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Nob Hill, San Francisco: Grace Cathedral, the cable car powerhouse and the Flood Mansion

Nob Hill, California

Nob Hill is a hill in central San Francisco, and the California Street cable car line runs along California Street across it. In 1876 Charles Crocker, one of the Big Four builders of the transcontinental railroad, built a mansion on the block where the cathedral nave now stands. The hill took its name from "nabob". Grace Cathedral holds that block now, and its close occupies a 2.5-acre city block. The Cable Car Museum stands in the working Washington-Mason powerhouse and carbarn, where admission is free. The Flood Mansion at 1000 California Street houses the Pacific-Union Club, which is private. Huntington Park fills the block bounded by Taylor, Sacramento, California and Cushman Streets. The Fairmont, the InterContinental Mark Hopkins and the Stanford Court all take addresses on the hill's own streets, and Top of the Mark is the lounge on the top floor of the Mark Hopkins.

  1. The cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of California, 329 feet long and 162 feet wide at the transepts, open Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sundays 1pm to 5pm.

  2. San Francisco Landmark No. 42, designated in 1971, and the Fire Chief's residence; M. Earl Cummings' bronze plaque of 1921 to Dennis T. Sullivan is on the building.

  3. Free admission to a museum inside the working Washington-Mason powerhouse and carbarn; its own site gives its opening days in two ways that do not agree.

  4. The line that runs along California Street across the hill; SFMTA's other two start at Powell and Market and continue to the Fisherman's Wharf area.

  5. San Francisco Landmark No. 64, designated in 1974, and listed on the National Register on 13 November 1966, reference number 66000230; the club inside it is private.

  6. A civic plaza of 1.29 acres bounded by Taylor, Sacramento, California and Cushman Streets, with Taddeo's marble and bronze Fountain of the Tortoises of 1900 at its centre.

  7. A cocktail lounge on the top floor of the Mark Hopkins, open Sunday to Thursday 4pm to 11pm and Friday and Saturday 3pm to 12.30am; last kitchen order 9.30pm.

  8. Home-cooked Italian food at 1152 Taylor Street, dinner from 5pm and brunch Saturday and Sunday 11am to 3pm. It takes no reservations.

  9. San Francisco Landmark No. 185, designated in 1987, and listed on the National Register on 17 April 2002, reference number 02000373; the Tonga Room is one of its bars.

  10. San Francisco Landmark No. 184, designated in 1987; SF Planning records the building as built in 1926 and it answers to both 999 California and 850 Mason Street.

  11. A hotel at 905 California Street, which SF Planning records as built in 1971.

  12. A concert hall at 1111 California Street operated by Live Nation; check its programme before walking up, since no source states an opening time.

  13. San Francisco Landmark No. 106, designated in 1979, and listed on the National Register on 20 September 1984, reference number 84001184; built in 1922 and lived in.

  14. San Francisco Landmark No. 204, designated in 1993, at 906 Broadway.

The cathedral block, the club and the powerhouse

Charles Crocker was buying up the block that Grace Cathedral now holds in 1874, and Nicholas Yung, a German undertaker, refused to sell to him. The fence that went up around Yung's property remained until 1904, and Yung himself moved his house away long before that. The William H. Crockers later gave the block to the Episcopal Diocese of California. A pro-cathedral went up in 1907, the cornerstone was laid in 1910, the present cathedral was begun in 1927 and the largely completed building was consecrated in 1964.

The other two anchors on the hill were built for money of the same generation and are used for very different things today. The Flood Mansion at 1000 California Street is San Francisco Landmark No. 64, designated in 1974, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 13 November 1966 as the James C. Flood Mansion, reference number 66000230. It houses the Pacific-Union Club, which is private, so there are no visiting hours. The Cable Car Barn And Power House at 1201 Mason Street is a working powerhouse with the Cable Car Museum inside it, and it is San Francisco Landmark No. 43, designated in 1971.

South of the hill's own streets runs a district nobody needs a ticket for. The Lower Nob Hill Apartment Hotel Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 31 July 1991, reference number 91000957, with a period of significance from 1906 to 1940. SF Planning describes it as a dense area primarily comprised of 3- to 7-story multi-unit residential buildings, most of them built between 1906 and 1925, leading to a stylistically consistent district, and gives its extent as roughly 590 to 1209 Bush, 680 to 1156 Sutter and 600 to 1099 Post Streets.

One piece of street furniture is worth looking down for. Circular brick rings are set into the roadway at Taylor and Clay, at Powell and Bush, at Mason and California, and at Jones and Jackson. They are the covers of cisterns belonging to the city's Auxiliary Water Supply System, and there are more of them in the streets beyond.

Getting there

The California Street cable car line runs along California Street across Nob Hill. SFMTA gives three lines in all: two start at Powell and Market and continue to the Fisherman's Wharf area, and one starts at California and Market and continues to Van Ness Avenue. SFMTA also states that to board cable cars at Powell & Market, Bay & Taylor and Hyde & Beach Streets you must purchase your fare in advance, and that this applies from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. No source states a fare, so none is given here.

