Cliff House (closed) (San Francisco, California)

USA / California / San Francisco / San Francisco, California / Point Lobos Avenue, 1090
 restaurant, place with historical importance, closed
1090 Point Lobos Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94121
www.cliffhouse.com/

What is the Cliff House? A restaurant? An attraction? A historic site? An ocean-side retreat? The Cliff House is all of these things and more, a place where visitors can go to experience a whole range of San Francisco treats all in one location. It is a building with a bar, a bistro and a fine dining establishment where travelers can satiate their taste buds with local flavors. It is a historic building which is adjoined by the historic sites of the Camera Obscura and the Sutro Baths. It is a tourist attraction, and it is a favorite respite for locals. Perhaps best of all, it is a place located right on the beach, on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, where waves crash against boulders and sea lions frolic in the freezing water.

Four different variations of the Cliff House have stood on the cliffs overlooking Seal Rocks, at the Northwest corner of San Francisco. Two earlier versions were rather modestly small in size, especially when compared with the elaborate eight-story Victorian building which stood on that spot from 1896 to 1907 as the third Cliff House. And when that ornate version of the building burned down, the fourth version to be built was designed more like the first two: simple, and made to blend in with the ocean and cliffs surrounding it. That fourth version is still standing today. The Cliff House has held restaurants, dance halls, gift shops and vista points. From the windows of the building, a person could see for miles down the coast. They could also sit at their table and watch any ships that might be sailing in or out of the Golden Gate. Regardless of which incarnation of the building a person was visiting, they always had a spectacular view.

The first Cliff House was a modest structure built in 1863 by Masters Butler and Buckley. The guest register bore the names of three U.S. Presidents as well as prominent San Francisco families such as the Hearst's, Stanford's and Crocker's who would drive their carriages out to Ocean Beach for horse racing and recreation. In 1881, the Cliff House was sold to Adolph Sutro, a self made millionaire, philanthropist and later, mayor of San Francisco. Seven years later, Sutro built a railroad to bring the general public to this seaside attraction. On Christmas Day 1894, the Cliff House was destroyed by fire.

A third Cliff House was built in 1909 by Sutro's daughter Emma. It was neoclassic in design and carried on the tradition of sumptuous dining. The Depression and two world wars took their toll on the area however, and the Sutro family sold the Cliff House in 1952 to George Whitney. The Cliff House was remodeled several times before the National Park Service acquired it in 1977. Today the Cliff House is preserved as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Closed on December 31, 2020

In this building

  1. Sutro's at the Cliff House
  2. The Bistro
  3. The Gift Shop
 Add place (company, shop, etc.) to this building
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_House,_San_Francisco
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   37°46'42"N   122°30'50"W

Comments

  • They serve excellent lobster dishes in a typical 1930s ambiance - the entire restaurants has photos of celebreties of that era. A very popular place indeed.
  • I rode my bike here once or twice. Western extent of my biking range
This article was last modified 3 years ago