with 10 girls. Mayor Rossi’s secretary said: “You run your hotels and we’ll run the rest,” they declared.
Turk & Taylor
2007 Survey
HOTEL WARFIELD, former GAIETY THEATER, DAHLIA HOTEL, ARANDA HOTEL, WINSTON ARMS HOTEL, DALT HOTEL, HOTEL METROPOLIS
Hotel Warfield (formerly St. Ann Hotel, Hotel Lennox, Bard Hotel, Hotel Winfield). 118 Taylor St. 1907. Architects: Ross & Burgren. 4 stories, brick facade.
Former Gaiety Theater, now empty. 76 Turk St. 1922. Architect: Earl B. Betz. 2 stories, stucco facade.
Dahlia Hotel (formerly Hotel Taylor, Hotel Thames). 74 Turk St. 1907. Architect: Norman R. Coulter. 4 stories, decorative brick facade.
Aranda Hotel (formerly Hotel Schwartz, Hotel Tynan). 64 Turk St. 1911. Architects: George Streshly & Co. 6 stories, brick & stucco facade, blue glazed tile base.
Winston Arms Hotel (formerly Hotel Brayton). 50 Turk St. 1913. Architect: Absalom J. Barnett. 7 stories, brick facade, string course stripped.
Dalt Hotel. 34 Turk St. 1910. Architect: Charles W. Dickey. 7 stories, brick facade, base & entry altered.
Hotel Metropolis (formerly Glen Hotel, State Hotel). 16 Turk St. 1914. Architect: William H. Weeks. 9 stories, brick & terra cotta facade, base & entry altered.
On the corner of Taylor & Turk is the 21 Club, a bar of local repute and one of the very few old Tenderloin establishments still in business.
165 Turk Street
165 TURK ST.
(Formerly El Crest Apartments). 1923. Designer: James H. Hjul, engineer. 6 stories, reinforced concrete structure, stucco facade, Spanish Gothic ornamentation; vestibule: tile floor, paneled walls, cornice moldings; storefront: largely intact including vestibule with tile floor; alterations: aluminum windows, door.
The former El Crest Apartments are now owned and operated by TNDC. The storefront at 161 Turk Street (renumbered as 165) was formerly The Record Exchange, home of Bill Melander’s world famous record collection.
Lower Turk Street
2007 Survey
HELEN HOTEL, STAR GARAGE, BOSTON HOTEL, CAMELOT HOTEL, ABANDONED BUILDING, YOUTH HOSTEL CENTRALE, 111 TAYLOR ST. APARTMENTS
111 Taylor St. Apartments (formerly Hotel Empire, Chapin Hotel, Hotel Raford, Tyland Hotel, Hyland Hotel). 111 Taylor St. 1907. Architect: A. M. Edelman. 4 stories, stucco facade, cornice removed, base reworked.
Youth Hostel Centrale (formerly The Elite Lodgings, Hotel Holly, Porter Hotel). 116 Turk St. 1910. Architect: E. A. Hermann. 3 stories, glazed brick & galvanized iron facade.
Camelot Hotel (formerly Hotel Portola, Marathon Hotel, Lowell Hotel, Argue Hotel). 124 Turk St. 1907. Architect: Albert Farr. 6 stories, stucco facade cornice stripped, base & entry altered.
Boston Hotel (formerly The Earle Lodgings). 140 Turk St. 1907. Designer unknown. 3 stories, stucco facade, blue & gold tile storefront (former Blue & Gold Bar).
Star Garage 150 Truk St. 1921. Architect: Joseph L. Stewart. 2 stories, stucco facade, huge elliptical fanlight.
Helen Hotel (formerly El Rosa Hotel). 166 Turk St. 1906. 3 stories, facade stripped.
The ground floor of 111 Taylor Street was at one time Compton’s Cafeteria, site of the 1966 Compton’s Riot, the first documented gay and transgender riot against the police.
Under Lowering Skies
HELEN HOTEL – 166 TURK ST.
(Formerly El Rosa Hotel). 1906. Architect: C. A. Meussdorffer. 3 stories, facade stripped.
