St. Francis Wood

St. Francis Wood is justifiably lauded as one of the nation's finest examples of a "residence park."

After the resolution of Adolph Sutro's will, the Residential Development Company carved 725 acres from the old San Miguel Rancho grant, and shortly thereafter, the Mason-McDuffie Company purchased 175 of them for St. Francis Wood.

The "City Beautiful" movement, popularized by heralded architect Daniel Burnham, influenced the community plan, and restrictions of every kind shaped the development that arose.

Planners banned businesses, buried utilities beneath the sidewalks, and laid out wide streets. Occasional architectural features meant to be "reminiscent of the loveliest gardens of the Italian Renaissance" ornamented the grounds.

The best names in architecture and urban planning of the day attached their names to the winding lanes behind the pillared entryways.

The famed Olmsted Brothers laid out the curvilinear street plan. John Galen Howard acted as supervising architect, responsible for the attractive portals and fountains. Henry Gutterson eventually succeeded him, designing a number of the homes that still preside beneath the tall trees.

Did all this planning result in a development utopia? Perhaps. A San Francisco Examiner poll taken in 1998 showed that the residents of St. Francis Wood are among the most satisfied people in all of San Francisco.

St. Francis Wood Articles

• Duncan McDuffie
  A first-person account of the building of St. Francis Wood
• Henry H. Gutterson
  Supervising Architect of St. Francis Wood
• St. Francis Wood
  St. Francis Wood is justifiably lauded as one of the nation's finest examples of a "residence park."
• St. Francis Wood Pamphlet
  Mason-McDuffie and Baldwin & Howell issued a small booklet promoting the St. Francis Wood development in the mid-1910s.
• West of Twin Peaks
  The Neighborhoods including St. Francis Wood, Ingleside Terraces, Sunnyside, Balboa Terrace, Forest Hill, and West Portal

Images: St. Francis Wood in 2000. Photos by WNP.

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Page updated 5 February 2004