Photo via the Library of Congress

San Francisco has a long history, from the Gold Rush period to a tech hub; it’s undeniably a city with an interesting history. SF is known for its counter-culture contributions, rows of colorful Victorian homes, beautiful parks, and much more. Take a look through SF’s colorful, important, and varied history with these historic photos.

1. The Cliff House Restaurant, circa 1941

Via Wikimedia

The Cliff House has a long history in SF, with the first iteration dating back to 1863. Today, the third Cliff House is still standing today. Unfortunately, the iconic restaurant closed in late 2020, but it recently announced plans to reopen.

2. Golden Gate Bridge under construction, 1934

Via Library of Congress

Construction on the Golden Gate Bridge first started in 1933, and the bridge was open to traffic in March 1937. Building the bridge was dangerous; a total of 11 workers died during the construction. The bridge was painted it’s now famous red not only for aesthetics but also to help the bridge be visible to passing ships even amongst the fog.

3. The San Francisco Exposition, 1915

Via the Library of Congress

The Panama-Pacific International Exposition was hosted in 1915 to celebrate the to celebrate the Panama Canal. The grand fair came just nine years after the devastating 1906 earthquake, and 18 million people visited San Francisco during the fair’s run.

4. A fire after the 1906 earthquake

Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash

On April 1st, 1906, a devastating earthquake hit San Francisco, starting several large fires that would burn through the city for three days. While many homes and buildings weren’t destroyed in the initial quake, the fires devastated the city.

5. Victorians after the 1906 Earthquake

Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash

While many San Francisco homes were left standing and still line the streets today, many were left damaged by the earthquake.

6. Mission Dolores, 1866

Photo via the Library of Congress

The mission Dolores was first constructed between 1782-1791, and has continuously held religious services in its many years since. The mission was constructed in Spanish colonial architecture and was restored in 1920 by Willis Polk.

7. San Francisco waterfront, 1900

Photo via the Library of Congress

San Francisco’s waterfront has a long history since the first few ships sailed to it in the 19th century. Now, the San Francisco waterfront looks very different from its early years.

8. Cliff House, 1902

Photo via the Library of Congress

The original Cliff House was built in 1863 as a resort for wealthy travelers visiting the Bay Area, patrons included U.S. Presidents and the most affluent SF families. On Christmas day in 1894, a fire broke out, burning down the cliff house. Following the fire, owner Adolph Sutro built the second Cliff House, pictured above, in 1896. The new structure was eight stories tall and resembled a grand castle. Unfortunately, it also succumbed to a fire in 1907.

9. Court of Palms, 1915

Via the Library of Congress

The Court of Palms was one of the many structures built for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915. Unfortunately, most of the structures were torn down following the fair, except for the now iconic Palace of Fine Arts.

10. Sutro Baths, 1900

Photo via the Library of Congress

Adolph Sutro, a San Francisco millionaire who was also responsible for the second Cliff House, built Sutro Baths in 1894. Sutro Baths were recreational swimming pools built on Lands End. The baths were filled with ocean water and could accommodate 10,000 people.

The post San Francisco By The Years: A Look Again At Historic Images appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Photo by Brocken Inaglory on Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

The Cliff House closed its doors in 2020, leaving many Bay Area residents wondering what would happen to the iconic restaurant and space. After several years of uncertainty, the National Parks Service announced that a 20-year lease was awarded to Sutro Lands End Partners LLC. The space is expected to open sometime in 2024, and details about the new restaurant have yet to be released.

The Cliff House closed in 2020, citing the pandemic and the federal government stalling their lease. The closure followed another iconic restaurant in the area, Louis’, announcing it was closing its doors.

Cliff House history

Perched on the rugged cliffs at Lands End, the Cliff House has a long history in San Francisco, and the current building is actually the 3rd iteration of the structure. The first structure was built in 1863 as a small, one-story structure atop the cliffs. Traveling to the resort was difficult and would take hours, making it only accessible to wealthy visitors. Guests of the first Cliff House included SF’s wealthiest families and even several presidents.

Second Cliff House, 1902. Photo via the Library of Congress

Despite its initial prestige, the resort declined in popularity over the years until legendary SF businessman Adolph Sutro bought the property in 1881, only for it to burn down several years later in 1894. Sutro wasted no time constructing a new, grander resort. By 1896, a new Victorian version was open to the public.

The massive 8-story building looked like a castle nestled on the cliffs. The resort had dining rooms, bars, dancing, art galleries, and more. Unfortunately, the beautiful building’s reign on the cliffs was short-lived, burning down in 1907.

In 1909, a third and final Cliff House was built, this time in concrete, by Emma Sutro Merritt. The building is still standing today with the same neoclassical design.

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The historic First Church of Christ Scientist building at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose, Aug. 29, 2023. Arturo Alvarez and Andres Ramirez of BrandSafway work on the building.

SAN JOSE — James Salata, head of Garden City Construction, decided that enough was enough when it came to an abandoned historic church in downtown San Jose covered with a tattered tarp.

“This is really gnawing at me,” Salata said Tuesday as he watched his construction crew finish up a wide-ranging job this week to transform the blighted church property into a little less of an eyesore in downtown San Jose.

The historic structure on Salata’s mind is the First Church of Christ, Scientist at 43 East St. James Street. A growing number of observers, activists and neighbors have begun to complain about the church’s disrepair under its years-long ownership by a China-based real estate firm and the nebulous oversight by city staffers and code enforcement officers.

BrandSafway workers operate next to the ionic columns of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose, Aug. 29, 2023. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

The church’s exterior has been exposed for years to fierce winter storms and blazing summer sunshine. Winds have steadily shredded the makeshift tarp.

This week, alarmed by the looming prospect of the fall and winter months, Salata took matters into his own hands and dispatched construction workers from subcontractor BrandSafway to undertake considerable work at the church.

