The Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences is a luxury residential
skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...
in the
Financial District
A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies, and other related finance corporations have their headquarters offices. In major cities, financial districts often host ...
of
San Francisco
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 ...
,
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 ...
. The residences are built atop the historic Old Chronicle Building, sometimes called the de Young Building, which was constructed in 1890. It is the first skyscraper built in California.
History
In 1888,
M. H. de Young
Michael Henry de Young (September 30, 1849 – February 15, 1925) was an American journalist and businessman.
Early life
De Young was born in St. Louis, Missouri. The family was Jewish. Michael in later years claimed that his father was a Balti ...
, owner of the ''
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. ...
'', commissioned
Burnham and Root
Burnham and Root was one of Chicago's most famous architectural companies of the nineteenth century. It was established by Daniel Hudson Burnham and John Wellborn Root.
During their eighteen years of partnership, Burnham and Root designed and ...
to design a signature building to house his newspaper. Finished in 1890, the Chronicle Building stood ten stories, with a clock tower reaching in height, becoming San Francisco's first skyscraper and the tallest building on the West Coast.
In 1905, a celebration of the re-election of Mayor
Eugene Schmitz
Eugene Edward Schmitz (August 22, 1864 – November 20, 1928), often referenced as "Handsome Gene" Schmitz, was an American musician, musical director, and politician. He served as the 26th mayor of San Francisco from 1902 to 1907, in office dur ...
stopped in front of the building and launched fireworks, which ignited the wooden clock tower atop the building.
The damaged clock tower was removed and de Young added two additional floors along Market Street and a 16-story annex along Kearny Street. The Chronicle Building survived the
1906 San Francisco earthquake
At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...
but was badly damaged by the ensuing fire, which gutted the interior.
The building was rebuilt by architect
Willis Polk
Willis Jefferson Polk (October 3, 1867 – September 10, 1924) was an American architect, best known for his work in San Francisco, California. For ten years, he was the West Coast representative of D.H. Burnham & Company. In 1915, Polk oversaw ...
, who ran the San Francisco office of Burnham and Root.
In 1924, the ''Chronicle'' moved to its present location at Fifth and Mission streets, and the old Chronicle Building became a normal office building, thenceforth known as the de Young Building or Old Chronicle Building.
In 1962, in an effort to modernize the building, its owners covered the original masonry facade with a new facade of aluminum, glass, and porcelain paneling. By 2004, new owners received approval to restore the original facade, convert the building to residential use, and add eight stories to the existing structure. The Old Chronicle Building was designated
San Francisco Landmark No. 243 in 2004.
The building re-opened as the
Ritz-Carlton
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addit ...
Club and Residences in November 2007.
Gallery
File:Chronicle Building, San Francisco, 1901.jpg, Old Chronicle Building in 1901
File:Chronicle Building 1906.jpg, The Old Chronicle Building after the 1906 earthquake and fire
File:Chronicle Building, San Francisco, 1915.jpg, Old Chronicle Building in 1915
File:PostcardSanFranciscoFountainPalaceHotelChronicleEntrance1915.jpg, Entrance to the Old Chronicle Building (left) and the Palace Hotel, ca. 1915
File:Palace Hotel and Lotta's Fountain.jpg, The de Young Building (left) as it appeared with its modern skin from 1962 to 2005
See also
*
San Francisco's tallest buildings
*
List of early skyscrapers
This list of early skyscrapers details a range of tall, commercial buildings built between 1880 and the 1930s, predominantly in the United States cities of New York City, New York and Chicago, but also across the rest of the U.S. and in many othe ...
References
External links
*
{{Buildings in California timeline
1890 establishments in California
1890s architecture in the United States
Burnham and Root buildings
Commercial buildings completed in 1890
Financial District, San Francisco
Newspaper headquarters in the United States
Residential skyscrapers in San Francisco
San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Designated Landmarks