San Francisco Architecture

San Francisco Architectural Guide

Key Trait:

Pointed arches and medieval church-inspired details.

Overview:

San Francisco's earliest architectural import, bringing European ecclesiastical grandeur to the Gold Rush frontier. While few original residential examples survive, religious institutions embody the style’s character.

Famous Examples:

Old St. Mary’s Cathedral (Chinatown)

Identifying Features:

Pointed arch windows
Steep-pitched roofs with decorative finials
Vertical emphasis in design
Stone tracery and stained glass
Buttresses or pilasters
Cross-topped spires
Heavy wooden doors, often pointed

Key Trait:

Flat or low-pitched roofs with decorative brackets.

Overview:

The choice of San Francisco’s early merchant class, adapting Italian villa elegance to narrow city lots with tall, decorative homes.

Famous Examples:

Notable examples remain on Octavia Street in Pacific Heights, as well as in parts of the Mission, Lower Haight, and Alamo Square.

Identifying Features:

Bracketed cornices
Flat or low-pitched roofs
Tall, narrow windows with arched tops
Bay windows, often upper-floor
Symmetrical facades
Rusticated stonework
Ornate window hoods
High-ceilinged interiors with plaster details

Key Trait:

Distinctive mansard roofs with dormer windows.

Overview:

Named after Napoleon III’s France, this style maximized attic space while signaling urban sophistication.

Famous Example:

Audiffred Building

Identifying Features:

Mansard roofs with dormer windows
Symmetrical layouts with central pavilions
Classical columns and pilasters
Decorative ironwork and cresting
Brick or stone materials
Grand staircases and formal interiors

Key Trait:

Asymmetrical design with ornate decorative trim.

Overview:

San Francisco’s most iconic Victorian style, born during an economic boom when craftsmanship and complexity were prized.

Famous Examples:

Painted Ladies at Alamo Square; homes in Haight-Ashbury and Pacific Heights

Identifying Features:

Asymmetrical facades with varied rooflines
Curved bay windows and elaborate woodwork
Mixed textures: clapboard, shingles, and panels
Corner towers and conical roofs
Bright, multi-color paint schemes
Spacious interiors with ornate built-ins

Note: Often confused with Eastlake, but Queen Anne features curving trim and fluid ornamentation, unlike Eastlake’s angular details.

Key Trait:

Machine-made decorative elements and rectilinear detail.

Overview:

Popularized by Charles Eastlake’s design principles, this style celebrated industrial-era precision and mass-produced detailing.

Famous Examples:

Examples in Castro, Western Addition, and Noe Valley

Identifying Features:

Geometric, angular trim and ornamentation
Knob-and-spindle work
Flat-cut, machined trim elements
Angular bay windows
Incised geometric patterns
Bracketed eaves and patterned shingles
Interior built-ins with clean-lined geometry

Note: Eastlake is more geometric and angular than Queen Anne.

Key Trait:

Exposed wooden framing creating decorative patterns.

Overview:

The most structural of the Victorian styles, Stick Style celebrated the craftsmanship of wood framing with surface ornament that hinted at the structure underneath.

Famous Examples:

Homes in Western Addition and Mission District

Identifying Features:

Exposed structural-style framing on facades
Board-and-batten siding
Angular wooden trim patterns
Cross-bracing and decorative trusses
Steep roofs with overhangs
Large porches and vertical emphasis
Natural finishes or muted paint schemes

Key Trait:

Continuous wood shingle cladding creating unified surfaces.

Overview:

Originating on the East Coast, this style emphasized rustic elegance and informal massing—typically favored for large, custom homes in affluent areas.

Famous Examples:

Homes in Sea Cliff, Pacific Heights

Identifying Features:

Uninterrupted shingle siding
Asymmetrical and irregular building shapes
Large porches and overhanging eaves
Gambrel or complex gabled roofs
Stone foundations and natural materials
Multi-pane windows and open floor plans

Key Trait:

Symmetrical design inspired by early American architecture.

Overview:

A response to ornate Victorianism, Colonial Revival brought clean lines, balanced proportions, and traditional East Coast forms to San Francisco’s growing neighborhoods.

Famous Examples:

Homes in Marina and Richmond Districts

Identifying Features:

Symmetrical facades with central doors
Multi-pane, double-hung windows
Classical columns and modest entablatures
Shutters (decorative or functional)
Clapboard siding or brick
Dormers and center-hall plans

Key Trait:

Simplified Victorian ornament with classical influence.