First Church of Christ, Scientist is on a site owned by Z&L Properties, a China-based real estate company whose principal executive is Zhang Li, a key figure in a bribery scandal involving a top former San Francisco official.

Salata was able to gain access to the site because he had prior permission from Z&L to undertake some work on the inside of the church. BrandSafway owned the scaffolds and was reclaiming its equipment because Z&L didn’t come through with payments for that work. In the process, the tarp was removed.

Salata realizes the cost of some or much of this week’s work will come out of his pocket.

• The Ionic columns of the historic First Church of Christ, Scientist building in San Jose, Calif., are once again visible, Tuesday, August 29, 2023, as Arturo Alvarez and Andres Ramirez of BrandSafway Scaffolding remove the protective covering that has obscured the historic 1905-era building for nearly five years. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

• (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

  The historic First Church of Christ Scientist building at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose, Aug. 29, 2023. Arturo Alvarez and Andres Ramirez of BrandSafway work on the building.

• The Ionic columns of the historic First Church of Christ, Scientist building in San Jose, Calif., are once again visible, Tuesday, August 29, 2023, as Arturo Alvarez and Andres Ramirez of BrandSafway Scaffolding remove the protective covering that has obscured the historic 1905-era building for nearly five years. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

• (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

  BrandSafway workers operate next to the ionic columns of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose, Aug. 29, 2023.

• Crews from Garden City Construction sweep up the plastic littering Saint James Street from the degraded protective covering at the historic First Church of Christ, Scientist building in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, August 29, 2023. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

• Shredded plastic from the degraded covering protecting the historic First Church of Christ, Scientist building litters E. Saint James Street in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, August 29, 2023. BrandSafway Scaffolding workers were removing the shredded wrap that has obscured the historic 1905-era building for nearly five years. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

• San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, left, speaks, as Councilmember Omar Torre looks on, in front of the partially covered First Church of Christ, Scientist building during a press conference, where he announced plans to up the maximum amount of fines for negligent property owners, on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, in downtown San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

• The partially covered First Church of Christ, Scientist building is seen before a press conference, where San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan announced plans to up the maximum amount of fines for negligent property owners, on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, in downtown San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

• The partially covered First Church of Christ, Scientist building is seen during a press conference, where San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan announced plans to up the maximum amount of fines for negligent property owners, on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, in downtown San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

• The partially covered First Church of Christ, Scientist building is seen during a press conference, where San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan announced plans to up the maximum amount of fines for negligent property owners, on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, in downtown San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

• First Church of Christ Scientist at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose, February 2023. (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)

• (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)

  First Church of Christ Scientist, located at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose.

  6-1-2023, San Jose CA

  (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)

• (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)

  First Church of Christ Scientist, located at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose.

  6-1-2023, San Jose CA

  (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)

• (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)

  A roofline and the structure of First Church of Christ Scientist, located at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose, are exposed to the elements, February 2023.

  2-27-23

  (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)

• (HMdb.org, Historical Marker Database, Syd Whittle)

  First Church of Christ Scientist, a historic building located at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose, constructed in 1905. The building as it appeared in 2010.

  (HMdb.org, Historical Marker Database, Syd Whittle)

• (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)

  First Church of Christ Scientist, located at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose, is partly covered by tarps, January 2023.

  (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)

  01-24-2023

“I just decided to take the risk,” Salata said. “I couldn’t take it any longer, seeing that eyesore out there every day.”

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan hopes the building can be saved.

“It’s great to see some progress just a week after we announced stricter accountability measures for blighted properties,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said.

But Bob Staedler, principal executive with land-use consultancy Silicon Valley Synergy, and a long-time critic of the city staff’s inaction on the property, praised Salata’s efforts.

“Jim Salata is a true steward of San Jose,” Staedler said. “He really stepped up. All credit to him. The city of San Jose should have started this work years ago. Jim Salata is doing the city a favor.”

Z&L Properties had agreed to renovate and restore the church and make it a key component of a project of two housing towers next to St. James Park. Z&L never built the housing high-rises and did not renovate the church.

The church site is one of several failed or faltering projects that Z&L had proposed or launched in downtown San Jose.

Federal prosecutors reached a settlement in a criminal case against Zhang. The deal allowed Zhang to return home to China after paying a fine.

For months, city officials have pondered — but have yet to approve — a stopgap $200,000 plan to remove the tarp and protect the church from the elements. The city is paying for it out of its own coffers because it has yet to coax an agreement from Zhang to finance the work.

Salata said he also attempted to convince Z&L to pay him to do badly needed work on the property that would fully protect the church.

“I tried to negotiate with Z&L, but ‘we have no money’ was their answer,” Salata said. “I made them a sweetheart deal to get this fixed up. They said they had no money for the work.”

Now, the contractors have patched up the distinctive dome on the roof, removed the tarp, cleaned up small bits of plastic that could become a pollution risk during the rainy season, and done some shoring up work as well as improved the drainage on the site.

“Hallelujah! this is what we were hoping for,” said Ben Leech, executive director of the Preservation Action Council of San Jose. “The church is still standing and in remarkably good condition because it’s been left to rot for several years. Everyone can see this is an important piece of architecture we are trying to save.”

On Tuesday, several workers were busy removing scaffolds that had clung to the side of the church for years.

More work needs to be done, however, Salata warned.

“The handoff for this now goes to Z&L and the city staff,” Salata said.

Among the immediate tasks that are needed to fully protect the church: the completion of some weatherproofing on a long upright section that is closest to the intersection of East St. James Street and North Second Street, Salata said.

“Z&L needs to follow through on their responsibility for protecting this historical landmark in the heart of our city,” Mahan said.

