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Unfortunately, a very tragic event happened on Christmas Day, 1894 when fire destroyed the original wood-frame Cliff House. Since 1863, visitors have flocked to San Francisco’s western shore to enjoy sweeping ocean views and fine dining at the Cliff House. The restaurant is currently closed but we hope to reopen it someday soon.
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
Eventually, a horse-drawn stagecoach made the trip every Sunday from downtown San Francisco out to Lands End. Because only wealthy citizens could afford to travel all the way out to the remote resort, the Cliff House was considered a very exclusive place. For many years, the guest register bore the names of three U.S. presidents as well as prominent San Fran¬cisco families such as the Hearsts, the Stanfords and the Crockers. However, by the late1870s the Cliff House had declined in popularity. He had plans to re-establish the restaurant as a wholesome, family-friendly venue and for next few years, he remodeled rooms, hired new management and lured families back to the restaurant. Sutro also began construction on a railroad that would transport more people to this seaside attraction.
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Though the resort survived the 1906 earthquake with only $300 in damage, it burned to the ground a year later. Sutro’s daughter rebuilt a neoclassical concrete Cliff House and the National Park Service acquired this building in 1977. At its height, the Cliff House was part of a bustling strip of cafes and storefronts that attracted visitors from across the country. At the bar, visitors would fight over tables with window views so they could sip on their cocktails and munch on their seafood as the sun set over the Pacific. The Cliff House is a neo-classical style building perched on the headland above the cliffs just north of Ocean Beach, in the Outer Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The building overlooks the site of the Sutro Baths ruins, Seal Rocks, and is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, operated by the National Park Service (NPS).
Closure of iconic Cliff House ends a remarkable era of San Francisco's history
There was a gift shop in the building, and the historic camera obscura is on a deck overlooking the ocean. Peanut Wagon continued to manage Cliff House operations and worked with the Park Service during the extensive site restoration that was completed in 2004. The longtime proprietors of the Cliff House, a 157-year-old iconic San Francisco restaurant with breathtaking ocean views once enjoyed by Mark Twain, announced this week that they would be forced to close by the end of the year.
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It burned down twice, and was closed during Prohibition, but the Cliff House survived (until now), and it's been a wonderful place to come and have a meal and admire the view. The new tenant has a 20-year lease and plans to do significant remodeling. The building will reopen with several restaurants inside, similar to what was there before. At the place where San Francisco drops into the ocean, a door is shutting on a vibrant chapter of the city’s history. With a name that pays homage to the long-defunct Sutro Baths nearby—San Francisco Mayor Adolph Sutro founded both operations in the late 1800s—Sutro Lands End Partners is clearly aiming to reinvigorate one of the city’s unique cultural entities.
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Ansel Adams' San Francisco Sea Cliff Home Is for Sale. See Inside.
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San Francisco historian Woody LaBounty said that he is curious how much of the former Cliff House will remain intact when the new owners take over, including whether the new restaurant will be called Cliff House. The former operators, Dan and Mary Hountalas, still own the rights to the Cliff House name, according to LaBounty. The new Cliff House was a truly opulent sight, yet Sutro was intent on making it a destination for working-class and wealthy families. He succeeded by offering a menu with affordable prices — a dime got you a seat on the porch and a drink — and a rail line that only cost a nickel and ended at the beach. The blast was heard a hundred miles away and demolished the entire north wing of the tavern.
After the Gold Rush, San Francisco's population exploded and the city's downtown area got very crowded with new buildings and neighborhoods. Real estate developers, eager to make more money, saw Lands End and its unparalleled beauty as a new place to develop. They constructed the Cliff House in 1863 as a fashionable resort for the wealthy. To help people travel to this faraway place, a private company constructed a brand new road called Point Lobos Avenue.
Camera Obscura
The dark-colored patches in the water are the canopy of an underwater kelp forest. Individual kelp fronds grow more than 100 feet (31 meters) long and as fast as 2 feet (0.75 meters) in a single day. Sea otters find food in the kelp and wrap themselves in the fronds when they sleep.
Depending on the time of year, you may find farm stands open selling seasonal produce. If you're in a hurry, you can get a quick look by exiting Highway 1 at Highway 68 (Forest Ave). Follow the water's edge and you'll end up at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where Del Monte Avenue will take you back to Highway 1. The Monterey Peninsula is home to the towns of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Pacific Grove, and Monterey, each of them unique and fun to visit. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is here, as are Cannery Row, Pebble Beach, and the 17-Mile Drive.
The project's executive director, Nicole Meldahl, said she would be happy to loan its memorabilia to the new vendor to honor the memory of the longtime restaurant. A bidding process by the service to find a willing business to take over the space to operate a restaurant began in January 2022, more than a year after the restaurant shuttered in 2020. The Cliff House lease will also include the café at the nearby Lands End visitor center, according to bidding documents. The Cliff House is perched on the cliffs just north of Ocean Beach in San Francisco. In its lifetime, it has boasted everything from the largest gift shop in the world to an employee roster that included Rudolf Valentino as a dance instructor.
Brussels sprouts are a popular crop here, and you may see and/or smell them if you pass during harvest season. Staying on Hwy 1 while traveling southbound from Santa Cruz can be tricky, but is easier if you focus on the fact that you're headed toward Watsonville and Monterey. Traveling in either direction, observe the daytime headlights-on section of the road, which is quite busy and requires extra-attentive driving skills.
This time, Sutro carried out an elaborate construction plan and created a marvelous Victorian confection on the cliff, which included a ballroom, several restaurants, museums, etc. The first Cliff House was built in 1863 and became a place for the wealthy residents of SF to come out to the ocean in their carriages and dine. Sutro Lands End Partners, LLC, has reached an agreement to lease the former Cliff House from the National Park Service, which administers the land where the building is located. By the time Adolph Sutro, elected mayor of San Francisco in 1895, bought it in 1890, along with the surrounding areas, the clientele was no longer so elite.
The third Cliff House, constructed in concrete, was designed in a streamline, classically inspired architectural style; the building settled into the landscape rather than dominating the ocean view. Open to the public in 1909, the Cliff House carried on the tradition of sumptuous dining rooms and elegant entertainment. Today's world-famous Cliff House, part of the Sutro Historic Landscape District, is the latest in three incarnations of this destination for locals and tourists. The Cliff House is positioned in a spectacular locale for visitors to enjoy hiking along the amazing Lands End trails or Ocean Beach. Explore the famous Sutro Baths ruins or visit historic Sutro Heights Park.
In 1977, the National Park Service acquired the property to become part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The National Park Service rehabilitated the historic Cliff House in 2005 to return it to its original neoclassical design. Architects added an adjacent Sutro Wing to improve access to ocean views, allowing diners and visitors alike to continue the long tradition of enjoying the magnificent Pacific from the Cliff House high above Seal Rocks. Within six months of the devastating fire, Sutro had plans for a new Cliff House and after spending $75,000, he proudly opened the second Cliff House in 1896.
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