Cliff House has gone through five major constructions and reconstructions since its beginning in 1858. That year. Samuel Brannan, a prosperous man from Maine, bought for $ 1,500 the lumber from a ship that wrecked on the cliffs below. With this material he built the first Cliff House. The second Cliff House was built for Captain Junius G. Foster, but as it was a long difficult trip from the city, the house hosted mostly horseback riders, small game hunters or picnickers on day outings. With the opening of a toll road a year later, the Cliff House became successful with the Carriage trade for Sunday travel. On weekends, there was little room at the Cliff House for horses and carriages. Soon, omnibus railways and streetcar lines made it to near Lone Mountain where passengers transferred to stagecoach lines to the beach. The growth of Golden Gate Park attracted beach travelers in search of meals and a look at the Sea Lions sunning themselves on Seal Rock, just off the cliffs to visit the area.
In 1877, the toll road, now Geary Boulevard, was purchased by the City of San Francisco for around $ 25.000. In 1883, after a few years of downturn^ the Cliff House was bought by Adolph Sulro, a multimillionaire who made his fortune from mining. After a few years of quiet management by J. M. Wilkens, the Cliff House was severely damaged by an explosion of the ship, which destroyed the northern part of the house. Seven years later, on Christmas 1894 the repaired old building burned down.
In 1896, Adolph Sutro built a new Cliff House, a seven-story Victorian style castle, called by some "the Gingerbread Palace."In the same year, work began on the famous Sutro Baths, which included six of the largest indoor swimming pools north of the restaurant that included a museum, a skating rink and other pleasure grounds. Great throngs of San Franciscans arrived on steam trains, bicycles, carts and horse wagons on Sunday excursions.
The Cliff House and Sutro Baths survived the 1906 earthquake with little damage but burned to the ground on the evening of September 7, 1907. Rebuilding of the restaurant was completed within two years and, with additions and modern restorations9 is the one seen today.
The building was acquired by the National Park Service in 1977 and it became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The site overlooks the Seal Rock and the former site of the Sutro Baths. More than thirty ships have been pounded to pieces on the southern shore of the Golden Gate below Cliff House.
The Cliff House we see today was completed in ______.