While more work needs to be done, for now, the old church is no longer obscured by a steadily crumbling tarp.

“People can see how beautiful this building is,” Salata said.

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Roger Utting/123rf

United Airlines says it will be nearly 70% larger in New Zealand than in 2019.

United Airlines has announced a new Christchurch-San Francisco route making it the only airline to offer direct flights between the South Island and the US.

The announcement is part of what the airline calls “the largest South Pacific network expansion ever to and from the continental US”.

The flights to Christchurch from California start on December 1 and United will be flying three times a week on a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. It is the first ever direct flight between Christchurch and San Francisco.

The airline is also adding new direct flights from Los Angeles to Auckland, as well as increased services to Australia.

The last direct connection between the South Island and the US was Air New Zealand’s service from Christchurch to Los Angeles which ended in 2006.

Patrick Quayle, Senior Vice President of Global Network Planning and Alliances at United, said the airline has been “enhancing” its network over the last few months.

“Our strong partnerships with Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia provide unparalleled connectivity, and with our historic expansion across five destinations in New Zealand and Australia, United is the clear choice for customers’ travel to the region,” said Quayle.

Christchurch Airport welcomed the news, saying on social media: “We’re so excited to announce that from 1 December United will be flying direct from Ōtautahi Christchurch to San Francisco all summer! Operating three times per week on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, you’ll be able to head to destinations across the United States and beyond.”

Currently, flyers from Christchurch need to stop over in either Auckland, Nadi or Sydney for flights to the US.

The airport’s chief executive Justin Watson said the new route will “supercharge” tourism in the region.

“The American travel market is buoyant. Americans are travelling widely again and we know they want to experience what the South Island offers,” said Watson

“Statistics show American visitors who enter the country through Christchurch Airport spend 42% more in New Zealand and stay 33% longer. Based on government data, the seasonal service is forecast to bring in $44 million in visitor spend for New Zealand, with $32 million of that in South Island regions. This is the ideal combination of national value impact and regional economic impact.”

Air New Zealand, which is a Star Alliance partner of United, welcomed the news.

The airline’s Chief Transformation and Alliances Officer Mike Williams said: “We’re thrilled that as part of our long-standing alliance partnership, our friends at United Airlines will be adding two new direct services between the United States and New Zealand in the upcoming northern winter season. This will bring the total number of routes offered by our Alliance to 8, providing unparalleled choice for Kiwis and North American visitors alike.

”Once in Aotearoa, visitors can head around the country seamlessly on our extensive domestic network.

“Our alliance partnership with United allows customers of both airlines to reach all corners of the world. It gives Kiwis the opportunity to connect domestically across the US and beyond, while also bringing more visitors to our shores. We look forward to our strong alliance continuing for many years to come.”

United claims it will have more flights and serve more destinations between the US and Australia and the US and New Zealand than any other carrier in the world.

In January another giant US airline, Delta, confirmed it will start flying to New Zealand for the first time.

It will begin operating a Los Angeles-Auckland service from October 28 using its Airbus A350-900 aircraft.

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Legendary San Francisco LGBTQ bar the Stud is making a comeback years after closing during the pandemic. Mayor London Breed joined members of Stud Collective, the group behind the bar, Tuesday to announce it will be opening again at a new location in the SoMa neighborhood.

The bar’s next iteration will be located on Folsom Street, just blocks away from the bar’s former home on 19th and Harrison streets.

“It’s twice as big as our old space,” said Rachel Ryan, the president of the collective and general manager. “It has twice as many bathrooms.

When The Stud closed in May 2020, the city mourned the loss of what Mayor London Breed called “a San Francisco institution.”

“One of the first Leather District bars,” Breed said. “One of the first places people talked about, where they came to see amazing drag shows and DJs.”

Until its closure during the pandemic, The Stud was the city’s oldest, continuously-operated queer bar. It opened its doors in 1966.

During the announcement Tuesday, State Senator Scott Weiner talked fondly about finding the bar after moving to San Francisco in the 1990s.

“I think, within a month or two, I was at the Stud and I spent a lot of time there,” Weiner said.

The club will be owned and run by the Stud Collective. Getting to this point involved a lot of help from local leaders, including Weiner, Breed, and several of the city’s supervisors.

The bar will also benefit from San Francisco’s First Year Free program, which waives all city fees for permitting and licensing during the first year of a small business’s operation.

“We have to do everything we can to get out of the way of small businesses. Especially nightlife, which is an important part of not just our economic recovery, but our ability to have fun in San Francisco,” Breed said.

Still, the bar has some hurdles to overcome. High up on that list is the cost of renovating the new Folsom Street space.

“We are going to need everyone to contribute raising the funds,” said Honey Mahogany, a member of the Stud Collective.

The Stud is turning to the public for help, aiming to raise half a million dollars through crowdfunding.

“To get the licensing, permitting up to date,” said Mahogany. “To rebuild this bar, to turn it into a queer nightlife venue where we can dance all night, where we have drag shows every day of the week, where we celebrate our queerness and are unapologetic about it.”

The Stud plans to open by the end of winter, according to its website.

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IIn art history, the white cube gallery is a relatively recent construct—one developed in the 1950s by New York artist and dealer Betty Parsons. It’s also something that artists, curators, dealers, and critics have been trying to dismantle for decades.

Luckily, there’s always room for experimentation in Los Angeles. Whether it was William N. Copley (later known as the artist CPLY) who took over a Beverly Hills bungalow in 1948 to show artists like Joseph Cornell, René Magritte and Man Ray in the short-lived Copley Galleries, or Danny Bowman who his BOZOMAG opened shop in the converted garage of his Highland Park home, the lure of intimate – and sometimes whimsical – domestic spaces has always appealed to Angelenos. And in recent years, more and more gallery owners — like Sara Lee Hantman, whose Sea View gallery was featured in the February issue for creating a space in Jorge Pardo’s old studio in Mount Washington — have opted for rooms with a view.