I like stormy weather and turbulent skies as much as I like early mornings and dusk. I am also a lover of old, painted advertisements and this 7up sign is one of the best that, for the time being, is still extant.
Advertisement
HELEN HOTEL – 166 TURK ST.
In order to photograph this very old ad, it was necessary for me to position my camera lens against a chain link fence and shoot through an opening between the links. The fence is orthogonal to the wall, the ad is very long and the fence very short, which meant that I could only capture the ad at an extreme acute angle. There was no way I could get the wall to stand up straight.
Antonia Manor
ANTONIA MANOR - 180 TURK ST.
(Formerly Hotel Governor). 1925. Architect: Creston H. Jensen. 10 stories, stucco facade, double-hung aluminum sash, new base & entry, new marquee.
Nicely renovated by TNDC, the Antonia is home to Mimi’s Manor House restaurant, one of my long-time favorite Tenderloin eateries. The portions are huge, the prices unbelievably low; plus, I am completely infatuated with Mimi herself, a real gem in this or any other neighborhood. The entrance to the restaurant is on Jones St. (bottom left in the photo).
Musicians Union
MUSICIANS UNION - 230 JONES ST.
1924. Architect: Sylvain Schnaittacher. 3 stories, brick & terra cotta facade, arcaded piano nobile.
Designed by the man who was then president of the local A.I.A., the Musicians Union Hall is now occupied by the San Francisco Rescue Mission. In the early 1970’s there were still clubs in the Tenderloin where live music was played every night. I was a regular at one of those clubs, on Mason Street near Eddy, though I have forgotten its name. It was actually just a little hole-in-the-wall bar that had an old upright piano, but every night it featured the jazz improvisations of a wizened and frail-looking pianist who was, I learned, one of the original members of the San Francisco Musicians Union.
MUSICIANS UNION - 230 JONES ST.
Jones & Turk
2007 Survey
205 JONES APARTMENTS, TUDOR APARTMENTS (behind trees), PADRE HOTEL
205 Jones Apartments. 205 Jones St. 1924. Architect: Edward E. Young. 6 stories, steel frame structure with brick curtain walls, galvanized iron belt courses & cornice, marquee & sconces at entry.
Tudor Apartments. 225 Jones St. 1923. Designer: August G. Headman. 3 stories, stucco facade, pierced parapet with Lombard band cornice.
Padre Hotel (formerly Crystal Hotel). 241 Jones St. 1928. Architect: Herman C. Baumann. 7 stories, reinforced concrete structure, stucco facade, 5-story bay windows, galvanized iron cornice.
During the time that the Tenderloin was celebrated for its jazz clubs and night life, the Musicians Union Hall was its wellspring of entertainers. Just across Jones Street from the union hall, the Padre Hotel was then known as a musicians’ hotel.
December Morning
HOTEL BOYD - 41 JONES STREET
Hotel Boyd. 1907. Architect: William Helbing. 7 stories, brick structure, rusticated second & third floor facade, flat arches & keystones, galvanized iron cornice, two neon blade signs “Hotel Boyd”.
Sandwiched between the old Hibernia Bank and the St. Anthony Foundation, the Boyd Hotel was renovated in 2006 and is now operated by the Tenderloin Housing Clinic through the Master Lease Program. In 2007, the hotel’s neon blade signs were refurbished, but for unknown reasons have never been turned on; a shame, because the restorations are beautiful and their neon tubes illuminating the dark night would no doubt be stunning.
St. Boniface
ST.BONIFACE - 133 GOLDEN GATE AVENUE
1902, rebuilt 1906. Architects: Brother Adrian Weaver and Brother Idelphonse Lethert. 4 stories; brick structure; recessed church with perpendicular office and school wings at ends, central entry tower with domed roofs, round arched windows, machicolated cornices, stained glass; Romanesque ornamentation; vestibule: Gothic entry portal with paired arch door; vaulted and painted interior; sign: “Ecclesia St. Bonifacii A.D. 1900”; alterations: security grilles over ground level windows. Originally served the German population of San Francisco.
