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...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.)
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