At Twentieth, a photograph and rug (right) by Marilyn Minter, seating by Paolo Ferrari, a light sculpture by Sébastien Léon, a coffee table by John Eric Byers and a lamp by Established & Sons. (Photo: Marten Elder)

“The commercial retail market in LA is so strange; it’s too scattered – everything is a destination – and you don’t leave your house for toothpaste or coffee without it being an event,” says David Alhadeff, who had this in mind seven years ago when he wrote about the Searching for a location for the Casa made perfect concept of his design gallery, the Future Perfect. “Real estate agents took me to Robertson, La Cienega, Highland and all the buildings were pretty ugly. What is incredible about LA is the residential architecture.”

LA gallery owners have chosen rooms with a view.

Alhadeff settled for a time in a low-rise modernist house designed by Korean-American architect David Hyun in 1957. After five years of traversing two other architecturally significant sites—including the mid-century Trousdale Estates home that Elvis Presley shared with Priscilla and Lisa Marie—Alhadeff and his husband bought the 1916 Hollywood mansion that belonged to Arthur S Heineman built for Samuel Goldwyn at the base of Runyon Canyon. Since last August he has transformed the property, planted a sculpture garden and hosted acclaimed solo exhibitions for legendary Italian architect and designer Gaetano Pesce and polemical New York painter Peter McGough amid rooms full of collectible design objects.

In the Half Gallery, a painting by Paul Salveson. (Photo: Paul Salveson)

“As an experience, this doesn’t translate into a commercial space,” he says, “but I also think you can’t just take any house and implement this concept.”

Just west of the Marmount Lane outpost of New York’s Friedman Benda gallery, designer Una Malan opened Una Casa Privada, a by appointment expansion of her LA and San Francisco showrooms in a 1937 Hollywood Regency-style mansion above Sunset Plaza, which opened during the La Cienega Design Quarter’s annual LEGENDS week. Further up the hills, Twentieth, which operated on Beverly Boulevard for more than two decades, moved into an airy 5,000-square-foot glass, beam, and plaster Zen retreat (on an acre of hillside dotted with eucalyptus and Japanese maple). designed by Jeff Mills.

At Casa Perfect, a table from Collection Particulière, armchairs by Dimoremilano, a console by Ben Barber, a chandelier by Karl Zahn, ceramics by Eric Roinestad and wall coverings by Calico Wallpaper. (Photo: Rich Stapleton)

“I just get tired of the storefront with all the hassle of parking lots,” says Stefan Lawrence, who opened an exhibition during Los Angeles Art Week by combining rugs and art by Nan Goldin and Kim Gordon in rooms full of design by local artists like Vincent Pocsik and Mattia Biagi. “This is a very special, quiet part of LA and I just feel in heaven with all these trees. I’m out here with my trimmers all the time.”

Further east, not far from the Parker Gallery — the living and working space where Sam Parker showcases underrepresented artists from multiple generations in his 1924 Tudor-style home in Los Feliz — is New York gallery owner Bill Powers in a 3,600 square meter Greek Revival moved. Style mansion built three years before the Griffith Observatory was built.

“Look at that, how would you live in New York?

Also at Casa Perfect a chandelier by Chris Wolston. (Photo: Rich Stapleton)

It’s crazy,” says Powers, standing in a double-height living room with views of downtown from the observatory. In addition to showing artists from his roster at Half Gallery — Se Oh, Maud Madsen, and Andie Dinkin, for example — Powers throws parties where he has a piano player on his Steinway, lights the fireplace, and invites guests to take kumquat out the terraced gardens designed by Florence Yoch, the legendary landscape architect behind the gardens for Gone With the Wind and the Jack Warner estate.

When asked why he hasn’t joined the crowded field of new galleries taking over Western Avenue, which he can see from his window, he replies, “I know I’ll never be Hauser & Wirth, so as a medium – I thought, “How can you fight unconventionally in a very crowded field?” LA just has more nooks and crannies, we have big walls, great views, outdoor sculptures, and I’m in the city about half the time, so this is like the white house. I live upstairs and the business is down here.”

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Club Ebony, a famous Indianola, Miss. blues venue that was part of the Chitlin circuit — a loose network of black-owned clubs and venues in segregated American cities — has hosted hundreds of memorable moments. Bobby Rush, the 89-year-old blues singer, recalled one of his favorites in a recent interview: a scene from BB King’s 2014 homecoming concert.

As King weaved through a lengthy version of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine,” he noticed that Rush had nodded off. “‘Ladies and gentlemen,'” he began, according to Rush. “‘I have my best friend in the house. i play this music And he’s lying over there sleeping on top of me.’”

The audience giggled, and Rush joined King on stage with his harmonica to cap off his friend’s last performance, ending a tradition of annual concerts that began in 1980. King died a year later.

Club Ebony was more than King’s home club. Upon opening in 1948, it provided Indianola’s black community with a gathering place for dining, dancing, and socializing, and provided generations of blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and soul artists with the enthusiastic crowd they needed to make a living.

King purchased the venue from its third and longest-serving owner, Mary Shepard, in 2008 and donated it to the BB King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center. But after his death, it slowly deteriorated due to the effects of time and disuse. The bill of keeping the 6,400-square-foot club in a city of 9,000 people open four nights a week proved too high in the midst of the vast delta.

“The traditional format wasn’t financially viable — times had changed,” said Malika Polk-Lee, the museum’s executive director. The organization turned Club Ebony into an events venue, but when the tourism industry began to reopen after the pandemic-related closures in 2021, museum staff found that the condition of the timber-frame building was poor.