St. Boniface is the home of San Francisco’s Order of Franciscan Monks, located next to the order’s St. Anthony Foundation. Headed by Fr. John Hardin, a man of unflagging hope and energy, St. Anthony’s provides clothing, shelter, drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs, social services, and feeds an average of 2,600 people every day of the year in its dining room. The foundation is funded entirely by private donations.
YMCA
SHIH YU-LANG CENTRAL YMCA - 220 GOLDEN GATE AVE.
YMCA (Shih Yu-Lang Central YMCA, 2002). Athletic facilities, offices, classrooms, auditorium, and hotel with 207 rooms and 55 baths. 1909. Architects: McDougall Brothers. 8 stories, steel frame structure with brick walls, granite and terra cotta trim, rusticated base with bronze sconces, galvanized iron cornice; 2-part vertical composition; Renaissance/Baroque ornamentation. Vestibule: Ionic pedimented portico in terra cotta with bronze arched window. Alterations: doorway, entry pediment, many aluminum windows, painted terra cotta, lobby remodeled. Built with funds raised in the East after the 1906 fire.
Purchased by the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation in 2007, the Central YMCA is slated for renovation and conversion to low-cost housing. The future home of the Y is under construction on the 300 block of Golden Gate Avenue and is scheduled for completion late 2010.
Sentinel
McALLISTER TOWER - 100 McALLISTER ST.
(Originally Temple Methodist Church and William Taylor Hotel). 1927. Architects: Miller & Pfleuger and Lewis P. Hobart. 28 stories, steel frame structure with brick walls; articulated steel frame with recessed copper spandrels; set-back skyscraper; Gothic ornamentation.
A few months after I captured this image, I had the pleasure of gazing down at the City from atop the tower at 100 McAllister Street, a remarkable building that appears in a number of my Tenderloin and South of Market photographs. Built by the Methodist Church, it first opened as the luxury William Taylor Hotel in 1929; then, in 1936 the building was sold and reopened as the Empire Hotel. While its status as the tallest hotel west of the Mississippi was short-lived, at a height of 28 stories it remained by far the tallest building in the Tenderloin until the encroachment of the 493 foot Hilton San Francisco Tower I in 1971. The purchase of the McAllister tower in 1981 by Hastings Law School ensures that this neighborhood landmark, still undergoing long-term and very expensive restoration, will be well cared for long into the future.
(left) Postcard (right) William Taylor, from the frontispiece
to his book Seven Years Street Preaching in San Francisco
David Seward, CFO for U. C. Hastings, kindly took me on a personal tour of the tower, including a visit to the spot that I had long coveted, but which is accessible to just a handful of people: the observation deck, where I was able to walk around in the open air, 27 stories above the street, with the Tenderloin, Civic Center and South of Market spread out before me. Our time was limited, so I was able to take only a few photographs. If you examine them closely, you can see the spatial relationships between many of the buildings that I singled out in my other photographs. Here are some views from 27 stories up:
Downtown
Nob Hill
Boundary Lines
Hive
Intersect
Turk & Jones
Lower Golden Gate
2007 Survey
FILM EXCHANGE BUILDINGS
201-211 Golden Gate Ave. 1920. Architect: Albert Schroepfer. 2 stories, reinforced concrete structure, Corinthian pilaster order, cast masks in frieze; temple front composition, Renaissance/Baroque ornamentation; alterations: windows, entry, spandrels remodeled.
213 Golden Gate Ave. 1920. Architect: Albert Schroepfer (attributed). 1 story, reinforced concrete structure; pilaster order, arches, cast masks in frieze; arcaded block composition, Renaissance/Baroque ornamentation; alterations: windows remodeled.
215-229 Golden Gate Ave. 1920. Architect: Albert Schroepfer (attributed). 1 story, reinforced concrete structure; pilaster order, arches, cast masks in frieze; arcaded block composition, Renaissance/Baroque ornamentation; alterations: windows remodeled.
