San Francisco Hotel Project4

Hospitality House

^{HOSPITALITY HOUSE - 146 LEAVENWORTH ST.}

Across Leavenworth from the Page and providing a counterbalance to the dark side is Hospitality House, an open art studio with classes and its own gallery that serves both the neighborhood's homeless and residents of SROs. Anyone who wants to explore self-expression in nearly any medium but hasn't the means to buy materials or a studio to work in is welcome there.

Defenestration

^{HUGO HOTEL - 6th & HOWARD STREETS}

2006 marks the tenth anniversary of the derelict Hugo Hotel's sculptural mural Defenestration. Most of the sideshow-themed paintings that were part of the original installation have been painted over, but the remarkable graffiti that has appeared in recent years more than makes up for their loss. The escaping furniture has remained completely intact, despite a decade of constant exposure to the elements.

I admire the building as a work of public art, but the underlying reality is that its owners have allowed the hotel to sit empty and deteriorating for eighteen years because they have been unable to find anyone willing to pay the outrageous price they are asking for it. Their outspoken contempt* for those who are less fortunate reflects an attitude that for years was tacitly encouraged by the policies of local government.

*"They can put the low-income people somewhere else... you can be homeless somewhere in Idaho." — Varsha Patel, owner, Hugo Hotel

Bristol Hotel

^{BRISTOL HOTEL - 56 MASON ST.}

(formerly The Athens lodgings; later Hotel Belmont) c.1908. Designer unknown. 4 stories, painted brick facade, base altered below string course.

Across Mason St. from the Ambassador Hotel is the Bristol, a hotel with many problems, not the least of which is an ongoing rodent infestation. It is perhaps best known for having been the San Francisco residence of Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker.

Ambassador

^{AMBASSADOR HOTEL - 55 MASON STREET}

1911 & 1922. Architects: Earl B. Scott & K. McDonald. 6 stories, brick & stucco facade.

The Ambassador, renovated and operated as supportive housing by the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, is such a stately old building; I wanted to capture it in its entirety. "Full frontal" shots such as this have the inescapable look and feel of presentation photos, so I deliberately enhanced it to give it the appearance of an old postcard.

West

^{WEST HOTEL - 141 EDDY STREET}

(formerly Hotel Langham; later Hotel Dunloe, Hotel Zee) 1908. Architects: Cunningham & Politeo. 5 stories, painted brick & galvanized iron facade.

The West, located next to the Ambassador on Eddy Street, was recently rehabilitated, as was its jaunty neon sign. The hotel is now operated as supportive housing by the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation.

St. Boniface

^{ST.BONIFACE - 133 GOLDEN GATE AVENUE}

St. Boniface is the home of San Francisco's Order of Franciscan Monks. It is located in the Tenderloin, next to the order's St. Anthony Foundation. Headed by Fr. John Hardin, a man of unflagging hope and energy, St. Anthony's provides clothing, shelter, drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs, social services, and feeds an average of 2,600 people every day of the year in its dining room. The foundation is funded entirely by private donations.

Dawn - Hotel Boyd

^{HOTEL BOYD - 41 JONES STREET}

The Boyd Hotel is sandwiched between the old Hibernia Bank and the St. Anthony Foundation. The hotel was recently renovated, except for its two beautiful, old neon signs. No other SRO can boast of having two neon signs. Comparing the Boyd's signs to those of the West and the Hurley, it is evident that the same sign company manufactured them all.

Roofscape

^{(VANTAGE POINT: PACIFIC BAY INN – 520 JONES ST.)}

From the rooftop of the Garland Hotel to the spire atop the City Hall rotunda, the view here spans nearly seven city blocks. The building dominating the midground of this photograph is the 15 story Mosser Towers (formerly the Central Towers), low-income housing built in 1964 that consists of one-bedroom and studio apartments.

Hurley

^{HOTEL HURLEY - 201 LEAVENWORTH ST.}

(formerly Kenyon Hotel, later Hotel DeWalt) 1914. Engineer: Albert W. Burgren. 6 stories, brick & galvanized iron facade.

The Hotel Hurley's sign is rather odd. Its spooky, dark-violet neon tubing is very dim and difficult to read from down the street, but it compliments the dark and gloomy colors of the building very nicely.

Neon - Pacific Bay Inn

^{PACIFIC BAY INN - 510 JONES STREET}

(formerly Hotel Sequoia). 1907. Architects: Welsh & Carey. 7 stories, brick facade with painted terracotta entry, marquee.

The Pacific Bay Inn never turns off its neon sign, which allows for daytime images such as this one, shot against the backdrop of summertime fog coming in from the bay.

Hotel Mentone

^{HOTEL MENTONE - 387 ELLIS STREET}

1913. Architects: Smith & Stewart. 6 stories, Flemish bond brick, stores & marquee intact, new door.

Most of the residential hotels in these photographs have been around for close to a century. Until 1930, 60% of San Franciscans were permanent hotel residents. Between 1975 and 1980, landowners eliminated 6,085 units, almost a fifth of the city's entire stock of residential hotel units. Today, the City's residential hotels house nearly 30,000 people.

National

^{NATIONAL HOTEL - 1139 MARKET STREET}

Erected in 1906, the National Hotel is typical of rooming houses built to house a maximum number of occupants in a small space. There are storefronts at street level, while the hotel occupies the second and third stories. The building is long and narrow, with 45 roughly 10' by 10' rooms on each floor. There is no lobby: a room at the top of the stairs serves as the hotel office. The rooms all have small sinks and case closets; bathrooms are located at the end of the hallways in the back of the building. A window that opens onto a narrow light well provides room ventilation. Monthly rent in 2006 was $600.

