The Swedenborgian Church is a historic church complex at 2107 Lyon Street in the
Pacific Heights
Pacific Heights (often referred to as Pac Heights) is a wealthy neighborhood in San Francisco, California, United States. It has panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Bay, the Palace of Fine Arts, Alcatraz, Presidio of San Fr ...
neighborhood of
San Francisco, California
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 ...
. Built in 1895 for a
Swedenborgian
The New Church (or Swedenborgianism) can refer to any of several historically related Christian denominations that developed under the influence of the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). The Swedenborgian tradition is considered to ...
congregation, it is considered one of
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
's earliest pure
Arts and Crafts
The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...
buildings, with design contributions by
A. C. Schweinfurth,
A. Page Brown,
Bernard Maybeck,
William Keith, and
Bruce Porter. It was designated a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
in 2004.
Architecture and building history
The Swedenborgian Church is located at the northwest corner of Lyon and Washington Streets in San Francisco's Pacific Heights neighborhood, on a lot that has been leveled by fill held by a stuccoed retaining wall. The complex is basically rectangular, housing the church, parsonage, and parish house amid landscaped gardens. It is accessed by an arched portico, flanked by similar arched openings, which form a sort of portico in front of the sanctuary facing Lyon Street, covered by a tile roof. The sanctuary is a single-story structure, with a thick walls finished with a variety of colored and textured bricks. The gabled roof is supported by heavy timbers, which are exposed on the inside. The doors into the sanctuary are made of dark tongue-and-groove oak boards, and are fastened by hand-wrought iron hinges. The interior of the main sanctuary is dominated by massive timbers, mainly
madrone clad in
Douglas fir
The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...
wainscoting.
The first pastor of the church was Rev. Joseph Worcester (May 20, 1836 - August 4, 1913), who bought the land and worked with the architects to design the church.
/ref> Contributions were made to the plans by A. C. Schweinfurth, A. Page Brown, Bernard Maybeck, William Keith, and Bruce Porter. The then-nascent Arts and Crafts movement
The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America.
Initiat ...
was viewed by Worcester as harmonizing particularly well with Swedenborgian teachings about harmonizing man with nature.[ The church opened for worship March 17, 1895. It remains essentially the same as when it was built.
]
See also
* National Register of Historic Places listings in San Francisco
*List of National Historic Landmarks in California
This is a complete List of National Historic Landmarks in California. The United States National Historic Landmark, National Historic Landmark (NHL) program is operated under the auspices of the National Park Service, and recognizes structures, di ...
References
3. Building with Nature: Inspiration for the Arts & Crafts Home (Gibbs Smith, Nov. 2005), Chapter 3 is devoted to the church.
External links
Swedenborgian Church of San Francisco web site
{{Authority control
Swedenborgian churches in California
Churches in San Francisco
19th-century Swedenborgian church buildings
Churches completed in 1895
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in California
National Register of Historic Places in San Francisco
National Historic Landmarks in the San Francisco Bay Area
Bernard Maybeck buildings
Arts and Crafts architecture in California
American Craftsman architecture in California