And While We're on the Subject...

The Blog

St. Francis

Undoubtedly, the commission that put Bliss & Faville on the map was when Railroad Magnate Charles Crocker called upon the pair to design a new hotel for Union Square. He financed their tour of Grand hotels of Europe to gather ideas.

The first section was completed in 1904. By the standards of the day it was considered "restrained" in appearance.

Although the building was gutted in the 1906 fires, it was quickly restored and further expanded in 1913. It has seen much history in intervening years,

More...

Info

This is my San Francisco, a place of color, and whimsy and serendipity. Expect to see things the tourists don't anticipate and the locals take for granted. I seem to make my best shots while on the way to do something else.

I've been trying for some time to come up with a way to share my interest in architectural detail while at the same time telling the kinds of stories that make a blog interesting. I recently hit upon an idea that I think might work. I propose to explore the city one architect at a time

Current Architect:

Another Classicist, from a later generation, George Applegarth was born in 1875 in Oakland, of English parents. He studied drawing with the legendary Bernard Maybeck and was encouraged to attend the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, where he was accepted into one of the more prestigious Ateliers.

He served for a time in a New York firm, then returned to San Francisco in the aftermath of 1906, where he quickly established himself as a residential architect.

Applegarth became a favorite of the redoubtable Alma de Brettville Spreckels and his most significant commissions were for her.

Something of a traditionalist in design, with a penchant for symmetry, he was nevertheless an innovator in many ways. He is credited, for example, with the idea of putting a garage under Union Square, although it was Timothy Pfleuger who carried it out.

My favorite story about Applegarth is the manner of his death. He died in hospital in July of 1972 - his 96th year - after driving himself there in his Rambler.