Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1
Haas-Lilienthal
House
2007 Franklin St.
Map
4 E3.
Tel
441-
3000.
@
1, 12, 19, 27, 47, 49, 76X, 90.
8
noon-3pm Wed & Sat, 11am-4pm
Sun.
&
=
∑
sfheritage.org
the only intact private
home of the period open as
a museum, and is complete
with authentic furniture.
A fine example of an upper-
middle-class Victorian
dwelling, the house has
elaborate gables, a circular
corner tower, and luxuriant
ornamentation.
A display of photographs
describes the history of the
building and reveals that
this grandiose house was
modest in comparison with
some of those destroyed in the
fire of 1906
(see pp30-31)
.
This exuberant Queen Anne-
style mansion
(see pp76-7)
was
built for the rich merchant
William Haas in 1886. Alice
Lilienthal, his daughter, lived
there until 1972, when it was
given to the Foundation for
San Francisco's
Architectural
Heritage. It is
Imposing façade of Spreckels Mansion at
Lafayette Park
Lombard Street
(see p88)
.
The mansion's architect was
George Applegarth, who in 1916
designed the Legion of Honor
(see p158)
. In 1924 the Spreckels
donated the Palace to the city.
2
Spreckels
Mansion
2080 Washington St.
Map
4 E3.
@
1,
10, 47, 49.
Closed
to the public.
3
Lafayette Park
Map
4 E3.
@
1, 10, 12, 47, 49.
One of San Francisco's prettiest
hilltop gardens, this is a leafy
green haven of pine and
eucalyptus trees, although its
present tranquility belies its
turbulent history. Along with
Alta Plaza and Alamo Square,
the land was set aside in 1855
as city-owned open
space, but
squatters and
others,
including
a former
City
Dominating the north side of
Lafayette Park, this imposing
Beaux Arts mansion
(see pp48-9)
is sometimes known as the
“Parthenon of the West.” It was
built in 1912 for the flamboyant
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels
and her husband Adolph, who
was heir to the sugar fortune
of Claus Spreckels
(see p136)
.
Today the house is privately
owned and occupies a block
on Octavia Street, which is
landscaped in the style of
The Haas-Lilienthal House, a Queen
Anne mansion from 1886
Panama-Pacific Exposition (1915)
San Francisco celebrated its recovery from
the 1906 earthquake and fire with a
monumental fair
(see pp32-3)
. Officially it
was planned to celebrate the opening of
the Panama Canal, and it was designed
to be the most extravagant world's fair
ever held. It was described by one
highly enthusiastic visitor as “a
miniature Constantinople.”
The fair was held on land
reclaimed from San Francisco
Bay, on the site of today's
Marina District. Its
impressive pavilions
were donated by all the
states and by 25 foreign
countries and lined a
concourse 1 mile (1.6 km)
long. Many of the
buildings were based on
such architectural gems as
a Turkish mosque and a
Buddhist temple in Kyoto. The lavish Tower of
Jewels, at the center of the concourse, was
encrusted with glass beads and lit by
spotlights. To the west stood the
Palace of Fine Arts
(see pp62)
, today
the sole surviving structure from the
fair, which visitors reached by gondola
across a lagoon.
Ferry Building during
Pan-Pacific Exposition
Panorama across the site of the
Panama-Pacific Exposition
