Italianate Collection I

The Silk Exchange/Haggin Building

The Haggin building is diagonal from the famous E.V. Haugwout Italianate building in Soho. It was completed in 1896 and today is mostly lofts like most of Soho.

QueenAnnes, Italianates of Alamo Square and Postcard Row

In the mid to late 1800s many well ornamented Victorian homes were built around San Francisco.

Overtime Many of these homes have been Destroyed in the 1906 earthquake of ruined by urban renewal. Since the sixties many of these neighborhoods have been fixed up, but one neighborhood that was hardly touched was Alamo square.

The Most famous Homes Of Alamo Square Are The Postcard Row built between 1892 and 1896 by the Developer Matthew Kavanaugh. These homes have been featured in many movies, postcards, shows, etc.

One of the lesser known but grander than the postcard row homes is the Westerfield house. This house was built in 1899 by Henry Geilfuss for a well known German Baker named William Westerfield who had moved to San Francisco in the 1870s. The house eventually fell into disrepair as it became a ballroom in the 1920s and apartments in the 1940s. in the 1970s and80s the house was once again fixed up and restored to its former glory and is now a private residence. Here are some pictures of the detail.

Here are some other homes in the Neighborhood

The Call Building

Over time, I have seen many pictures of the San Francisco earthquake and the aftermath. one specific building that caught my eye was an old skyscraper with a dome that seemed to be the tallest building around still standing. I eventually found out what it was after an online search.

The call building was built in 1898 by Reid & Reid for the newspaper the San Francisco call and was the tallest building west of the Mississippi for many years . The building was also called the Spreckels building. In the great earthquake of 1906 the building caught on fire but did not collapse. A while later in 1938 the tower was renovated. The gilded dome was removed and more floors were put in its place. The beautiful facade also got replaced with an Art Moderne facade. Lastly the building was renamed the central tower. Here is what it looks like today.

Welcome to Architecture times post. I will be posting many photos, sketches, etc. I hope you enjoy