Kinney

^{HOTEL KINNEY - 410 EDDY STREET}

(formerly Hotel Leo) 1907. Architect: Emil John. 4 stories, brick & imitation stone facade.

Seven years after being closed because of fire damage, the Kinney was at last repaired. The hotel reopened mid-summer, 2006.

Sunrise - The Hurley

^{HOTEL HURLEY - 201 LEAVENWORTH STREET}

(formerly Kenyon Hotel, later Hotel DeWalt) 1914. Engineer: Albert W. Burgren. 6 stories, brick & galvanized iron facade.

Under most lighting conditions, the Hotel Hurley's architectural details are obscured by the building's murky, dismal colors. It glowers and stares in bright sunshine and broods sullenly under overcast skies. The light of a rosy dawn softens all that it touches, making the Hurley an ideal subject for an early morning photographic foray.

Allen

^{ALLEN HOTEL - 411 EDDY STREET}

1907. Architect: Julius E. Krafft. 3 stories, brick facade.

The Allen Hotel is another example of a rooming house with upstairs rooms and ground floor storefronts.

Shawmut

^{HOTEL SHAWMUT - 516 O'FARRELL STREET}

(now the Coast Hotel). 1912. Architect: L.B. Dutton. 6 stories, brick facade with terracotta details, some store sash & prism glass transoms intact.

Although the Shawmut has been renamed the Coast Hotel, the old painted sign on the rear wall is still there, a lovely fading relic of a time gone by. "Shawmut" is the original Native American name for the neck of land on which the city of Boston, Massachusetts was founded. Anglicized, the word has also come to mean "(water) spring". The Shawmut was so-named because its rooms have private baths, something of a luxury at the time the hotel was built. Hopefully, the new owners of the hotel will preserve this historic sign, or at least allow it to fade away with dignity.

Sai

^{SAI HOTEL - 964 HOWARD STREET}

In March of 2001 I moved into the Sai Hotel, into the tiniest room outside of a closet I have ever seen. My room was at the very back of the hotel on the top floor. It was just large enough for a narrow single bed, with about twelve inches to spare at the foot of the bed and about twice that distance from the side of the bed to the wall. A very narrow door opened inwards, just missing the miniscule sink attached to the wall opposite the bed. I had to climb onto the bed to close the door, because there wasn't enough room between the sink and the bed for me to fit. I had to face the sink sideways in order to use it.

The only furniture was a small nightstand at the head of the bed. There was no closet, not even hooks or nails on the walls. The one electrical outlet was situated on the wall about two feet above the sink; a perfectly useless location for me, since I had neither hair dryer nor electric shaver. A very small window near the head of the bed kept the room fairly bright during the first half of the day. A single, unshaded bulb hanging from the ceiling provided the only other light. My rent was $400. a month.

It was like living in a broom closet, but it was the first place I could call home after nearly six years of living on the streets.

Aldrich Restored

^{ALDRICH HOTEL – 439 JONES ST.}

1910. Architect: Charles Peter Weeks. 5 stories, brick & imitation stone facade.

When an old neon sign is restored, it reinforces our sense of place by maintaining a connection to our city's history. The restoration of the Aldrich's sign is truly superb — compare this image to the photo I tookthree years earlier.

Elm

^{HOTEL ELM - 364 EDDY STREET}

(formerly Hotel Rand) c.1909. Designer unknown. 5 stories, glazed brick & galvanized iron facade.

The Elm is a fine example of how the restoration of an old neon sign c an uplift and brighten the urban environment. Compare this beautiful sign with the modernized signs of the National, the Seneca or the Whitaker.

Warfield

^{HOTEL WARFIELD - 118 TAYLOR ST.}

(Formerly St. Ann Hotel; later Hotel Lennox, Bard Hotel, Hotel Winfield). 1907. Architect: Ross & Burgren. 4 stories, brick facade.

Old signs and painted advertisements had a simple, direct & engaging way of communicating that is sorely lacking in the advertisements of our time. The old PARKING sign, with its lovely, curved arrow pointing the way, invites one in. The Par-T-Pak ad for mixers is direct and to the point, without implications of increased sexual attraction or any of the other fantasies advertisers nowadays use to sell products. Sadly, the PARKING sign no longer exists.

If Walls Could Speak

^{HUGO HOTEL – 6TH & HOWARD STREETS}

The Hugo Hotel is the oldest hotel on 6th Street. A four-story masonry structure, it has been tenantless since a fire burned out a number of rooms in the late '80s. In 1996 a group of artists headed by Brian Goggin staged a "defenestration" event at the Hugo, turning the hotel into an immense sculptural mural.

Taking a liberty with the definition of defenestration, the artists cut apart and reassembled various types of scavenged furniture to give it the appearance of running or writhing. Tables leapt from windows and ran across the outside walls. Lamps corkscrewed from some windows, and sofas, refrigerators, bath tubs, even a grandfather clock squirmed and leapt from others. The furniture is there to this day, still running, leaping, and squirming out the windows.

Now a designated sightseeing stop, untold thousands of photographs have been taken of the Hugo and its famous furniture — a housing crisis turned into public art. I took this photograph of what used to be the Hugo's service alley because it shows the one wall of the hotel that has not been altered, save by the hand of Time.