164 Sea Cliff Ave. San Francisco
House History
In 1920, when prominent Professor of Neuropsychiatry Walter Schaller moved into his brand new house at 164 Sea Cliff Avenue with his wife Florence and son Neal, the neighborhood was the latest, most fashionable place for successful San Franciscans to live.
Sea Cliff was one of the first "residential parks" neighborhoods developed by private entrepreneurs instead of city planners, and designed with gracefully curving boulevards, imposing gateposts, extensive landscaping in the shared public spaces, and restrictions on future building. Lots in Sea Cliff were selling for about $4,000 when the Schallers bought their land from the John Brickell Company. Like other buyers, they agreed to abide by the covenants of the development; among other things, nobody was allowed to build right up to the lot line (a radical idea in already-crowded San Francisco), and nobody was allowed to house barnyard animals on their property!
In 1920, $29,000 built the Schallers a grand house in the French Renaissance style. Their architect, Albert Farr, was one of San Francisco¹s most prominent residential architects of the early 20th century. Today we think of the 1920s as the period during which the likes of Bernard Maybeck and Julia Morgan were pioneering Arts-and-Crafts-style houses, but at that time many owners wanted homes that owed more to established historical precedent than to the avant-garde. Although he designed a number of homes influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement (among them Jack London¹s famous Wolf House in Glen Ellen that burnt to the ground under mysterious circumstances right before its completion), Farr was an eclectic designer, specializing in adapting historical styles to Bay Area living. By the 1920s, Farr had moved past his earlier First Bay Regional Style phase into designing homes that were both more formal and more influenced by European historical styles.
The Schaller family home took its design inspiration from the classical principles and details taught in the 19th century at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Farr didn¹t merely slavishly copy from the past, however. He adapted an architectural style most often used for grand public buildings to the scale of a single-family home. His houses are characterized by a certain freshness that manages to use French architectural elements in a distinctly American way.
French Renaissance houses like 164 Sea Cliff Avenue typically feature faux quoins (the "cornerstone" detail running up the outside of the building), windows with many lights (panes), a pediment over the entrance, and a stringcourse (a projecting band of material that serves to throw off water from the large, flat, exterior walls). While Albert Farr designed houses in a number of different styles, he and his partner J. Francis Ward did build three additional beautiful French Renaissance homes in San Francisco: 2570 Jackson (1923), 2520 Pacific (1930) and 2574 Broadway (1932).
The Schaller family lived at 164 Sea Cliff for thirty years, during which Dr. Schaller did pioneering research in the area of brain injury, polio and spinal inflammation. He was a professor at the Stanford School of Medicine (at that time located in San Francisco) and served as President of the American Neurological Association, as well as being an active member of the Bohemian Club.
In 1948, the house was bought by Edgar and Anne Sherman. Edgar Sherman had just become the owner and operator of a cardboard manufacturing plant near Potrero and Mariposa Streets, which he operated successfully until 1955. In 1955, a catastrophic fire burned the factory to the ground, and Edgar took that opportunity to pursue his true love: college fundraising and public relations. He worked extensively with small private colleges during his family's years at 164 Sea Cliff, helping Mills College, Lone Mountain College, and the University of Santa Clara, among others.
In 1960, the Shermans sold the house to Martin and Claire Gold, who lived there until 1967, when it was bought by William and Barbara Isackson. The Isacksons raised their four school-age children there, and Barbara Isackson occasionally took time out of her busy days to step out onto the second floor patio and enjoy the small garden she had planted below. William Isackson eventually became one of the founders of Ross Stores, and Barbara became an honored San Francisco philanthropist.
Anna and Poy Dong bought the house in 1973, and it was owned by the Dong family until it was sold to the current owners in June of 2002.
164 Sea Cliff remains a beautiful example of architecture from the 1920s. The Schallers added a bathroom in 1941, and the kitchen and bathrooms have been remodeled several times since. San Francisco has grown and changed in countless ways in the past eighty years, but 164 Sea Cliff Avenue and its neighborhood remain a gracious reminder of what life was like in a less hectic time.
- Jonelle Patrick
This history could not have been written without the help of David Parry of McGuire Real Estate, whose extensive knowledge of San Francisco architects and generous assistance with historical fact-finding was invaluable. If you have further interest in San Francisco architects, visit David Parry's website: www.classicSFproperties.com/main.htm
Sources: San Francisco Chronicle, 6/12/15, 6/26/15, 3/3/17, 3/24/17, 10/21/70, 9/31/73 editions. Building and Engineering News, 1/21/20 edition Architect and Engineer, February 1920 and November 1941 editions. A Field Guide to American Houses, Virginia & Lee McAlester, Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. 1930 U.S. Census Records. San Francisco Water Tap Records. California Death Index, 1940-1995. David Parry's website: www.classicSFproperties.com/main.htm . Illustrated Architecture Dictionary website: ah.bfn.org/a/DCTNRY/vocab.html .
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