The attractiveness of
the Pacific Heights
neighborhood

Other historic properties on the 2500 block of Pacific Avenue

History of ownership
and construction of
the house

The Architect of
2516 Pacific and his
other significant work
in the Bay Area.

Virtual Tour , a Slide Show of photographs and Floor Plans

Return to the Front Page

Other Properties:

2660 Scott Street

The 2500 block of Pacific Avenue has attributes that make it one of the most sought-after in Pacific Heights. It is a level block, between Steiner and Pierce, which makes for comfortable walking and easy parking, at least by comparison with some of the surrounding streets. The start of the commercial section of Fillmore Street is only three blocks away, putting some fine cafes, restaurants and shops within easy walking distance.

The northern edge of Alta Plaza Park is one street away from the 2500 block of Pacific Avenue and the Presidio Avenue entrance to the Presidio of San Francisco is just six blocks to the west.

All of the properties on the 2500 block are single-family homes, aside from one of the four corner buildings, 2525 Steiner, which was built in 1889 as a single-family, but tastefully converted to five units in the 1940's. On the south side of the block, there are only eight homes between 2525 Steiner and the house on the corner of Pierce, 2585 Pacific, and all of them largely retain their original appearance from when they were built between 1884 and 1903. On the north side, between the two corner properties, 2500 and 2590 Pacific, there are even less homes, only six, in part because of the 85 ft. street frontage of 2516 Pacific. This makes the block one of the least dense in Pacific Heights, in terms of occupants, and allows for easier visitor parking than many in the area.

The work of several generations of San Francisco’s finest architects is represented on the block, from Percy & Hamilton who designed four of the houses between 1881 and 1892 to William W. Wurster who designed 2590 Pacific in 1950. Other architects who contributed to the block over the years are William F. Smith, Edgar A. Mathews, Frank S. Van Trees, Bliss & Faville, Farr & Ward, Salfield & Kohlberg, Warren C. Perry, and Lewis Hobart, architect of 2516 Pacific.

Development of the block began in 1875 with a house on the northeast corner of Pacific and Pierce, where 2590 Pacific is now. In June 1881, Percy & Hamilton designed the original house at 2516 Pacific for owner Charles E. Heise. Later that same year, William F. Smith designed houses at 2500 and 2510 Pacific, both of which have since been replaced, and in 1883 he designed the first house at 2518 Pacific for owner Charles Page.

Building activity then switched to the south side of the block with Percy & Hamilton designing a second house for Charles Heise in 1884, which still stands at 2517 Pacific, the oldest surviving house on the block. In 1889 William F. Smith added four more houses on the south side for developer James Stewart, all of which remain at 2505, 2507, 2509 and 2511 Pacific. Also in 1889, J. C. Mathews & Son designed the corner house next to them, 2525 Steiner, which largely retains its original appearance.

Frederick F. Hamilton designed a house for himself at 2513 Pacific in 1890, which he moved into, and then Percy & Hamilton designed another one for owner J. C. Stubbs at 2519 Pacific in 1892. In 1923 a garage was put in 2513 Pacific for $500.

William F. Smith’s original 1883 house at 2518 Pacific was replaced by owner Charles Page in 1898 with a new one designed by Frank Van Trees. The old house was rolled down Pierce Street to 2536 Broadway, where it remains today.

Architect Edgar Mathews, son of Julius Mathews, established his own practice in 1895 and contributed 2512 Pacific in 1901 and 2523 Pacific in 1903, both of which remain. Mabel Deming, wife of architect Lewis Hobart, bought the Mathews-designed house at 2512 Pacific in 1920. The Hobart’s lived there and Lewis inherited it after Mabel died in 1945, finally selling it in 1947.

Salfield & Kohlberg designed a house at 2514 Pacific in 1902, which was subsequently moved to 2504 Pacific.

Bliss & Faville designed 2520 Pacific in 1908, although that house was completely rebuilt by architect Albert Farr and his partner Joseph Francis Ward in 1930. 2520 Pacific was remodeled as the University High School Decorator Showcase house for 1997.

In 1921 Lewis Hobart, while living at 2512 Pacific, designed the house now at 2516 Pacific across that lot and the one adjacent to it, 2514 Pacific, after the house that had been built there in 1901 was moved.

A little later in the 1920's two of the present corner houses were built, 2500 Pacific in 1922, designed by Clarence A. Tantau, and 2585 Pacific in 1924, designed by Warren C. Perry.

In 1950, the house at 2510 Pacific, one of William F. Smith’s first houses on the block, was replaced by one built to plans by Los Angeles designer John Woolf. Also in that year, 2590 Pacific was replaced by a new house designed by the firm of Wurster, Bernardi & Emmons. 2590 Pacific is opposite Warren Perry’s 2585 Pacific and, coincidentally, 1950 was also the year that William Wurster succeeded Warren Perry as Dean of the School of Architecture at U. C. Berkeley.

There are very few blocks in Pacific Heights which can match the architectural interest and significance of the 2500 block of Pacific Avenue!