Steer by street addresses. On California Street: Grace Cathedral at 1100, The Masonic at 1111, the Flood Mansion at 1000, the InterContinental Mark Hopkins and Top of the Mark at 999, the Stanford Court at 905. On Mason Street: the Fairmont at 950, the Cable Car Museum at 1201. On Taylor Street: Huntington Park at 1000, the Glazer-Keating House at 1110, Nob Hill Cafe at 1152. Elsewhere: the Chambord Apartments at 1298 Sacramento Street, the Dennis T. Sullivan Memorial Home at 870 Bush Street, Woh Hei Yuen Park at 922 Jackson Street and Our Lady of Guadalupe Church at 906 Broadway.

Two buildings answer to two addresses each, which defeats map software as well as visitors. Grace Cathedral's own footer gives 1100 California Street, while the city's Article 10 record gives 1051 to 1055 Taylor Street; both are the parcel APN 0246001, one property with two street frontages. The Cable Car Museum gives 1201 Mason Street on its own site, while the National Park Service addresses the cable car record, reference number 66000233, to 1390 Washington Street. Same building, other corner.

Hours, admission and where to eat

Grace Cathedral opens Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sundays 1pm to 5pm. Its indoor labyrinth is open during cathedral visitor hours and its outdoor labyrinth is open at all hours. Admission to the Cable Car Museum is free; the museum's own site gives its opening days in two ways that do not agree, so no days are given here. No source states opening hours for Huntington Park or for Woh Hei Yuen Park, so none are given here. The Pacific-Union Club is private and the Chambord Apartments and the Glazer-Keating House are lived in, so none of the three has visiting hours.

For food and drink the hill publishes two sets of hours and withholds a third. Top of the Mark, the cocktail lounge on the top floor of the InterContinental Mark Hopkins at 999 California Street, opens Sunday to Thursday 4pm to 11pm and Friday and Saturday 3pm to 12.30am, with the kitchen taking its last order at 9.30pm. Nob Hill Cafe at 1152 Taylor Street serves dinner Sunday to Thursday 5pm to 9pm and Friday and Saturday 5pm to 10pm, and brunch Saturday and Sunday 11am to 3pm; it takes no reservations and serves walk-ins only. The Fairmont names Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar, Laurel Court Restaurant & Bar and Cirque Bar among its dining rooms, along with Timeless Tea, Bin 415 and in-room dining. No source states their hours, so none are given here.

The Masonic at 1111 California Street is a concert hall operated by Live Nation, and its programme rather than an opening time is what governs a visit. No source states a capacity for it.

Frequently asked questions

Is Grace Cathedral open to visitors, and what are the labyrinths?
The cathedral's own site gives Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sundays 1pm to 5pm. Grace Cathedral has an indoor and an outdoor labyrinth, both in the Chartres pattern. The indoor labyrinth is open during cathedral visitor hours and the outdoor labyrinth is open at all hours. Canon Lauren Artress introduced the labyrinth in 1991. The building is 329 feet (100m) long and 162 feet (49m) wide at the transepts, and the nave vaulting rises to 91 feet (27m).
Can you go inside the Flood Mansion?
No. The Flood Mansion at 1000 California Street is San Francisco Landmark No. 64, designated in 1974, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 13 November 1966 as the James C. Flood Mansion, reference number 66000230. It is a National Historic Landmark. The building houses the Pacific-Union Club, which is private, so there are no visiting hours. SF Planning records the building as built in 1911.
What does the Cable Car Museum cost, and when is it open?
Admission is free. The museum's own site gives its opening days in two ways that do not agree, so no days are given here. It is at 1201 Mason Street, inside what its own site calls the Washington-Mason powerhouse and carbarn on Nob Hill, and it is run by the Friends of the Cable Car Museum, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of cable car history.
Which cable car line serves Nob Hill?
The California Street cable car line runs along California Street across Nob Hill. SFMTA gives three lines in all: two start at Powell and Market and continue to the Fisherman's Wharf area, and one starts at California and Market and continues to Van Ness Avenue. SFMTA states that to board cable cars at Powell & Market, Bay & Taylor and Hyde & Beach Streets you must purchase your fare in advance, applying from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
Where can you eat and drink without a reservation?
Nob Hill Cafe at 1152 Taylor Street takes no reservations and serves walk-ins only, with dinner Sunday to Thursday 5pm to 9pm and Friday and Saturday 5pm to 10pm and brunch Saturday and Sunday 11am to 3pm. Top of the Mark at 999 California Street opens Sunday to Thursday 4pm to 11pm and Friday and Saturday 3pm to 12.30am, with a last kitchen order at 9.30pm. The Fairmont names Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar, Laurel Court Restaurant & Bar and Cirque Bar among its dining rooms, but no source states their hours.
How did Nob Hill get its name?
Grace Cathedral's own history records that in 1876 Charles Crocker, one of the Big Four builders of the transcontinental railroad, built a mansion on the block where the cathedral nave now stands, and that the hill took its name from "nabob". The same account records that Nicholas Yung, a German undertaker, refused to sell to Crocker when Crocker was buying up the block in 1874, and that the fence raised around Yung's property remained until 1904.

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