Public spaces change fast here in San Francisco, and for better or worse, it can be pretty crazy when you see what the City used to look like. Every week, we'll bring you Then & Now, a comparison of historic photos of the Bay Area with current views from the same perspective. Have a suggestion for a photo comparison that looks totally different (or shockingly the same)? Drop us a tip in the Curbed Inbox or leave a comment after the jump.
Quick note: See that vertical green bar in the middle of the then and now photos? You can move it horizontally to see the photos side by side.
[Then photo: SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY/ Now photo: Google Maps] Today's Then & Now comes as a special request from a Curbed reader. Having attended the school at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, she wondered what the Flood Mansion at 2222 Broadway looked like back in the day.
James Clair Flood mansion at 1000 California, 1886 [photo: SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY]
The Flood family has certainly left their mark on San Francisco, but this mansion was built by James Leary Flood (son of Comstock Lode tycoon James Clair Flood) for his wife Maud. The original Flood Mansion at 1000 California was nothing to sneeze at, but when it was destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, Maud Flood wanted out. So her husband constructed "a house of marble on a hill of granite" in 1912.
House originally at 2222 Broadway, moved to 2828 Vallejo, in 1976 (today there's trees blocking it) [Photo: SF Planning]
Another house was already on the site, so it was moved to 2828 Vallejo to make room for Flood's new building (as you do). Since it wasn't constructed until 1912, most of the surrounding area was already built up - including the adjacent Grant and Hammond mansions. After her husband died, Maud Flood gave the home to the Religious of the Sacred Heart, and it is now part of the Broadway campus of Schools of the Sacred Heart.
UPDATE! From Curbed reader Maureen:
When I went to school there, the mansion looked pretty much the same inside as it had when the Floods lived there, so we'd have classes in various bedrooms, and the principal's office was in Maude's former dressing room. We also ate lunch in the former expansive wine cellar and the school chapel was formerly the grand ballroom. We also used the "servants quarters'" back/hidden staircase to get from floor to floor, and didn't use the grand staircase as much because it was made of marble and could be a bit slippery. The rooms that are by the back staircase were the former servants' quarters and were turned into administrative offices. · History of the Flood Mansion [Floodmansion.org]
· San Francisco Landmark #64 Flood Mansion [Noe Hill]
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