Cliff House

California is famous both for its beach front buildings and for the frequent calamities that strike seaside structures. One of the most famous buildings along the West Coast shoreline was the Cliff House, built in 1863. Its guest register included the names of prominent San Francisco citizens and even three U.S. presidents. Members of the upper class came in their carriages to watch nearby horse races or simply to enjoy the view. Mining tycoon Adolph Sutro bought the Cliff House in 1881 and built a rail line from San Francisco that allowed the general public to visit the seaside building, but a fire destroyed the Cliff House on Christmas Day, 1894. Sutro built a new and even more beautiful Cliff House in 1896, a year after he was elected mayor of San Francisco. This one outlasted Sutro, who died in 1898, but it, too, succumbed to fire, burning down in 1907. Sutro's daughter, Emma, had a third Cliff House built in 1909. This neoclassic building was acquired by the National Park Service in 1977.