241-243 Golden Gate Ave. 1916. Architect unknown. 1 story, brick structure, Corinthian pilaster order; enframed window wall composition, Renaissance/Baroque ornamentation; signs: frieze with surviving letters “OR”; alterations: cornice removed, storefront partly altered.
247 Golden Gate Ave. 1911. Architect unknown. 1 story, brick structure, arch framed by pilaster order; one-part vault composition, Renaissance/Baroque ornamentation; alterations: cornice removed, storefront partly remodeled.
255 Golden Gate Ave. The Ayse Manyas Kenmore Center, sales room and offices. 1916. Architect: Reid Brothers. 1 story, brick structure, Corinthian order with arches in bays; temple front composition, Renaissance/Baroque ornamentation; alterations: aluminum windows, vestibule and doorway altered.
Earle
EARLE HOTEL - 248 GOLDEN GATE AVE.
1913. Architect: Charles E. J. Rogers. 3 stories, brick & galvanized iron facade.
What I like most about the Earle is its side wall, which shows the roof lines of now-departed neighboring buildings.
Balboa
BALBOA HOTEL – 120 HYDE ST.
1913. Designer unknown. 3 stories, stucco facade, paneled lobby, marquee intact.
The Balboa Hotel is an unobtrusive building on Hyde Street, near Golden Gate Avenue. The ground floor of this building is taken up by a variety of small businesses: a restaurant, a laundry and a tiny convenience store. The hotel’s facade would be entirely unremarkable if it weren’t for the beautiful stained glass marquee over its entrance.
Oasis
OASIS APARTMENTS – 351 TURK ST.
(Formerly Y.M.C.A. Hotel). 1928. Architect: Frederick H. Meyer. 13 stories, brick facade, fine terra cotta decorations in Byzantine style, new door.
This photograph accompanied a short article in a neighborhood monthly newspaper about a fire in one of the Oasis’ rooms that had been extinguished by the automatic room sprinkler before the Fire Department arrived. A two-year struggle by housing activists to have sprinklers installed in all the rooms of every residential hotel in San Francisco was at its peak, making this a newsworthy event. I just happened to be walking by the Oasis during this little drama, so I was able to watch it unfold. I took pictures and interviewed the battalion chief, all with a view toward submitting a brief article to the neighborhood monthly along with three or four photographs. The editor chose this picture to accompany the article even though it had virtually nothing to do with the story other than being a photograph of the building where the fire occurred.
OASIS APARTMENTS – 351 TURK ST.
A closer look at the Oasis reveals the artifice of its architecture. The arcade is a deception, used to relieve the starkness of what would otherwise be just tall, rectangular boxes of red brick.
Turk & Hyde
2007 Survey
COSMOPOLITAN APARTMENTS, FLATS
Cosmopolitan Apartments (formerly Hotel LaSalle, Cosmopolitan Hotel). 225 Hyde St. 1927. Designer unknown. 6 stories, stucco facade, base totally altered.
Flats. 226 Hyde St. 1911. Designer unknown. 3 stories, brick structure, decorative brickwork, cast stone trim, trompe l’oeil mural on south wall by John Wullbrandt, 1983.
The parking lot on the corner is the site of the legendary Blackhawk nightclub where, on the evening of April 21, 1961, Miles Davis recorded his landmark album, Miles Davis In Person Friday Night at the Blackhawk, San Francisco.
Page
PAGE HOTEL - 161 LEAVENWORTH STREET
(Formerly Page Apartments). 1907. Architect: Martens & Coffey. 4 stories, brick facade, base painted.
The Page Hotel sits at the intersection of Leavenworth and Turk Streets, one of the Tenderloin’s riskier locations after dark. Drug dealers abound and battles of their ongoing turf wars are occasionally fought here. On the other side of Turk Street, visible to the right, is the Hotel Hurley.
Hospitality House
HOSPITALITY HOUSE - 146 LEAVENWORTH ST.
Community Arts Studio and Gallery, formerly film exchange. 1922. Engineer: L. H. Nishkian. 2 stories, reinforced concrete structure, cast ornament on band around facade, cornice; enframed window wall composition; Renaissance/Baroque ornamentation; alterations: security gate and grilles, vestibule.