“We found that there was structural damage. The roof and walls deteriorated and water got inside,” she said. “The senior year was tough on the building.”

The museum had no choice but to keep the club closed while it sought support for its rescue, which it secured through public and private funds, including a grant from regional National Endowment for the Arts-affiliated organization South Arts and a City of Indianola, received city tax. Its dormant period ends Thursday, when the venue is scheduled to reopen its historic doors after spending $800,000 on repairs.

Before mainstream America first saw Ike and Tina Turner when they brought the 1960 rave-up “A Fool in Love” to “American Bandstand,” and before Ray Charles’ four Grammys that same year with “Georgia on My Mind.” won — and long before King stunned a crowd of white hippies and sealed his mainstream success at San Francisco’s Fillmore West in 1967 — they were all regulars at Club Ebony.

Indianola entrepreneur Johnny Jones opened it in 1948 when the post-war economy was in full swing. New industries like the Ludlow Textile Mill had brought money to the city, and workers plonked much of their wages in the jukerooms on Church Street, the city’s notorious home of gambling and vice.

But Club Ebony offered a different experience. Jones’ new club was large and designed to house the big bands of the 1940s, including the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra and the Count Basie Orchestra. Revelers in khakis and pinstriped suits could buy bonded whiskey and bootleg corn whiskey, and men and women danced to jump blues and mingled on the ballroom floor.

“There wasn’t much socializing in the houses,” said Sue Evans, who was married to King from 1958 to 1966 and lived in the back of the club after her mother, Ruby Edwards, bought it in 1958. The houses were small, she remarked: “Families were big, so nobody was going to anyone’s house at that time to sit down and be entertained.” The club became a social outlet.”

Venues on the national chitlin circuit have included glittering palaces in major cities like Indianapolis and Houston, and lavish juke restaurants in smaller towns. If a club was not available, promoters rented halls; Some shows took place in private homes. Live performances lasting just one night bolstered the music scene’s ecosystem, while clubs, recording studios and record labels sprung up to capitalize on and fuel the celebrations.

The cycle arose from the need for self-sufficiency. Black musicians, promoters and audiences needed places where they were welcome and could be themselves. Even the musicians in King’s band would travel around with cookware and canned goods if they couldn’t find a restaurant that could serve them.

Although some black musicians, as Rush said, “crossed over” to white audiences and had “crossed out” black clubs, artists could make a living in those venues when they weren’t welcome elsewhere. The closure and decay of Club Ebony posed a bigger problem, Evans says: the loss of the black common spaces that once held it together.

“There isn’t a club left in the Delta that could offer music like this,” she said. “So to speak, a large part of our culture goes south; it is no longer there. And this is a continuation of that culture.”

As of December 2021, the museum has raised and invested nearly $1 million in electrical, plumbing, kitchen appliances, furniture, and painting to help bring the club up to date with modern regulations and compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Some elements, such as the sheet metal ceiling panels, are original.

The exterior sports a new pea green livery, color-matched to the historic record at least since it was acquired by Shepard. On a warm afternoon in early May, a team installed information boards inside to give visitors the background story of the club. Museum staff compared their work to old photographs to ensure historical accuracy.

In the 15 years since the museum acquired Club Ebony, music tourism has given Delta towns like Indianola hope for a future, based in part on an interest in their past. In front of the club is a historic marker for the Mississippi Blues Trail, a network established in 2006 of more than 200 sites important to the development of music and its culture.

“It’s important that Black-run clubs are supported,” said Dr. William Ferris, a blues historian and author who spent summers touring the Delta in the 1960s. “Just as black people own their land and farms, it gives business people and families the independence and stability that is very important, and music is a way to achieve that.”

For today’s young black blues musicians, like 24-year-old Christone “Kingfish” Ingram of Clarksdale, Miss., who is widely credited as the heir to the King’s Delta blues crown, historic venues like Club Ebony are still places to celebrate be able to relax away from the pressure of top-class performances at festivals and theatres.

Like King before him, Ingram occasionally frequents his hometown clubs, such as Red’s Lounge in Clarksdale, where he plays three or four sets, often finishing in the wee hours of the morning. Club Ebony, where he performed at the beginning of his career, will certainly be back on his schedule.

“Every time I’ve been there, I’ve always hung out with the OGs of the blues, guys like Mr. Rush and Kenny Neal, and absorbed some history,” Ingram said. “It takes me back to when I started and I feel like it keeps me humble.”

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A 106-year-old San Francisco Tudor-style mansion overlooking the bay was built by renowned architect Julia Morgan and has just hit the market for $36 million.

“There is no home like it anywhere in the San Francisco Bay Area,” the property listing reads. “Every square inch has been carefully planned and artfully constructed. The unsurpassed attention to detail is a testament to the exceptional investment of time and talent that the current owners have put into their stately home. The symmetry and balance the current owners have achieved is as unfathomable as it is profound.”

The home — 20 rooms in all — sits on an unusually large quarter-acre lot in Presidio Heights and was designed in 1916 by Morgan, the pioneering architect best known for her work on Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California.

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According to real estate company Compass, architect John Maniscalco recently undertook an incredible $10 million renovation. Original details such as decorative strips are retained.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Karl Peterson, venture capitalist and co-founder of Hotwire.com, and his wife Holly Peterson bought the 12,000-square-foot property in 2007 for $16.65 million.

Other highlights of the eight bedroom property include:

Bespoke luxury materials, finishes and craftsmanship for the furniture, stone worktops and bathrooms; Lighting and sanitary fittings, curtains and carpets

Combined gourmet kitchen, family room and outdoor dining area with BBQ and views of San Francisco Bay and Presidio Park

Butler’s pantry with wine refrigerator

Formal dining room with fireplace and adjoining breakfast nook

Generous entertainment rooms

A spectacular master bedroom suite with a postcard view terrace, a wood burning fireplace and a separate dressing room

Second master bedroom with wood burning fireplace

A karaoke room with access to a pickle ball court.

