Looking out over the Pacific Ocean in California, since the late 1800s, a sentinel stands. . .
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| The Cliff House in San Francisco, CA, late 1970s, by D G Hudson |
The Cliff House is a restaurant perched on the cliffs just north of Ocean Beach on the western side of San Francisco, California. It is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Don't miss the room-sized camera obscura* on the terrace of the Cliff House.
This location embodies the essence of the west coast - the ocean splashing at the shore, sea lions which sun themselves on the rocks below, and great fresh seafood dishes. I ordered Bouillabaisse. The Cliff House looks different now. So does the beach. Nature likes to change the shore with the help of storms and erosion. We were there on one of our trips to San Francisco, California.
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History of the Cliff House in San Francisco
The first Cliff House, built in 1863 was modest. Presidents and prominent Frisco families would drive carriages out to Ocean Beach. When high society abandoned the Cliff House, it remained a favourite of the tourists and other locals, but it also became known for scandalous behaviour of a sort not divulged. . . (a lot of things might have been scandalous in those days)
Adolph Sutro, a local millionaire, philanthropist and later, mayor of San Francisco, lived on his estate at Sutro Heights overlooking the Cliff House. He didn't like what had happened to a once venerable establishment, so he bought the property in 1883 and leased it to someone who could bring it back up to standard and bring back the local families. That also meant to clean out the riff-raff who had slipped in through the cracks.
The site seemed doomed when a dynamite explosion occurred, triggered by the schooner, Parallel, which ran aground on January 16, 1887, severely damaging the Cliff House. A chimney fire in 1894 destroyed the recently refurbished property. In 1896, Sutro had the Cliff House rebuilt in the French Chateau style with eight stories, four spires and an observation tower 200 feet above sea level. It wasn't a hotel, but an establishment for elegant dining, dancing and entertainment.
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| The Cliff House, French Chateau style, c. 1900, PD |
In June 1907, the Cliff House was leased and remodeled again by a group of investors. On September 7, 1907, just prior to reopening, the most beloved of all the Cliff Houses burned to its foundation. This exquisite building had survived the 1906 earthquake only to succumb to a raging fire that destroyed it in less than two hours.
The Cliff House refused to give up. . . as did its investors.
Once again, the Cliff House was rebuilt in a neoclassical design at a cost of $75,000. This third, more modest version of the Cliff House reopened on July 1, 1909. In 1918, military orders signed by the President of the United States shut down the Cliff House once again. The order stated, ". . . all establishments within a half mile of military installations are to halt the sale of liquor."
Then came PROHIBITION, the death knell for liquor establishments. So, in 1925, when a 'dry' Cliff House lacked its previous draw, its owner at that time shut down all operations. In August 1938, a remodeled restaurant reopened. The site became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in 1977.
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| The Seawall and Steps Leading to Ocean Beach, c. mid 1970s, by DG Hudson |
The steps shown in the image above may have been built in the 1920s, but I couldn't find any current information showing them now. The initial purpose was for a seawall with steps for low tide to help prevent the power of erosion. In the 1970s when they were still intact, beach goers used to sun themselves on the wide steps.
With many storms, and the continual beating of the waves, erosion may have caused them to crumble into ruin, beaten by the mighty Pacific Ocean. If anyone living in the San Francisco area remembers them or knows what happened, please leave a comment to enlighten us. In the photo above, you can tell the size of the steps when compared to a human figure which is sitting on the top edge of the wall.
From the 1940s (first image below) and 2009 (lower image)
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| 1940s Cliff House and 2009 version, PD |
The 21st Century Cliff House
Perched on spectacular cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the Cliff House stands as one of the jewels of the San Francisco's Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Extensive renovations to the 1909 building restored the Cliff House to its original neoclassical architecture. Some of the photographs which can be seen in the restaurant show the history of the site and more than 200 autographed photos of dignitaries and movie stars who have visited this landmark.
As if to confirm that history, renovations have uncovered a marble staircase and part of the original carriage road from 1914. This is now a walkway around the property. The world famous Cliff House should not be missed if you visit San Francisco.
Two restaurants are featured at the Cliff House, the casual dining Bistro Restaurant and the more formal Sutro's. The Terrace Room serves a Sunday Brunch buffet. There is a gift shop with historic memorabilia and the intriguing camera obscura* on the deck overlooking the ocean.
Interesting Notes :
More than thirty ships have been pounded to pieces on the southern shore of the Golden Gate below the Cliff House. (per Wiki)
The area immediately around the Cliff House is part of the setting of Jack London's novel, The Scarlet Plague (1912). Jack London also sets the meeting of Maud Sangster and Pat Glendon Jr. here in The Abysmal Brute (1913).
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Have you heard of The Cliff House in San Francisco or visited there? Do you know what happened to the old wide steps by the seawall that led down to on Ocean Beach? Do you like San Francisco?
Please leave a comment to let me know you were here and I'll respond. Thanks for visiting!
BTW, 'Frisco is one of my favourite cities, and very much like Vancouver, BC.
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References:
Cliff House Wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_House,_San_Francisco
Cliff House History
http://cliffhouse1.reachlocal.net/history/index.html
History of coastal erosion at Ocean Beach
*Camera Obscura: a small round building with a rotating angled mirror at the apex of the roof projecting an image of the landscape onto a horizontal surface inside. (also: a darkened boc with a convex lens or aperture for projecting the image of an external object onto a screen inside.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_obscura
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Image Credits
Two images of the Cliff House in the 1970s by DG Hudson, and property of DG Hudson.
1900 Cliff House Image
One of the most reproduced Cliff House photographs, it depct the Cliff House around 1900 illuminated by a looming thunderstorm. Image attributed to T. Imai.
http://www.cliffhouseproject.com/photos/storm/storm.htm
This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less.
1940 / 2009 Cliff House - double image
I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the Public Domain. This applies worldwide. In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so: I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.
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