Across Leavenworth from the Page and providing a counterbalance to the dark side is Hospitality House, an open art studio with classes and its own gallery that serves both the neighborhood’s homeless and residents of SROs. Anyone who wants to explore self-expression in nearly any medium, but hasn’t the means to buy materials or a studio in which to work is welcome there.
Sunrise - The Hurley
HOTEL HURLEY - 201 LEAVENWORTH STREET
(Formerly Kenyon Hotel, later Hotel DeWalt). 1914. Engineer: Albert W. Burgren. 6 stories, brick & galvanized iron facade.
Under most lighting conditions, the Hotel Hurley’s architectural details are obscured by the building’s murky, dismal colors. It glowers and stares in bright sunshine and broods sullenly under overcast skies. The light of a rosy dawn softens all that it touches, making the Hurley an ideal subject for one of my early morning photographic forays.
HOTEL HURLEY - 201 LEAVENWORTH ST.
Both singular and spooky, the Hurley’s dark-violet neon tubing is very dim and difficult to read from down the street, but it compliments the sepulchral colors of the building very nicely.
Leavenworth above Eddy
2007 Survey
HOTEL VERONA, APARTMENT BUILDING, WESTERN HOTEL, APARTMENT BUILDING
Hotel Verona (formerly Rosslyn Hotel, then Burbank Hotel). 317 Leavenworth St. 1910. Designer unknown. 6 stories, Flemish bond brick & galvanized iron facade, beamed lobby.
Apartment Bldg. 325 Leavenworth St. 1907. Architect: John Zimmerman. 3 stories, brick facade, base altered.
Western Hotel (formerly Hotel Rocklin, later Hotel Blank). 335 Leavenworth St. 1907. Architects: Welsh & Carey. 4 stories, painted brick & galvanized iron facade.
Apartment Bldg. 345 Leavenworth St. 1919. Designer unknown. 4 stories, painted brick & stucco facade, new door.
Aarti
AARTI COOPERATIVE HOTEL - 391 LEAVENWORTH ST.
(Formerly Hotel Adams, later Hotel Lenard). 1906. Architects: Salfield & Kohlberg. 4 stories, painted clinker & smooth brick facade.
The first building purchased by the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (1981), the Aarti became a joint project between TNDC and Conard House, a non profit provider of assistance to people with mental health issues.
Sunset - The Senator
HOTEL SENATOR – 519 ELLIS ST.
1923. Architect: H. C. Baumann. 6 stories, stucco facade, totally new entry, marquee stripped & replaced.
I had spent the day photographing the festivities at the 2004 Art in the Streets celebration and was standing below the Senator’s sign, talking to a friend. The sun had been setting for awhile and I was looking for things to photograph in the reddening light. The Senator’s sign said, “Shoot me!” and so I did.
Night Signs - The Senator
HOTEL SENATOR – 519 ELLIS ST.
The Senator’s neon sign is a masterpiece of sign-making art, although I wouldn’t want to live in any of the rooms that are near it.
Senator Marquee
HOTEL SENATOR – 519 ELLIS ST.
After the Senator’s neon blade sign was restored, I anticipated the eventual restoration of the marquee. Several years passed after I took this photograph. The marquee was at last removed, but instead of being restored, it was replaced by a much smaller plywood copy, a poor imitation of the original marquee.
Ellis & Leavenworth
2007 Survey
WALDORF APARTMENTS, SIERRA MADRE APARTMENTS, FARRELWORTH APARTMENTS
Waldorf Apartments. 516 Ellis St. 1910. Designer unknown. 5 stories, brick & terra cotta facade, round corner bay.
Sierra Madre Apartments. 421 Leavenworth St. 1913. Designer unknown. 5 stories, brick, painted terra cotta & stucco facade, cast iron grill, new vestibule paneling.
Farrelworth Apartments. 601 O’Farrell St. 1928. Architect: H. Baumann. 7 stories, rough stucco-coated facade, Mission Revival lobby.