“The welcoming home is grand yet comfortable at the same time. formal yet relaxed,” the listing reads. “There is joy and playful enjoyment in each of their design choices, and there is a keen understanding of form and function in every living vignette. The end result is just great.”

The post Historic San Francisco CA mansion on the market for $36M appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Today, following a three-year hiatus, the Kips Bay Decorator Show House New York is back—and this year’s 22 participating designers and architects have contrived five floors of compelling interiors that were well worth the wait. 

Through June 6, the historic River Mansion, a beaux arts town house overlooking Riverside Park and the Hudson River on the Upper West Side, will be open to the public to tour some 10,000 square feet of newly reimagined interiors. Inside, design pros share the creative musings and experimental ideas exciting them right now—from a shell grotto-esque retreat to a rococo candyland. It’s all in an effort to raise funds for the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club and its enrichment programs, for which the show house has raised more than $28 million to date.

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The Robert D. Kohn–designed River Mansion is no stranger to AD. The town house (lensed by Peter Vitale) was featured in the magazine’s November 1987 issue following a renovation by interior designer David Laurence that involved establishing the central staircase and opening walls to create more free-flowing rooms, among other modern upgrades. While the residence has evolved since glossing the pages of AD, there’s one point in the story that still holds true: “The house sits on what must be one of the most agreeable sites on the entire island…. Not twenty yards away, a leafy park flourishes from spring through fall,” wrote Michael M. Thomas. As of last week, the property is available for sale through Douglas Elliman, ready for its next chapter.

And a good-looking one at that. Below, see every room inside the 48th edition of the Kips Bay Decorator Show House New York (337 Riverside Drive at West 106th Street), made possible by 2023 sponsors Benjamin Moore, Calico Wallpaper, Cosentino, Dea Luxury Linens, Dedar, JennAir, Kohler, Kravet, Marc Phillips, Morgan Stanley, Morris & Co., New York Design Center, Peacock Alley, Sanderson, Soane Britain, Susan’s Jewelry, the Rug Company, and the Shade Store.

Nickolas Sargent

Landscaping by Janice Parker Landscape Architects

Nickolas Sargent

Landscaping by Janice Parker Landscape Architects

Landscaping by Janice Parker Landscape Architects

Not wanting to distract from the beaux arts mansion’s richly detailed redbrick and limestone façade, landscape architect Janice Parker prioritized symmetry in her plantings. Pleached Linden trees frame the entry, while ivy billows from angular concrete containers.  

Nickolas Sargent

Foyer and Main Stair Hall by Yellow House Architects

Foyer and Main Stair Hall by Yellow House Architects

With Julia Marlowe—the early-1900s Shakespearean actress and the River Mansion’s first occupant—as their muse, Yellow House Architects indulged in grand and theatrical gestures in the home’s foyer. Let us count the ways: Warped glass paneling by Atelier Barrois and the sculptural chandelier by Nacho Carbonell rouse in the shadowy entry, while a squiggly-lined white plaster treatment offers a quiet contrast as it leads to the second floor of the home.

Nickolas Sargent

Parlor by David Scott Interiors

Parlor by David Scott Interiors

David Scott Interiors is known for eloquently assembling top-tier art and design within distinguished—though never dull—architecture, and the studio’s parlor is right on cue. Neutrally toned Pierre Frey fabrics lay a calming canvas for collectible design to shine, including the pièce de résistance: the Jean Marie Fiori–designed patinated bronze chimney, sourced through Twenty First Gallery.

Nickolas Sargent

Sitting room by Penny Drue Baird, Dessins LLC

Sitting room by Penny Drue Baird, Dessins LLC

Hushed in tone, designer Penny Drue Baird’s sitting room speaks volumes in tactility. That’s thanks in large part to the velvet wall covering—the Boudoir pattern by Elitis—whose linear forms reflect in the plush rug by Sacco Carpet. Apparatus fixtures finished in a brushed brass warm the interior, while antiques from Bernd Goeckler and Carlos de la Puente furnish the space.

Nickolas Sargent

Den by Halden Interiors

Den by Halden Interiors

Befitting for her nature inspirations, designer Kesha Franklin worked from the ground up in the “Heart of the Vine” den, custom designing an abstract leaf floor covering with the Rug Company. Its hunter green, chartreuse, and crisp white palette travels throughout the space, namely in the Shade Store window treatments, which feature Gaston y Daniela fabric by Kravet, and in the Murano glass Italian Lotus chandelier courtesy of Cosulich Interiors & Antiques.  

Nickolas Sargent

Parlor by Ghislaine Viñas

Parlor by Ghislaine Viñas

Wanting to create space as intriguing as the Hudson River view beyond the parlor’s grand windows, designer Ghislaine Viñas called upon her network of artisans: Mark Mulroney crafted the felted murals that layer atop a custom wallpaper from Wolf Gordon, while curtain fabric by Dedar,  lighting by RBW, a custom scalloped coffee table fabricated by Brooklyn Millwork, and various pieces from The Future Perfect enliven the interior.

Nickolas Sargent

Family room by Timothy Corrigan, Inc.

Family room by Timothy Corrigan, Inc.

No detail went unnoticed in the family room, where Timothy Corrigan began by defining the interior’s original millwork with tonal coats of green, namely Benjamin Moore’s Lily Pad and Stolen Moments. From there, the Spring Fever wallpaper by Timothy Corrigan for Fromental, with its Flemish-inspired botanicals hand-painted atop a perfectly sheened silver ground, established the dialogue for the rest of the interior—from insect-adorned pillow trim by Samuel and Sons to plaster leaf sculptures by Stephen Antonson and even the custom serpent medallion slithering from the David Duncan Studio chandelier.

