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Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco: Haight Street, Buena Vista Park and the Doolan-Larson Building

Haight-Ashbury, California

Haight-Ashbury is a San Francisco neighbourhood on rising ground between the Golden Gate Park Panhandle and Buena Vista Park, and what a visitor does here is walk one commercial street and go into shops. Haight Street carries them, between numbers 1369 and 1855: clothing, records, books and bar rooms, with Amoeba Music at 1855 Haight Street, which opened on 15 November 1997 in a former bowling alley of 24,000 square feet. The corner the neighbourhood takes its name from, Haight at Ashbury, is held by the Doolan-Larson Building at 557 Ashbury Street, which is San Francisco Landmark No. 253, designated in 2006. The other buildings here that carry a register number are houses, a firehouse of 1895 and a hospital of 1902, and are read from the pavement rather than entered. Behind the shopfronts the ground climbs: Buena Vista Park covers 38.35 acres above Haight Street, and Mount Olympus, at 480 Upper Terrace, is a mini park of 0.21 acres.

  1. The corner of Haight and Ashbury: San Francisco Landmark No. 253, designated in 2006, built in 1903 and raised in 1907 to put shops underneath.

  2. An 1895 firehouse whose first-storey panels are lettered Chemical 5, S.F.F.D. and Truck 12; San Francisco Landmark No. 328, designated in 2026.

  3. The American Indian Historical Society moved here in 1967 and published The Indian Historian; San Francisco Landmark No. 324, designated in 2026.

  4. Maud's

    sight

    A bar on the west side of Cole Street that closed in 1989; San Francisco Landmark No. 331, designated in 2026, with a period of significance from 1967 to 1986.

  5. A City emergency hospital of 1902 by Newton J. Tharp, on the east side of Stanyan Street; San Francisco Landmark No. 201, designated in 1991.

  6. A working hotel at 750 Stanyan Street, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 under reference number 83001235, as the Park View Hotel.

  7. A record shop that opened on 15 November 1997 in the 24,000 square feet of the former Park Bowl bowling alley at 1855 Haight Street.

  8. A brewery on the Masonic Avenue corner; its own site gives 12pm to 12am Sunday to Thursday, 12pm to 1am Friday and Saturday, kitchen until 10pm.

  9. A bookshop at 1727 Haight Street, in the run of shops between numbers 1369 and 1855.

  10. 38.35 acres above Haight Street, established in 1867 as Hill Park and later renamed; the hill inside it peaks at 575 feet.

  11. A mini park of 0.21 acres at 480 Upper Terrace where Adolph Sutro's Triumph of Light stood; the statue is lost and its pedestal remains.

  12. 4.79 acres at 50 Scott Street; the Duboce Park Landmark District was listed under Article 10 of the Planning Code, as Appendix N, on 13 July 2013.

  13. It operated from 7 June 1967 until July 2019, merged with Walden House in 2011, and took the name HealthRIGHT 360 in 2012.

The Haight Street strip

In street-number order, the shops and bar rooms run Bound Together Anarchist Collective Bookstore at 1369 Haight Street, Love on Haight at 1400, Pork Store Cafe at 1451, Piedmont Boutique at 1452, Relic Vintage at 1475, Ben & Jerry's at 1480, Haight Street Market at 1530, Held Over at 1543, Buffalo Exchange at 1555, Mendel's / Far-Out Fabrics at 1556, Gold Cane Cocktail Lounge at 1569, Hobson's Choice at 1601, Zam Zam at 1633, Decades of Fashion at 1653, Wasteland at 1660, John Fluevog Shoes at 1697, Goodwill at 1700, The Alembic at 1725, The Booksmith at 1727, Escape From New York Pizza at 1737, Cha Cha Cha at 1801, Parada 22 at 1805, Milk Bar at 1840 and Amoeba Music at 1855. Magnolia Brewing holds the Masonic Avenue corner at 1398 Haight Street, and Coffee to the People is at 1206 Masonic Avenue.

The City's business record carries no opening hours for these, and no other source states hours for them, so none are given here. Magnolia Brewing is the exception, because its own site publishes them: 12pm to 12am Sunday to Thursday, 12pm to 1am Friday and Saturday, with the kitchen serving until 10pm.

Amoeba Music carries a date of its own. It opened on 15 November 1997 in the 24,000 square feet of the former Park Bowl bowling alley at 1855 Haight Street.

Buildings to look at from the pavement

The Doolan-Larson Building holds the Haight and Ashbury corner, addressed at both 557 Ashbury Street and 1500-1512 Haight Street. It is San Francisco Landmark No. 253, designated in 2006, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011 under reference number 09001201. Charles J. U. Koenig and Frank T. Doolan built it in 1903 in Colonial Revival style, and in 1907 it was raised so that shops could go underneath, the storefront row to the west being added at the same time.