Ellis below Leavenworth
2007 Survey
ARLINGTON HOTEL, KLIMM APARTMENTS, JUNIPERO SERRA APARTMENTS, BHARATIYA MANDEL HALL, JANICE MIRIKITANI — GLIDE FAMILY YOUTH & CHILD CARE BUILDING
Arlington Hotel. 480 Ellis St. 1907. Architect: Frank T. Shea. Current owners: The St. Vincent de Paul Society & the Lurie Company. 4 stories, painted brick facade, columned lobby, new door.
Klimm Apartments. 460 Ellis St. 1913. Architects: Salfield & Kohlberg. 6 stories, stucco facade vestibule altered.
Junipero Serra Apartments (formerly Ellis Hotel Apartments). 450 Ellis St. 1909. Architect: L. M. Gardner. 5 stories, painted brick facade, galvanized iron belt course & cornice, aluminum door, vestibule altered.
Bharatiya Mandel Hall (formerly Waitresses Union). 440 Ellis St. 1938. Architect: William F. Gunnison. 2 stories, reinforced concrete structure, Moderne style.
Janice Mirikitani – Glide Family Youth & Child Care Building (formerly transfer & storage building). 434 Ellis St. 1926. Architects: O’Brien Brothers. 3 stories, reinforced structure with stucco facade, base much altered, City Art mural on east wall “An Art Works SF Production” 2001.
Cornice (Reflected Light)
LASSEN APARTMENTS - 441 ELLIS ST.
(Formerly Hotel Adair) 1915. Architect: J. R. Miller. 6 stories, brick & terra cotta facade, remodeled aluminum cornice.
While taking a morning walk through the Tenderloin in search of subject matter, I was enjoying the light as the orb of the sun rose above the horizon and into the sky. The air was so incredibly clear that objects had a presence and a feeling of three-dimensional realness that is hard to describe.
I remember that my path that morning was circuitous. Sometimes I let my feet make their own decisions without any conscious directive. Walking downhill on Jones Street and reaching the corner of Ellis, my feet turned right and headed west. My eyes were pointed upward, as they often are, so the first thing I saw on rounding the corner was the sunlight reflected onto this beautiful cornice, revealing details that would normally be completely lost in shadow. The image that I managed to capture conveys something of that morning’s crystalline clarity.
Windeler
WINDELER APARTMENTS - 424 ELLIS ST.
1915. Architect: August Nordin. 6 stories, brick & painted terra cotta facade, fine brickwork and terra cotta trim, aluminum sash.
The Windeler bears the unmistakable imprimatur of its designer, August Nordin; namely, the unique wedding cake* cornice, string course and ornamentation (see also Rainy Day Sunset).
* my term
Jones & Ellis
2007 Survey
MENDEL APARTMENTS, HOTEL ALDRICH, GARLAND HOTEL, COAST HOTEL, (right): RIVEIRA HOTEL
Mendel Apartments. 415 Jones St. 1912. Architect: Frederick H. Meyer. 6 stories, stucco facade, addition by Grace Jewett 1920.
Hotel Aldrich. 439 Jones St. 1910. Architect: Charles Peter Weeks. 5 stories, brick & terra cotta facade.
Hotel Garland. 505 O’Farrell St. 1913. Architects: Hladik & Thayer. 6 stories, stucco facade.
Coast Hotel (formerly Hotel Shawmut). 516 O’Farrell St. 1912. Architect: L. B. Dutton. 6 stories, brick facade with terra cotta details, some store sash & prism glass transoms intact.
Riveira Hotel (formerly Avon Hotel). 420 Jones St. 1907. Architects: Crim & Scott. 4 stories, brick facade, aluminum sash & door.
Aldrich Restored
ALDRICH HOTEL – 439 JONES ST.
1910. Architect: Charles Peter Weeks. 5 stories, brick & imitation stone facade.
When an old neon sign is restored, it reinforces our sense of place by maintaining a connection to our city’s history. The restoration of the Aldrich’s sign is truly superb. Compare this image to the photo I took three years earlier:
ALDRICH HOTEL – 439 JONES ST.