Overview:

Rebuilding after the 1906 earthquake led to a new style that was less frilly than Victorian but still elegant—blending classical lines with San Francisco’s signature bay windows.

Famous Examples:

Rebuilt areas of Mission, SOMA, and Western Addition

Identifying Features:

Boxed bay windows with clean lines
Simplified trim and dentil moldings
Off-center doorways
Hardwood floors and built-ins
Horizontal emphasis and restrained decoration

Key Trait:

Spanish colonial inspiration with curved parapets and red tile roofs.

Overview:

Mission Revival reinterpreted California’s Spanish colonial past using stucco, arches, and clay tiles—ideal for residential development in a Mediterranean climate.

Famous Examples:

Homes in Glen Park, Richmond, and Mission District

Identifying Features:

Curved parapets and arched entries
Red tile roofs and stucco exteriors
Exposed beams and decorative tilework
Courtyards and wrought iron details
Low-pitched roofs and bell towers

Key Trait:

Monumental scale with Greek and Roman temple elements.

Overview:

Favored for civic buildings during the City Beautiful movement, this style brought grandeur and formality to San Francisco’s rebuilt core.

Famous Examples:

City Hall, War Memorial Opera House, Palace of Fine Arts

Identifying Features:

Massive columns and symmetrical facades
Stone or concrete construction
Triangular pediments and entablatures
Grand staircases and formal interiors

Key Trait:

Horizontal emphasis with integrated natural materials.

Overview:

Heavily influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, Prairie School homes are rare in San Francisco but reflect a strong connection to landscape, geometry, and horizontality.

Famous Examples:

Isolated examples in Richmond and Sunset (uncommon)

Identifying Features:

Strong horizontal lines
Low-pitched roofs with wide eaves
Bands of grouped windows
Natural materials in earth tones
Built-in furniture and geometric detailing
Integration with site and landscape
Art glass windows and central fireplaces

Key Trait:

Spanish and Italian coastal villa inspiration.

Overview:

This romantic, luxurious style was well-suited for San Francisco's coastal neighborhoods. It featured decorative tile, ironwork, and warm stucco finishes.

Famous Examples:

Homes in Sea Cliff and Pacific Heights

Identifying Features:

Red tile or flat clay roofs
Stucco walls with warm color palette
Wrought iron balconies and gates
Arched windows and doorways
Courtyards, patios, and fountains
Asymmetrical villa-like layouts
Colorful ceramic tile accents

Key Trait:

Geometric patterns with vertical emphasis and metallic accents.

Overview:

Art Deco celebrated the Machine Age with bold forms, stylized ornament, and futuristic optimism—especially visible in San Francisco's commercial buildings.

Famous Examples:

450 Sutter, Shell Building, Paramount Theatre

Identifying Features:

Vertical emphasis with setbacks
Geometric and zigzag patterns
Metallic accents (chrome, aluminum)
Sunbursts and stylized motifs
Flat roofs and corner windows
Neon and integrated lighting

Key Trait:

Fairy-tale cottage aesthetic with whimsical, rustic details.

Overview:

Designed to charm and evoke fantasy, this style was particularly popular during the Depression and post-WWI era as visual escapism.

Famous Examples:

Homes throughout the Sunset, Richmond, and Forest Hill

Identifying Features:

Steep, uneven rooflines
Arched doorways and small-paned casement windows
Chimney emphasis and rolled eaves
Decorative half-timbering and masonry
Asymmetry and storybook proportions
Integrated planters and courtyards

Key Trait:

Smooth curves and horizontal "speed lines."

Overview:

A late cousin of Art Deco, this style embraced streamlined forms drawn from aviation and marine design, often used in apartment buildings and homes during the 1930s.

Famous Examples:

Aquatic Park Bathhouse; select homes in the Sunset and Outer Richmond

Identifying Features:

Curved corners and ribbon windows
Smooth stucco exteriors
Horizontal banding and speed lines
Flat roofs and minimal ornamentation
Porthole windows and glass block
Integrated garages and chrome details

Key Trait:

Integration with nature through extensive glazing and open plans.

Overview:

Post-WWII optimism and new technologies allowed for open, airy homes that blurred the boundary between indoors and out—especially on hilly or view lots.