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After a series of these newspaper paeans to early morning rising and riding to the Cliff House (many interjected with classical poetry to convey the sublimity), Mark Twain in 1864 took his own trip and gave a curmudgeonly, if humorous, account. When the ride, the view, and the sea lions weren’t enough to draw out the crowds Captain Foster booked balloon ascensions and acrobatic spectacles. 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. Sutro built his own steam train line to the Cliff House, and then another street car line to the Sutro Baths – the elaborate, glass-domed swimming pool – when the fare doubled on the original steam train line. At the place where San Francisco drops into the ocean, a door is shutting on a vibrant chapter of the city’s history. 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.
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"Now it's a matter of waiting and seeing how they honor the history they are stepping into," LaBounty said. After closing its doors several years ago, the historic Cliff House will be reopening in 2024 for the public to enjoy once again. The restaurant even holds a tribute to the restaurant itself with a series of place settings from different eras of the Cliff House along with the menus displaying period prices. "I think this is what makes this exhibition so wonderful and so powerful, is that you’re really experiencing this history in the place that created it," Meldahl said.
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The first structure was built in 1863 as a small, one-story structure atop the cliffs. Traveling to the resort was difficult and would take hours, making it only accessible to wealthy visitors. Guests of the first Cliff House included SF’s wealthiest families and even several presidents.
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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. 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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Generations of San Franciscans and countless visitors have dined at the Cliff House and enjoyed the gorgeous ocean views. In its place, Adolph Sutro built a Victorian palace, an eight-story structure crowned with fanciful turrets and towers and occupied by galleries, lunch rooms, and shops. Famous guests included Oscar Wilde, Andrew Carnegie, and two American presidents. Perched over the Pacific above rocks populated by lounging seals, this San Francisco landmark has had many lives since it first opened in 1863.
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On weekends, there was little room at the Cliff House hitching racks for tethering the horses for the thousands of rigs. Soon, omnibus, railways and streetcar lines made it to near Lone Mountain where passengers transferred to stagecoach lines to the beach. The growth of Golden Gate Park attracted beach travelers, in search of meals and a look at the sea lions sunning themselves on Seal Rocks just off the cliffs, to visit the area.
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Promenade nearby to the glorious ruins of Sutro Baths, then head out to the world-famous panormas of Lands End. Today, the Cliff House remains an iconic destination and a beacon of hospitality as the westernmost edge of the city. Indeed, no visit to San Francisco is complete without a stop at the Cliff House. His clapboard structure offered peerless ocean views and its fashionable, high-priced dining room kept the carriage trade well fueled. 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).
We are honored to have been chosen by the National Park Service to be the stewards of this beloved venue for the next generation,” said Alexander Leff, who is leading the effort to bring back the restaurant. The Cliff House closed its doors in 2020, leaving many Bay Area residents wondering what would happen to the iconic restaurant and space. After several years of uncertainty, the National Parks Service announced that a 20-year lease was awarded to Sutro Lands End Partners LLC. The space is expected to open sometime in 2024, and details about the new restaurant have yet to be released. There are windows where generations of visitors have sipped cocktails while watching the day's last rays glancing across seal rock. There is the long counter where visitors bellied-up for the restaurant's signature poppers, or Bloody Mary's.
Seal Rock
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. 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. The Cliff House is perched on the cliffs just north of Ocean beach in San Francisco. Adolph Sutro, a mining engineer who had made a fortune by modernizing the tunnels of the silver-rich Comstock Lode, decided to save the formerly respectable establishment from its descent into tawdriness and bought it in 1883. He quickly set about ousting the riffraff and refashioned the Cliff House into a family destination.
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.
In 1877, the toll road, now Geary Street, was purchased by the city for approximately $25,000. 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. The National Park Service remains committed to providing an exceptional experience for residents and visitors to the Bay Area and looks forward to welcoming the public back to the Cliff House in the future. Perched on the rugged cliffs at Lands End, the Cliff House has a long history in San Francisco, and the current building is actually the 3rd iteration of the structure.
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