Nickolas Sargent

Powder bath by Lindsey Coral Harper Interior Design

Powder bath by Lindsey Coral Harper Interior Design

In the second-floor powder bath, designer Lindsey Coral Harper pulled her warm color palette from the interior’s original stone flooring. Coastal inspirations were calling—perhaps, in part, due to her soon-to-open shop in seaside Stonington Borough, Connecticut—and the designer answered with works by fellow coastal creatives, namely a shell-covered stool by Quarto Design, rattan seating by Varnish Collective, and papier-mâché art from Palm Beach favorite Casa Gusto.

Nickolas Sargent

Staircase by Halden Interiors

Staircase by Halden Interiors

The custom rug continues up the third-floor staircase, which Franklin beautifully envelops in a hand-painted mural by artist Judith Sipos of Nono Art. The treatment plays off of the floral field in the background of a striking photograph by South African photographer Pieter Hugo, which almost becomes one with the room. Pendants by designer Feyza Kemahlioglu for Wexler Gallery flank the artwork.

Nickolas Sargent

Drawing room by Neal Beckstedt Studio

Drawing room by Neal Beckstedt Studio

Reimagining the home’s wine room into an artist’s studio, Neal Beckstedt “envisioned the glass-enclosed room as an architect’s private drawing room—a space for solitude and relaxation through creativity,” shares the designer. A custom stone patterned floor designed with Artistic Tile grounds the room’s hewed, timeworn demeanor. The nook comes complete with Swedish antiques from Deinst + Dotter and a fabric striped wall covering by Chelsea Textiles.

Nickolas Sargent

Library by JayJeffers, Inc.

Library by JayJeffers, Inc.

With studio locations in San Francisco and (as of recently) New York City, designer Jay Jeffers set out to create a culmination of the coastal cities within the library. Coating the walls—and the millwork, bookcases, and even some books too—in a two-tone treatment of rust brown and airy gray plaster paint establishes the sultry surrounding, while artisan works such as the commanding desk by Brooklyn sculptor Aaron Poritz, the desk chair by LA-based Cuff Studio, and the jute and wool rug by Mark Nelson Designs play up the bicoastal narrative.

Nickolas Sargent

Elevator bank by Lillian Wu Studio

Nickolas Sargent

Catering kitchen by Lillian Wu Studio

Elevator bank and Catering kitchen by Lillian Wu Studio

“I wanted to create a pantry space that is beaming with warmth, wilderness, and a sense of wonder,” says designer Lillian Wu, who started by swathing the pantry in Calico’s Wanderlust wallpaper. In the catering kitchen, which is decked out with JennAir appliances, brass details from Rocky Mountain Hardware warms the organic blue cabinetry.

Nickolas Sargent

Lounge by Sawyer | Berson

Lounge by Sawyer | Berson

An essence of “understated luxury” was top of mind for Sawyer | Berson when approaching the third floor’s main room, where a travertine stone fireplace by Lido Stone Works materially contrasts with suede-wrapped wall panels. “We designed the lounge as an elegant pass-through space reminiscent of a glamorous club room in New York City,” says Brian Sawyer. The branch-like bouquet, a paper sculpture made by Sourabh Gupta, mimics the tree-lined street on view through the round window frame.

Nickolas Sargent

Bedroom by Mary McDonald Inc

Bedroom by Mary McDonald Inc

For the past few years, says Mary McDonald, coquillage and “all things grotto” have been objects of her reverie. Now, those musings are full-on manifested in “Lady Borromeo’s Grotto,” her bedroom design that layers upon Schumacher’s boldly beautiful Shell Grotto wallpaper. Antique furnishings, saturated upholstery fabrics by Schumacher, and floor covering by Patterson Flynn play off the aquatic palette. “I love how the sconces and slipcovered wall chairs interplay with [the] intricate patterning of the faux shellwork,” adds McDonald.

Nickolas Sargent

Bathroom by Design Studio 15

Nickolas Sargent

Closet by Design Studio 15

Bathroom and closet by Design Studio 15

The colorful cylinders of Avram Ruso Studio’s traveling chandelier seem to reflect like a disco ball onto the Pinnacle Fete Nero Marble tile from Artistic Tile in Design Studio 15’s chic bathroom. The fun continues in the adjoining closet thanks to a blue ombre runner from the Rug Company, crystal-encrusted lighting by Gaspare Asaro, and a custom Ornare closet, chicly adorned with brass trim.  

Nickolas Sargent

Kitchen by Wesley Moon Inc.

Kitchen by Wesley Moon, Inc.

Wanting the kitchen to feel contemporary while also paying homage to the home’s Edwardian roots, Wesley Moon devised a custom plaster molding in collaboration with Hyde Park Mouldings to create an architectural foundation for the era-spanning heart of the home. He then worked with LaPolla Designs to create the cabinetry’s hand-applied decorative finish, coordinated to the Cosentino countertops and Ann Sacks backsplash. Apparatus lighting, JennAir appliances, and Kohler fixtures equip the space.    

Nickolas Sargent

Laundry room by Fairfax Dorn Projects

Laundry room by Fairfax Dorn Projects

Adorned with passerine birds, the Pompeii wallpaper by Jennifer Shorty was the launch point for Fairfax Dorn Projects’ multitasking laundry room. A sisal carpet from Sacco Carpet, shelving accessories from Aero, window treatments by the Shade Store, and a JennAir washer and dryer round out the interior. 

