The San Francisco Cliff House |
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| Author:
| Hountalas, Mary Germain
Silva, Sharon |
| ISBN: | 978-1-58008-995-1 |
| Publication Date: | Aug 2009 |
| Publisher: | Ten Speed Press
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| Book Format: | Paperback |
| List Price: | AUD $45.00 |
Book Description:
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The shifting fortunes of San Francisco's legendary Cliff House, from raucous seaside roadhouse to fanciful Victorian palace to world-renowned urban destination, are celebrated in this comprehensive illustrated history. The story of San Francisco's Cliff House begins in 1863 with a modest white clapboard building perched on a rocky promontory overlooking the Pacific. Little more than three decades later, following a devastating fire, visionary millionaire Adolph Sutro...
More DescriptionThe shifting fortunes of San Francisco's legendary Cliff House, from raucous seaside roadhouse to fanciful Victorian palace to world-renowned urban destination, are celebrated in this comprehensive illustrated history.
The story of San Francisco's Cliff House begins in 1863 with a modest white clapboard building perched on a rocky promontory overlooking the Pacific. Little more than three decades later, following a devastating fire, visionary millionaire Adolph Sutro oversaw construction of an imposing Victorian edifice on the same site. His 1896 "gingerbread palace" drew everyone to its doorstep, from working-class families to the city's social elite to three U.S. presidents. That grand structure withstood the great earthquake of 1906, but burned to the ground a year later. Sutro's oldest daughter, Emma Sutro Merritt, immediately set to work on a new Cliff House, which opened in 1909.
In the century since then, the Cliff House has survived a handful of destructive storms, two major earthquakes, three nearby fires, two closures, several facelifts, the swinging sixties, the not-so-swinging seventies, and the often grindingly slow decisions of government. Despite these and other challenges, today's Cliff House, now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, is enjoying a renaissance following a two-year, multimillion-dollar restoration. This lavishly illustrated volume chronicles the fortunes of the legendary landmark and the people associated with it-a colorful story that parallels both the history and the irrepressible spirit of the city of San Francisco.