Cultural Imperatives
RIVEIRA HOTEL - 420 JONES ST.
(Formerly Avon Hotel). 1907. Architects: Crim & Scott. 4 stories, brick facade, aluminum sash & door.
The Riveira (sic) is the brown building with white trim in the background of this photograph, one of my favorite images. The day I tried to photograph the hotel I couldn’t find a vantage that pleased me. As I moved about, looking for an angle and perspective that worked, I began to hear a clangorous, but muffled sound of drums and gongs being pounded in erratic syncopation, with a rising and falling intensity, like Chinese lion dance music. I was irresistibly drawn around the corner onto Ellis Street to the music’s source: an odd, little building that had often piqued my curiosity.
What grabbed me was the low hood that projected outward from the building’s façade. Here was an architectural detail with presence and a personality! It was so patently home-made, with loving attention paid to form and style, but constructed with the cheapest and strangest of materials. The barrel tiles were aluminum soft drink cans, covered with what appeared to be cardboard, and the plywood was clearly interior grade. Yet, the colors were always kept bright with periodic coats of fresh paint, a sign of care that was completely endearing. I had to photograph it, and thus I found the way to frame the Riveira.
A short time after I captured this image, the little building was leveled by a bulldozer and the lot has remained empty ever since.
Jones below Ellis
2007 Survey
HOTEL HERALD, GARAGE, STORES, APARTMENT BUILDING, ST. GEORGE APARTMENTS
Hotel Herald. 308 Eddy St. 1910. Architect: Alfred Henry Jacobs. 7 stories, brick & terra cotta facade, base partly restored.
Garage. 333 Jones St. 1930. Designer unknown. 2 stories, stucco facade, castellated parapet.
Stores. 335-341 Jones St. 1919. Architect: T. Paterson Ross. 1 story, facade completely stripped.
Apartment Building. 345 Jones St. 1912. Architects: O’Brien Brothers. 5 stories, stucco facade, Moderne entry frame, new door.
St. George Apartments (formerly Gashwiler Apartments). 421 Ellis St. 1907. Architect: Julius Krafft. 4 stories, brick structure with galvanized iron cornice; keystones, bracketed lintels.
The St. George Apartments were originally named for Laura Lowell Gashwiler, widow of a gold mining millionaire and one of the first kindergarten teachers in the United States.
Mentone
HOTEL MENTONE – 387 ELLIS ST.
1913. Architects: Smith & Stewart. 6 stories, Flemish bond brick and galvanized iron facade, stores & marquee intact, new door.
Across the street from the Riveira Hotel is the Hotel Mentone. I have always found the name Mentone somewhat amusing. It brings up images of steamy locker rooms and old-fashioned gyms smelling of sweat. The hotel has been renovated and repainted since I took this photograph. It is now more dignified in appearance, but nowhere near as interesting as it used to be. Fortunately, the unique lettering on the marquee and the corner blade sign has been preserved. It is a link to the past, to a time when more San Franciscans lived in residential hotels than in any other type of domicile.
HOTEL MENTONE – 387 ELLIS ST.
Most of the residential hotels in these photographs have been around for close to a century. Until 1930, 60% of San Franciscans were permanent hotel residents. Between 1975 and 1980, landowners eliminated 6,085 units, almost a fifth of the City’s entire stock of residential hotel units. Today, San Francisco’s residential hotels house nearly 30,000 people.
Ellis below Jones
2007 Survey
MENDEL APARTMENTS, RIVEIRA HOTEL, EMPTY LOT*, HETTY APARTMENTS, VERONA APARTMENTS
*see Cultural Imperatives.
Mendel Apartments. 415 Jones St. 1912. Architect: Frederick H. Meyer. 6 stories, stucco facade, addition by Grace Jewett1920.
Riveira Hotel (formerly Avon Hotel). 420 Jones St. 1907. Architects: Crim & Scott. 4 stories, brick facade, aluminum sash & door.
Hetty Apartments (formerly Shirley Apartments). 376 Ellis St. 1911. Architects: Salfield & Kohlberg. 5 stories, stucco facade.
