Frommer's San Francisco 2012 - Matthew Poole [139]
The Hallidie Building’s iconic fire escape.
Two prominent pieces of San Francisco’s skyline are in the Financial District. The Transamerica Pyramid, 600 Montgomery St., between Clay and Washington streets, is one of the tallest structures in San Francisco. This corporate headquarters was completed in 1972, stands 48 stories tall, and is capped by a 212-foot spire. The former Bank of America World Headquarters, 555 California St., was designed by Wurster, Bernardi, and Emmons with Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill. This carnelian-marble-covered building dates from 1969 and is 52 stories tall. The focal point of the building’s formal plaza is an abstract black granite sculpture, known locally as the “Banker’s Heart,” designed by Japanese architect Masayuki Nagare.
The Medical Dental Building, 450 Sutter St., is a steel-frame structure beautifully clad in terra cotta. It was designed by Miller and Pflueger in 1929. The entrance and the window frames are elaborately ornamented with Mayan relief work; the lobby ceiling is similarly decorated with gilding. Note the ornate elevators.
At the foot of Market Street you will find the Ferry Building. Built between 1895 and 1903, it served as the city’s major transportation hub before the Golden Gate and Bay bridges were built; some 170 ferries docked here daily unloading Bay Area commuters until the 1930s. The tower that soars above the building was inspired by the Campanile of Venice and the Cathedral Tower in Seville. In 2003, a 4-year renovation was completed and the building is now a spectacular mixed-use landmark building featuring a 660-foot-long, skylit nave, which had been partially filled in and destroyed in the 1950s. If you stop by the Ferry Building, you might also want to go to Rincon Center, 99 Mission St., to see the WPA (Works Progress Administration) murals painted by the Russian artist Refregier in the post office.
Several important buildings are on or near Nob Hill. The Flood Mansion, 2222 Broadway St., at Webster Street, was built between 1885 and 1886 for James Clair Flood. Thanks to the Comstock Lode, Flood rose from being a bartender to one of the city’s wealthiest men. He established the Nevada bank that later merged with Wells Fargo. The house cost $1.5 million to build at the time; the fence alone cost $30,000. It was designed by Augustus Laver and modified by Willis Polk after the 1906 earthquake to accommodate the Pacific Union Club. Unfortunately, you can’t go inside: The building is now a private school.
Built by George Applegarth in 1913 for sugar magnate Adolph Spreckels, the Spreckels Mansion, 2080 Washington St., is currently home to romance novelist Danielle Steel (don’t even try to get in to see her!). The extraordinary building has rounded-arch French doors on the first and second floors and curved balconies on the second floor. Inside, the original house featured an indoor pool in the basement, Adamesque fireplaces, and a circular Pompeian room with a fountain.
Finally, one of San Francisco’s most ingenious architectural accomplishments is the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. Although it’s visually less appealing than the nearby Golden Gate Bridge (except at night when it’s lit up), the Bay Bridge is in many ways more spectacular. The silvery giant that links San Francisco with Oakland is one of the world’s longest steel bridges (81⁄4 miles). It opened in 1936, 6 months before the Golden Gate. Each of its two decks contains five automobile lanes. The Bay Bridge is not a single bridge at all, but a superbly dovetailed series of spans joined midbay, at Yerba Buena Island, by one of the world’s largest (in diameter) tunnels. To the west of Yerba Buena, the bridge is actually two separate suspension bridges, joined at a central anchorage. East of the island is a 1,400-foot cantilever span, followed by a succession of truss bridges. This east span of the bridge is finally being replaced after being damaged in the 1989