Nickolas Sargent

Primary bedroom and hallway by Sasha Bikoff Interior Design

Primary bedroom and Hallway by Sasha Bikoff Interior Design

“I knew I wanted to create a clamshell bed, which has always been a dream of mine,” says Sasha Bikoff of her starting point for the primary bedroom. Fabricating a piece that mirrored her imagination? That posed a bit of a challenge. She eventually found her ideal material at fashion world go-to Mood Fabrics in New York’s Garment District and worked with John Pomp to fabricate the inflated bed frame, which shines fabulously against the reflective Cloud wallpaper by Calico, made “in custom rococo candyland colors,” shares Bikoff. A corner nook covered in a hot pink vegan fur rug from Stark (and inspired by the 1968 Bazaar sofa by Superstudio) makes for sultry seating. The carpet and chandelier are Bikoff’s own designs for Rug Art and Versace, respectively, and the bow and tasseled window treatments are fabricated by the Shade Store.

Nickolas Sargent

Bathroom and closet by Sergio Mercado Design

Bathroom and closet by Sergio Mercado Design

If ever there was furnishing or fixture to get across Sergio Mercado’s ethereal inspirations for the bathroom, it’d be Paris-based designer Céline Wright’s Nuage Hanging lighting. Hung in a trio, the paper chandeliers float like clouds over the Kohler tub. Tactile architectural elements backdrop the Silk Georgette stone countertop and mirror by Salvator. Plumbing fixtures by Kohler, and sheer window covering by the Shade Store.

Nickolas Sargent

Sitting room by Clinton Smith Studio

Sitting room by Clinton Smith Studio

“It is a room for respite,” says designer Clinton Smith of the cozy, well-layered space on the show house’s top floor. Once used as a nursery, Smith transforms the intimate space into “the Hideaway,” a shimmering solace wrapped in a celestial Calico wallpaper and layered with cushions upholstered in a gilded mix of Zoffany, Harlequin, Morris & Co., and Sanderson textiles. Opposite the Oly daybed, a pair of Tavish etageres by Holland MacRae displays an array of books and storied artworks.

Nickolas Sargent

Bathroom by Ahmad AbouZanat | PROJECT AZ

Bathroom by Ahmad AbouZanat | PROJECT AZ

When designing the bathroom, Ahmad AbouZanat pulled from the historic home’s façade, color-matching the linear tile from Fireclay Tiles with the exterior’s dark-red brickwork and limestone trim. His favorite part of the Kohler-outfitted interior? “How the space celebrates that there is beauty in less; that a bathroom, a place where you start and end your day, doesn’t need to be overly ornate but rather a blend of simple, luxurious materials,” says AbouZanat.

Rodolfo Martinez

Dressing room by Clive Lonstein Inc.

Dressing room by Clive Lonstein Inc.

When Clive Lonstein was assigned one of the home’s smaller bedrooms, it was only natural that the designer—who’s worked with Tiffany & Co. among other fashion behemoths—decided to reimagine the space into a dressing room. Among the many jewels featured within it is a full-length mirror by ceramic artist Peter Lane, reminiscent of a marquee mirror with its repeated orbs, as well as a sitting nook outfitted in Dedar’s Kiku fabric. Objects from Carpenters Workshop Gallery decorate the space, and an antiqued mirror trim creates a luxe border.

Nickolas Sargent

Dining room by Georgis & Mirgorodsky

Dining room by Georgis & Mirgorodsky

“Our room is inspired by historic interiors of Cairo, Istanbul, and Damascus—places which enjoyed periods of cross-cultural pollination,” shares William T. Georgis of his and Ilya Mirgorodsky’s dining room and lounge. Thebes stools and custom poufs are available for those who don’t reserve a spot on the Georgis & Mirgorodsky-designed Bombola sofa (available through Maison Gerard), which has been upholstered in an acorn-brown shearling from Dualoy Leather.

The post Kips Bay Decorator Present Home New York 2023: See Each Room Contained in the Historic Higher West Facet Mansion appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

A decade ago, while still a student at Stanford University, Andy Fang co-founded DoorDash. Not only has the app revolutionized the food delivery market, but it’s also brought in tons of dough for the company’s creators. Though the tech entrepreneur was removed from the Forbes billionaires list earlier this year, largely due to falling stock prices, he can still shop whatever his heart desires at this elegant San Francisco mansion.

Ownership records show that Fang bought the site for $19.5 million about two years ago, although the transaction was never reported. Originally built in 1920 but extensively renovated in 2006 by architect William B. Remick in collaboration with interior design firm The Wiseman Group, the Second Empire-style building has five bedrooms and eight bathrooms spread over just over 8,700 square feet over five Levels distribute living space with bleached walnut floors throughout as well as breathtaking views of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Bay and Alcatraz beyond.

Nestled in the affluent neighborhood of Pacific Heights, on a gated lot spanning less than a quarter acre, the sprawl is filled with glittering amenities like a gym with sauna and steam room, movie theater with Dolby surround sound, wet bar fitted. outfitted wine room and billiards room lit by a curved bronze accent wall. There is also a steel floor garage with a motorized turntable that can accommodate up to seven vehicles.

On the main level, an expansive entrance hall, swathed in carved limestone and featuring a sweeping staircase with bronze railings, stands out, along with a sitting room with fireplace and doors leading onto an expansive patio, a formal dining room with fireplace, and a maple-paneled library rests under a vaulted ceiling made of Venetian plaster. A gourmet kitchen features a central island, quality stainless steel appliances, dumbwaiter, breakfast nook and butler’s pantry leading to a patio with built-in grill.

Other highlights include a lavish master retreat adorned with a fireplace, sitting area, two walk-in closets, and a spa-inspired bathroom with dual vanities, another fireplace, soaking tub, and shower. Adding to the luxurious appeal of the home is a windowed office space and a top floor “pent room” featuring a two-way fireplace, wet bar and more of those stunning views. The whole thing is rounded off by the garden area.

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