Verona Apartments. 370 Ellis St. 1915. Architects: Smith & Stewart. 4 stories, stucco facade, entry surround stripped.
Noonday Sun
2007 Survey
FIELD APARTMENTS - 344 ELLIS ST.
(Formerly Arlin Apartments, Bryar Apartments). 1909. Contractor: M. Fisher. 5 stories, stucco facade, entirely new entry.
Taylor & Ellis
GLIDE MEMORIAL CHURCH
Glide Memorial Methodist Church. 301 Taylor St. 1930. Architect: James W. Plachek. 2 stories, reinforced concrete with stucco walls, terra cotta trim, decorative iron gates; arcaded base with balcony and aedicules above, machicolated cornice, corner tower surmounted by cupola with giant order and arches; Italian Renaissance; vestibule: tile floor, painted beamed ceiling, chandeliers; neon cross revolving on top of tower; cornerstone: “Glide Memorial Evangelistic Center 1930”; alterations: aluminum and glass infill in ground level arcade.
Two doors up Taylor Street from Glide Memorial Church is the Hotel Mark Twain (formerly the Tilden Hotel), where, in 1949, Billie Holiday was arrested during a raid by federal narcotics agents, who claimed they found the singer in possession of opium and a pipe. She was later acquitted, after being defended in court by San Francisco attorney Jake Erlich, who had previously defended such famous figures as Sally Stanford and Gene Krupa.
Ellis & Mason
EED’S CORNER SALOON, THAI NOODLE CAFE & HOSTEL, HAMMAN SULTAN BATHS
Eed’s Corner (First occupants: “cigar store, boot black stand, saloon, and two stores”, rooming house with 25 rooms and 11 baths; later, Diamond Hotel). 201-225 Ellis St. 1910. Architect: Smith O’Brien. 3 stories, decorative brickwork with marble inlay, galvanized iron belt course and cornice.
Hamman Sultan Baths (originally Burns Hamman Baths). 227-231 Ellis St. Bath house with salt water plunge. 1910. Architect: Smith O’Brien. 3 stories, brick structure; arches in base with Islamic symbols, giant order above with galvanized iron cornice.
One of the eastern entries to the Tenderloin at one of my favorite times of day.
Hotel Gates
HOTEL GATES – 140 ELLIS ST.
Renovation and retrofitting had just begun when I took this and several other photographs of the Gates and its wonderful sign, which is a fine example of a Deco motif (see Yale and Sunset - The Alder) that distinguishes the neon blade signs of SROs scattered throughout the City.
HOTEL GATES – 140 ELLIS ST.
During the hotel’s renovation, I looked forward to the restoration of its classic sign. Much to everyone’s loss, this was not to be. The hotel was renamed Fusion, a better name for a nightclub than a hotel, and the sign was transformed from a thing of beauty to a monument to bad taste with a canvas sock puppet covering on which the new name was painted in a style intended to appear edgy and hip, but which in reality looks cheap and impermanent. A renovation project that could have done a lot to bolster the visual and historical integrity of the neighborhood became instead an open wound.
Columbia
COLUMBIA HOTEL – 411 O’FARRELL ST.
1909. Architects: Sutton & Weeks. 6 stories, painted brick facade, Mansard roof, base much altered.
Before the bricks were painted yellow, the Columbia was probably a handsome building. Now it is an unusual building, to say the least. The corner neon blade sign, long broken, is an odd contrast. Except for its color, the Mansard-roofed hotel looks like something the Addam’s Family might live in, while the sign is a Deco design painted in shades of green. The sign is five stories tall and must weigh several tons, being constructed entirely of metal.
COLUMBIA HOTEL – 411 O’FARRELL ST.
Winton
WINTON HOTEL – 445 O’FARRELL ST.
1907. Designer unknown. 4 stories, brick facade.
The Winton Hotel has what I like to call SRO windows, meaning the type of slightly arched windows that were used in brick structures erected during the late-19th and early-20th Centuries. The reason for this shape is that the outer brick walls are partial-load bearing and therefore very