The firehouse at 1757 Waller Street, built in 1895 of granite and wood in the Italianate style, is San Francisco Landmark No. 328, designated in 2026 under Article 10 of the Planning Code; the molded panels on its first storey are lettered Chemical 5, S.F.F.D. and Truck 12. The house at 1451 Masonic Avenue, which the American Indian Historical Society occupied from 1967 and called Chautauqua House, is San Francisco Landmark No. 324, designated in 2026 under Article 10 of the Planning Code. Maud's, a bar at 929-941 Cole Street on the west side of the street between Parnassus Avenue and Carl Street, closed in 1989; it is San Francisco Landmark No. 331, designated in 2026 by Ordinance No. 69-26 under Article 10 of the Planning Code.

The rest carry federal reference numbers and little narrative. The Park Emergency Hospital at 811 Stanyan Street, built in 1902 to a Beaux Arts design by Newton J. Tharp, is San Francisco Landmark No. 201, designated in 1991. The Stanyan Park Hotel at 750 Stanyan Street was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 under reference number 83001235, as the Park View Hotel. The private buildings each carry a reference number and no established architect or build year: 1315 Waller Street, listed in 2020 under reference number 100005794; 1080 Haight Street, listed in 2005 under reference number 05000273; 70 Buena Vista Terrace, listed in 1982 under reference number 82000984; and 355 Buena Vista Avenue East, listed in 1985 under reference number 85001016.

Getting there

No source states a bus route, a rail line or a station for this neighbourhood, so none are given here, and no distances or times are either. Steer by street addresses.

The addresses worth writing down are 1855 Haight Street for Amoeba Music, 557 Ashbury Street for the Doolan-Larson Building, 1398 Haight Street for Magnolia Brewing, 1293 Haight Street for Buena Vista Park, 750 Stanyan Street for the Stanyan Park Hotel and 50 Scott Street for Duboce Park.

Frequently asked questions

Can you go inside these buildings?
Mostly not. No source states visiting arrangements for the Doolan-Larson Building, so none are given here. The house at 1451 Masonic Avenue stands on a lot zoned for housing; the firehouse at 1757 Waller Street was sold by the City at public auction in 1956 and restored as a private residence after the sale; and 1315 Waller Street, 1080 Haight Street and 70 Buena Vista Terrace are private houses. Maud's, at 929-941 Cole Street, closed in 1989, and the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic closed in July 2019. The Stanyan Park Hotel at 750 Stanyan Street is a working hotel and gives its address on its own site. Otherwise the shops on Haight Street are what a visitor can walk into.
What is on the corner of Haight and Ashbury?
The Doolan-Larson Building, addressed at 557 Ashbury Street and 1500-1512 Haight Street. It is San Francisco Landmark No. 253, designated in 2006, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011 under reference number 09001201. Charles J. U. Koenig and Frank T. Doolan built it in 1903, and it was raised in 1907 to put retail underneath. Holcombe Jewelers held the corner space from 1937 to 1988, and the boutique Mnasidika traded at 1510 Haight Street between 1965 and 1968. Norm Larson gave the property to San Francisco Heritage in 2017. San Francisco Heritage issued a request for proposals for the building on 6 February 2026 and received three final proposals on 12 June 2026.
Which parks are in the neighbourhood?
Four. Buena Vista Park, 38.35 acres at 1293 Haight Street, established in 1867 as Hill Park and later renamed, bounded by Haight Street to the north and by Buena Vista Avenue West and Buena Vista Avenue East, with the hill peaking at 575 feet. Duboce Park, 4.79 acres at 50 Scott Street, where the Duboce Park Landmark District was listed under Article 10 of the Planning Code as Appendix N on 13 July 2013. Grattan Playground, 1.87 acres at 1180 Stanyan Street. And Mount Olympus, a mini park of 0.21 acres at 480 Upper Terrace, where the statue Triumph of Light given by Adolph Sutro once stood: the statue is lost and its pedestal remains, and trees and buildings now block the view from the summit.
What was Maud's?
A bar at 929-941 Cole Street, on the west side of Cole Street between Parnassus Avenue and Carl Street, which occupied the middle two storefronts of the row and closed in 1989. It is San Francisco Landmark No. 331, designated in 2026 by Ordinance No. 69-26 under Article 10 of the Planning Code. The ordinance records a period of significance running from 1967 to 1986 and the bar's association with Rikki Streicher.
What happened to the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic?
The clinic operated from 7 June 1967 until July 2019. It merged with Walden House in 2011, and in 2012 the combined organisation took the name HealthRIGHT 360. No source states a street address for the clinic, so none is given here.

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