• Barreda house
• Haslett Warehouse Building
• Clara Huntington house
• 1045 Green St. house
• Frederick Helbush cottage
• Arthur Conan Doyle house
• Augustus Starr house
• 25 Hill St. house
• 77 Hill St. house
• 230 Filbert St. cottage
• Abbreviations

Fernando Barreda was minister from both Spain and Peru to the Court of St. James and the U.S. This was remodeled by Polk when the architect married Barreda's daughter (Woodbridge and Woodbridge 1992: 87).

Of particular interest to this brief account of Polk's life and work is the house which still stands at 2139-2141 Buchanan Street, which he remodeled at the turn of the century for his new in-laws, the Frederico Barredas. Gertrude Atherton, in Golden Gate Country, devotes pages to the "romantic Barredas." Señor Barreda had brought his family to the U.S. when he had been appointed the minister from Peru. He had also served as Peruvian minister to Spain, France and England. After his retirement, Barreda had built a great house on Madison Avenue, New York, and a great country house, "Beaulieu," at Newport.

In the 1870s some colossal debacle wiped out Barreda's fortune, and he moved his family to San Francisco, where he felt he might better recoup his losses. The New York mansion was sold at a profit, and "Beaulieu" was purchased by Mrs. Astor, a close friend of Madame Barreda, "for sentiment's sake." Of course, the remarkable Barredas were lionized by San Francisco society. There were four beautiful daughters and a son. Christina, the youngest daughter, became Mrs. Willis Polk in 1900. She was to share Polk's triumphs and frequent vicissitudes until her husband's death in 1924 (Alexander and Heig 2002: 338).

This finely detailed Italianate was the setting for many lavish parties when it was owned by Federico Barreda, Minister Plenipotentiary from Spain and Peru to the Court of Saint James and the United States. After 1904 Willis Polk married the Barreda's daughter, Christine Barreda Moore, and Polk proceeded to remodel the house, making it into two flats. The upper flat was used by Madame Barreda and her daughter, while the Polks lived in the lower (Olmsted and Watkins 1969: 253).

Old and new brickwork at one of the city's busiest corners, terminus of the Hyde Street cable car (Woodbridge and Woodbridge 1992: 73).

Although the old Haslett Warehouse Building, 650 Beach Street, has not yet been converted into the projected railroad museum, its purchase for this purpose (and the creation of a nineteenth century park on the block bounded by North Point, Hyde, Beach and Larkin, as well as the reconstruction of the Hyde Street Pier and the mooring there of representative historical vessels) has had the effect of "nailing down" the historic character of the district.

The Haslett Warehouse, built just after the 1906 earthquake, is not a structure of remarkable distinction. It is merely a handsome, clean-lined, good quality, turn-of-the-century warehouse. But that this good red brick building should be considered worthy of indefinite preservation and museum use inevitably suggested the potential value of the other big brick buildings in the area. Further, it has become increasingly obvious that the axis formed by the transportaiton museum committed to Aquatic Park and the existing Fisherman's Wharf complex must before long become the greatest tourist attraction in one of the greatest tourist cities of the world (Olmsted and Watkins 1969: 43).

Except for 1085 this is a rare group of survivors of the 1906 fire; the flats, No. 1039-43, were moved here after the fire (Woodbridge and Woodbridge 1992: 69).

The house at the left [1039-41 Green St.] once belonged to Clara Huntington, sculptor and daughter of Collis Huntington. Its exterior stairway makes it unique in the city (Alexander and Heig 2002: 144).

The house ... at 1039-41-43 Green Street, more certainly was moved to its present location after the great fire. A narrow, three-story Stick Style building of the 1880's, it consists of three large flats. The curving staircase leading to the second-floor entrance is quite unusual (Olmsted and Watkins 1969: 47).

Except for 1085 this is a rare group of survivors of the 1906 fire; the flats, No. 1039-43, were moved here after the fire (Woodbridge and Woodbridge 1992: 69).

Somewhat reminiscent of an old farmhouse, 1045 Green Street is a three-story brown shingled home of uncertain date. It may have been built as early as 1867 or as late as 1887. There is also the possibility that it may have been moved to this site immediately after the 1906 fire (Olmsted and Watkins 1969: 47).

The cottage at 2579 Washington Street was built in 1884, apparently for Frederick Helbush. With its late Italianate trim and quasi-Gothic spikiness this represents a fanciful version of the San Francisco one-story false-fronted house of the 1880's. The wood trim is pierced with curvilinear Eastlake patterns; fish-scale shingles cover rooflets over the door and windows. The miniature castellated ornaments over the door's roof possibly allude to the "H" of the first owner's name (Olmsted and Watkins 1969: 33).

Willis Polk allegedly remodeled this house, which was briefly the home of Arthur Conan Doyle (Woodbridge and Woodbridge 1992: 87).

This florid adaption of the French Baroque Revival would seem to point to a date between 1900 and 1910 rather than in the '80's. Both the plan and facade of the stucco building are unique (Olmsted and Watkins 1969: 291).

Washington Street possesses a number of smaller but equally interesting old buildings. Among the most charming of these is 2355 Washington Street, a three-story wooden Italianate Mansarded house built for Augustus Starr about 1882, and later the residence and office of Adolph Sutros's daughter, Dr. Emma Sutro Merrit--one of the first women to practice medicine in the nineteenth century (Olmsted and Watkins 1969: 33).

Another fine group: Italiante on the even side and Stick Style on the odd as a visual foil (Woodbridge and Woodbridge 1992: 143).

Behind graceful old iron fences and separated by a tree-shaded garden, these identically painted homes offer a study in two early styles. That at 25 depicts Stick Style with lavish Italianate details, while 35 is a cottage of pure Italianate persuasion (Olmsted and Watkins 1969: 273).

Another fine group: Italiante on the even side and Stick Style on the odd as a visual foil (Woodbridge and Woodbridge 1992: 143).

Many finely incised panels add elegance to the facade of this Stick Style house (Olmsted and Watkins 1969: 273).

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