Julius' Castle is a castle-shaped building that sits at 1541

Montgomery Street Montgomery Street is a north-south thoroughfare in San Francisco, California, in the United States. It runs about 16 blocks from the Telegraph Hill neighborhood south through downtown, terminating at Market Street Market Street may refer to: * ...

Telegraph Hill A telegraph hill is a hill or other natural elevation that is chosen as part of an optical telegraph system. Telegraph Hill may also refer to: England * A high point in the Haldon Hills, Devon * Telegraph Hill, Dorset, a hill in the Dorset Down ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. It served as a visual landmark and as a restaurant for many years, originally opening between 1924 and 1928. Since 1980, the building has been listed as a San Francisco Landmark Number 121. The architecture is described by the

San Francisco Planning Department The government of the City and County of San Francisco utilizes the "strong mayor" form of mayoral/council government, composed of the Mayor, Board of Supervisors, several elected officers, and numerous other entities. It is the only consolidate ...

as, "primarily derived from the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

and Arts & Crafts Styles".

History

In 1886, the lot originally housed Michael Crowley's two-story grocery store and later it was replaced with a family home which burned down in a fire in 1917. In 1923, Julius Roz (1869–1947) started the construction process with architect Luigi "Louis" Mastropasqua (1870–1951). The design of Julius' Castle was to pay tribute to ''Layman's Wooden Castle'' (also known as ''Layman’s Folly'') a former German-style castle building that was a tourist attraction on Telegraph Hill from 1882 to 1903. Both Roz and Mastropasqua had emigrated from Italy to San Francisco a year prior to the closing of ''Layman's Folly''. The

Panama–Pacific International Exposition The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely se ...

demolition in 1919 provided salvaged redwood and maple for the construction of Julius' Castle. In the 1920s the castle was painted pink. It operated as a

speakeasy A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States d ...

for a time during

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

. Julius' Castle stayed open after Roz died in 1947. The interior was decorated in

Victorian-era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardi ...

parlor style with views of the San Francisco Bay. It was very popular with celebrities, politicians and businessmen such as

Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the List of awards and nominations received by Robert Redford, recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award from four nomi ...

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

Sir Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached t ...

, and the entire cast of the film ''

The Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic film, epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based o ...

.'' Julius' Castle makes appearances in Dashiell Hamett's novels. The 1951 film, ''

The House on Telegraph Hill ''House on Telegraph Hill'' is a 1951 American film noir starring Richard Basehart, Valentina Cortese, and William Lundigan, and directed by Robert Wise. The film received an Academy Award nomination for its art direction. Telegraph Hill is a d ...

'' was filmed at Julius' Castle. After being operated by a series of restaurant owners and managers (some reportedly more competent than others), Julius' Castle closed in 2007. In 2017, the City approved the reopening of the eatery. However, due to the neighbors complaints of a fear of crowds and noise and a related lawsuit, there were delays in reopening, and it's now scheduled to reopen in 2023.

Gallery

File:California-05836 - Julius' Castle (20015100964).jpg File:Menu, Julius’ Castle, San Francisco (12001224385).jpg, Julius’ Castle Menu, date unknown File:Menu, Julius’ Castle, San Francisco (12002040776).jpg, Julius’ Castle Menu, date unknown

References

External links

Julius' Castle website
* Video
"Julius Castle on Telegraph Hill – This Forgotten Day in S.F."
from

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

(2015) {{San Francisco, California San Francisco Designated Landmarks 1880s architecture in the United States Drinking establishments in the San Francisco Bay Area Restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area Speakeasies Nightclubs in San Francisco

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links