...By July 1895 construction was rapidly progressing. Immense loads of earth had been removed from the site and some twenty or more massive iron rods had been secured in the rock face with cement as supports for the structure's foundation. According to the San Francisco Call of July 10, 1895, the main building would be five stories high surmounted with spires and a tower twenty-seven feet square which was to serve as an observatory. Tourists could rise the eight floors from the basement to the top, some 200 feet above the ocean, by an elevator. The main floor, level with the road, would contain a large dining room, parlor, bar, and numerous private dining rooms, with necessary kitchens. The second floor would have about twenty private lunch rooms, as well as a large art gallery to exhibit many of the gems from Sutro's private collection. The third floor would provide a very complete photograph gallery, reception rooms, and parlors, with panoramic views of the shoreline from large circular windows. On the first floor below the road level, Sutro planned to reinstate a popular price concession area where tourists could lunch, buy shells from the curio man, and watch the seals, as was the custom in the old Cliff House. And in the basement the building's laundry, boilers, machinery, and rooms for employees would be installed. The furnishings for the rooms were going to be "elaborate and neat," and would provide the visitors with many settees and easy chairs in which to relax and enjoy the resort surroundings.

Quotes from: "S.F. Morning Call," Dec. 27, 1894, p. 10 and July 10, 1895, p. 7; Cliff House, Bids, Offers, Contracts, 1894-96, Sutro Collection, Box 38, Misc. Payrolls and Bids, 1890-1907, Bancroft Library, Univ. of California, Berkeley, Cal.; "S.F. Morning Call," Dec. 31, 1894; "'Burning of the Cliff House' sold like Hot Cakes." "The Pony Express 21, No. 9, Feb. 1855, p. 2.)