Adolph Sutro’s Cliff House restaurant, San Francisco, has appeared here before but these are some additional photos of the improbable structure from the Library of Congress archives, including a picture of the fire that destroyed the building in 1907. As noted in the earlier post, Blue Öyster Cult aficionados may recognise the house from the cover of the group’s 1988 album, Imaginos.
Previously on { feuilleton }
• Adolph Sutro’s Gingerbread Palace
Ha! Thanks for that John. I wasn’t familiar with the history of the Cliff House. Ever since I first laid eyes on that Blue Oyster Cult cover, I ‘ve been wondering where that eerie image came from.
It looks to me like the kind of building that could have inspired a Fritz Leiber short story for some reason. Maybe it’s the San Francisco connection.
Yes, the Gothic style and striking location suggests eerie scenarios. I imagine Leiber may have known about this place, he seemed fairly knowledgable about the city’s history in Our Lady of Darkness.