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Cliff House
1090 Point Lobos
(415) 386-3330 Enjoying
the Cliff House's excellent ocean views
is a San Francisco tradition that dates
back to 1863 when the first building
called the Cliff House was completed. The
original building, a hotel, was host to
three U.S. presidents as well as San
Francisco's most affluent families,
including the Hearsts and the Stanfords,
until it was destroyed by fire in 1894.
The ornate Victorian
building that replaced the original Cliff
House was equally popular. By this time,
a railroad had been built to carry the
general public out to this elegant
seaside attraction, which featured eight
stories of galleries and dining rooms and
an observation tower that rose 200 feet
above sea level. Eleven years after it
was completed, this building was also
consumed by fire.
The third Cliff House, which
was built in 1909, is considerably more
modest than the second. Now owned by the
National Park Service and run by a concessionaire,
it continues to be a popular restaurant
serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner
daily and brunch on Sundays.
Seal Rocks
For years, one of the attractions
at Cliff House was watching (and
hearing) the action out at Seal
Rocks, a long-time safe haven for
sea lions not far from the shore
near Cliff House. For ten months
of the year sea lions would
congregate here, sunning
themselves on the rocks, playing
in the surf, and barking
boisterously the whole time. |
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From late June through
August, they would take some time off,
and head south to the Channel Islands to
breed, but never failed to return when
autumn arrived. Today, however, Seal
Rocks seem to have fallen out of favor
with the sea lions, who moved to the
protected docks of Pier 39 at Fisherman’s
Wharf following the 1989
earthquake.
Sutro Baths
Not far from the Cliff House are the
ruins of the old Sutro Baths. Developed
by Adolph Sutro, who also owned Cliff
House and built the railroad that
connected the Cliff House area with the
rest of San Francisco, the three-acre
Bath complex attracted crowds who swam in
the Baths' six pools, feasted in the
three restaurants, watched shows in the
3,700-seat amphitheater, and wandered
through galleries filled with natural
history exhibits, artworks, and cultural
artifacts. By the 1930s, the Baths were
no longer a commercially viable
enterprise, and in the 1960s, demolition
on the complex began. Today, Sutro Baths
are part of the Golden
Gate National Recreational Area
and remain a popular spot for hiking and
exploration.
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Ocean Beach
In addition
to providing fabulous ocean
vistas, Cliff House provides a
great views of the long, wide
ribbon of sand called Ocean
Beach. This beach is a popular
spot for walking, running or
sunbathing, but its extremely
cold and rough waters make
swimming hazardous. You may see
surfers here when the waves are
especially promising, but note
that even they wear insulated
wetsuits for year-round
protection against the cold. |
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