Saturday, May 4, 2024

Cliff House History Golden Gate National Recreation Area U S. National Park Service

cliff house in san francisco

The restaurant had amazing food, and a kind of magic — a stark white form perched on a cliff at the end of the Western world, modern inside but firmly rooted in over a century of history. According to the National Parks Service, the original Cliff House was built as a resort retreat for wealthy hunters and picnickers. Perched on a cliff above Land’s End, the Cliff House was originally very remote from downtown San Francisco, which was a small city at the time.

The Cliff House Restaurants

Promenade nearby to the glorious ruins of Sutro Baths, then head out to the world-famous panormas of Lands End. Within six months of the devastating fire, Sutro had plans for a new Cliff House and after spending $75,000, he proudly opened the second Cliff House in 1896. The new building was a grand, eight-story tall castle-like structure with turrets, decorative spires, fanciful roof dormers and an observation tower. The new resort, designed specifically for dining, dancing and entertainment, had several private dining rooms, parlors, bars, and kitchens at the ground level.

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I've listed a number of other places to eat in the area since the Cliff House isn't available. This odd camera-shaped building sitting next to the Cliff House is a remnant of the amusement park that used to be just down the hill along Ocean Beach. The Victorian Cliff House survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, but burned down a year later. Adolph Sutro, creator of the Sutro Baths and Sutro Heights Park, bought the Cliff House in 1883 with the idea of pulling it out of a slump and making it family-friendly again. Apparently it had gotten a bad reputation for riffraff and scandalous behavior.

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Famous guests included Oscar Wilde, Andrew Carnegie, and two American presidents. The new Cliff House was a truly opulent sight, yet Sutro was intent on making it a destination for working-class and wealthy families. He succeeded by offering a menu with affordable prices — a dime got you a seat on the porch and a drink — and a rail line that only cost a nickel and ended at the beach. His clapboard structure offered peerless ocean views and its fashionable, high-priced dining room kept the carriage trade well fueled.

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Nested near the city’s cupola-topped City Hall, impressive performance spaces in San Francisco present some of California’s—and the world’s—... From a pastel coloured pastry shop to Michelin-starred dining rooms, top restaurants run by celebrity chefs dot the Golden State. This time, Sutro carried out an elaborate construction plan and created a marvelous Victorian confection on the cliff, which included a ballroom, several restaurants, museums, etc. The first Cliff House was built in 1863 and became a place for the wealthy residents of SF to come out to the ocean in their carriages and dine. There have been a whole series of Cliff Houses over the years, the style changing with the times. Sutro Lands End Partners, LLC, has reached an agreement to lease the former Cliff House from the National Park Service, which administers the land where the building is located.

The National Park Service rehabilitated the historic Cliff House in 2005 to return it to its original neoclassical design. Architects added an adjacent Sutro Wing to improve access to ocean views, allowing diners and visitors alike to continue the long tradition of enjoying the magnificent Pacific from the Cliff House high above Seal Rocks. On a rocky point just uphill from Ocean Beach, real estate speculator Charles C. Butler built the first Cliff House in tandem with the Point Lobos Toll Road. Today on the craggy cliffs known as Lands End, tourists and locals can get lost on trails lined with eucalyptus trees and emerge onto the ruins of Sutro Baths, a once-decadent swimming pavilion built in the late 19th century, to watch whales breach in the distance. At its height, the Cliff House was part of a bustling strip of cafes and storefronts that attracted visitors from across the country. At the bar, visitors would fight over tables with window views so they could sip on their cocktails and munch on their seafood as the sun set over the Pacific.

cliff house in san francisco

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Leff expects to welcome the public to some parts of the complex before the entire operation is up and running. The issue is that the Cliff House’s previous concessionaires, the Hountalas family, left on unhappy terms. This last photo isn’t technically historical — it’s one I took on Velvia 50 film when I dined at the restaurant in 2018.

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Seal Rocks

San Francisco Mayor London Breed returned to the city Sunday after spending a week in China in efforts to advance economic and cultural ties with the region despite ongoing crises in her city. The typical repeat buyer puts down 19%, while new buyers put down 8%. The last year that the median buyer put down 20% was in 1989, according to NAR data.

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The growth of Golden Gate Park attracted beach travelers, in search of meals and a look at the sea lions sunning themselves on Seal Rocks just off the cliffs, to visit the area. In 1877, the toll road, now Geary Street, was purchased by the city for approximately $25,000. Sitting within the boundaries of the one of the world’s largest urban national parks—the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA)—the Cliff House boasts one of the most spectacular restaurant locations in California. Look to the south, and there are lines of waves rolling onto Ocean Beach, defining the western boundary of San Francisco. To the north, the vista takes in rugged headlands and the ruins of the historic Sutro Baths. And west, it’s nothing but water—a vantage point so “out there” that you can actually whale watch while you dine.

A year after the destruction of the second Cliff House, Mrs. Merritt obtained approval to construct a third Cliff House. Because so many of the city's wood-frame buildings burned after the 1906 earthquake, builders began to construct San Francisco's new buildings in fireproof steel-reinforced concrete. The third Cliff House, constructed in concrete, was designed in a streamline, classically inspired architectural style; the building settled into the landscape rather than dominating the ocean view.

Leff confirmed to The Standard on Thursday that he’s been in communication with the Hountalases attorney, having spoken four or five times, although he would not discuss the terms of their negotiation over the Cliff House name. In September, the National Park Service revealed that the agency had found someone willing to take it on, confirming that the restaurant lease would be for a period of 20 years. While the new concessionaire is nominally called Sutro Lands End Partners LLC, the mover and shaker behind it is attorney and Richmond District native Alex Leff, who has helped revive famous Southern California piers in Malibu, Oceanside and, soon, Huntington Beach.

Yet, the median household in the state earns $91,551 – only about 41% of the income required to afford the home. This means Los Angeles residents need an annual income of $249,471 to comfortably afford a median home, but only make $87,743 – a staggering $161,728 less than needed. Please note that this chart is not comprehensive – there may be places that accept applications from people currently incarcerated who are not on this list. To learn about other Lands End vestiges and stories, please visit the main Vestiges of Lands End page.

The Cliff House is perched on the cliffs just north of Ocean beach in San Francisco. Within five years, Butler’s structure had tripled in size, an expansion that some call the second Cliff House. Others, who considere Brannan’s building the first, have dubbed it the third.

World War I and the Great Depression took their toll on the Lands End area and the Sutro family sold the Cliff House in 1937 to other operators. During the 1940s and 1950s, the owners modified the Cliff House several times. In 1977, the National Park Service acquired the property to become part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

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