The Atkinson House is a historic house built in 1853, and located in the

Russian Hill Russian Hill is a neighborhood of San Francisco, California. It is named after one of San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills". Location Russian Hill is directly to the north (and slightly downhill) from Nob Hill, to t ...

area of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, California. It is one of the oldest residences in the city still standing (tied with the Tanforan Cottages), and possibly one of the first

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

-style homes in the city. It is also known as the Katherine Atkinson House, and Atkinson-Escher House. The Atkinson House has been listed as a

San Francisco Designated Landmark This is a list of San Francisco Designated Landmarks. In 1967, the city of San Francisco, California, adopted Article 10 of the Planning Code, providing the city with the authority to designate and protect landmarks from inappropriate alteration ...

since July 17, 1977. This building is part of the

Vallejo Street Crest Historic District Russian Hill-Vallejo Street Crest District is a historic district in Russian Hill, San Francisco, California, that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 22, 1988, for the people, events and architecture. With The ar ...

, which is listed as one of the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

since January 22, 1988. With

History

The Atkinson House is two-stories tall and located at 1032 Broadway in San Francisco, California. The house was walking distance to the

Yerba Buena Cove Yerba Buena Cove was a cove on San Francisco Bay where the Mexican town of Yerba Buena, California, Yerba Buena was located. It lay between Clarks Point (San Francisco), Clarks Point to the north (southeast of Telegraph Hill, San Francisco, Teleg ...

, and was located on the top of a hill that originally had access via a zig-zagged foot path. A natural spring was located on the property, which had encouraged the growth of ferns and plants. It was built in 1853 for Joseph H. Atkinson and his family; he was a brick contractor and a partial owner of the Lone Mountain Cemetery. The presumed architect of the Atkinson House is William H. Ranlett (or his architecture firm "Homer, Ranlett and Morrison"). Between 1853 and 1854, a partnership formed between Joseph H. Atkinson (brick contractor), Charles Homer (a

general contractor A contractor (North American English) or builder (British English), is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the c ...

on projects such as ), and William H. Ranlett (an architect) in order to design and build their own three houses in the area now known as the Vallejo Street Crest Historic District in the

neighborhood of San Francisco. The Atkinson and Ranlett houses may have been the first Italianate-style homes in San Francisco. Katherine "Kate" M. Atkinson (1845—1920), the daughter of Joseph, had inherited the house. She was an artist and the cousin of

Gelett Burgess Frank Gelett Burgess (January 30, 1866 – September 18, 1951) was an American artist, art critic, poet, author and humorist. He was an important figure in the San Francisco Bay Area literary renaissance of the 1890s, particularly through his ico ...

; around the 1890s the house was used as a meeting place for artists and

bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a f ...

(such as the 'Les Jeunes' group), and the site of

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

practices and seances. In 1900, the home was remodeled by architect

Willis Polk Willis Jefferson Polk (October 3, 1867 – September 10, 1924) was an American architect, best known for his work in San Francisco, California. For ten years, he was the West Coast representative of D.H. Burnham & Company. In 1915, Polk oversaw ...

, of the firm Polk and Polk. During the Polk remodel, an iron fence with gate was added to the home. It survived the

1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...

and fire. At some point the exterior of the house was modified with

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

. The residence remained in the Atkinson family until 1916, and it changed owners many times over the years. In 1931, the house had a fire in the upper floor and it was remodeled by designer Bruce Porter. In 2015, the house was for sale, asking price US$12 million; it was 3890 square feet and featured four bedrooms and four and half bathrooms.

References

{{Authority control San Francisco Designated Landmarks 1850s architecture in the United States Italianate architecture in California Russian Hill, San Francisco Houses completed in 1853

History

See also

References