# William Westerfeld House > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/William_Westerfeld_House > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/William_Westerfeld_House.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Westerfeld_House > Source revision: 1301650755 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Historic house in California, United States "Westerfeld House" redirects here. Not to be confused with [Westervelt House](/source/Westervelt_House). For other uses, see [Westervelt House (disambiguation)](/source/Westervelt_House_(disambiguation)). United States historic place William Westerfeld House U.S. National Register of Historic Places San Francisco Designated Landmark Show map of San Francisco County Show map of California Show map of the United States Location 1198 Fulton St., San Francisco, California Coordinates 37°46′38″N 122°26′11″W / 37.77722°N 122.43639°W / 37.77722; -122.43639 Area 0.1 acres (0.04 ha) Built 1889 Architect Henry Geilfuss Architectural style Stick/Eastlake NRHP reference No. 89000197[1] SFDL No. 135 Significant dates Added to NRHP March 16, 1989 Designated SFDL December 6, 1981[2] The **William Westerfeld House**, also known as the "**Russian Embassy**", is a historic building located at 1198 Fulton Street (at Scott St.) in [San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco), [California](/source/California), United States, across the street from the northwest corner of [Alamo Square](/source/Alamo_Square). Constructed for German-born [confectioner](/source/Confectioner) [William Westerfeld](/source/William_Westerfeld) in 1889, the home is listed on the [National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places) and is [San Francisco Landmark](/source/List_of_San_Francisco_Designated_Landmarks) Number 135. ## History William Westerfeld, a German-born [confectioner](/source/Confectioner), arrived in San Francisco in the 1870s. By the 1880s, he had established a chain of bakeries. He hired local architect [Henry Geilfuss](/source/Henry_Geilfuss)[3][4] to design for his family of six a 28-room mansion with an adjoining rose garden and carriage house. The house was constructed in 1889 at a cost of $9,985 (equivalent to $357,800 in 2025).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] When Westerfeld died in 1895, the home was sold to John Mahony, of Mahony Brothers, noted for building the [St. Francis Hotel](/source/St._Francis_Hotel) and the [Palace Hotel](/source/Palace_Hotel%2C_San_Francisco) after the 1906 earthquake.[5] Mahony replaced the rose garden with flats to meet the city's dire need for housing.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] In 1928, a group of [Czarist](/source/Czarist) [Russians](/source/Russians) bought the home. They turned the ground-floor ballroom into a nightclub called Dark Eyes and used the upper floors for meeting rooms.[6] The house became known informally as the "Russian Embassy".[5] In 1948, the home was converted into a 14-unit apartment building. For most of the next two decades, the units were rented to [African-American](/source/African-American) musicians who played in the neighborhood jazz clubs. [John Handy](/source/John_Handy) was allegedly one of many to call the Westerfeld House his home, although he later denied having been a boarder there.[5][6] In 1965 Charles Fracchia purchased the building to use as a residence but never occupied it. The house was mentioned in the book *[The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test](/source/The_Electric_Kool-Aid_Acid_Test)*. The Calliope Company, a fifty-member collective, moved in. In 1967 underground filmmaker [Kenneth Anger](/source/Kenneth_Anger) took up residence.[6][7] Anger filmed *[Invocation of My Demon Brother](/source/Invocation_of_My_Demon_Brother)* starring Manson family member [Bobby Beausoleil](/source/Bobby_Beausoleil), Church of Satan founder [Anton LaVey](/source/Anton_LaVey), and featuring music by [Mick Jagger](/source/Mick_Jagger).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] In 1968, members of the Family Dog occupied the house while promoting acid rock concerts at the [Avalon Ballroom](/source/Avalon_Ballroom). Members of the [Grateful Dead](/source/Grateful_Dead) and [Big Brother and the Holding Company](/source/Big_Brother_and_the_Holding_Company) were frequent visitors.[5][6] The house, as seen in 1981. The first attempts to rehabilitate the building began in the 1970s. Two men purchased the home for $45,000 in 1969 (equivalent to $395,000 in 2025). They remodeled the fourth floor servants' quarters beyond recognition.[6] The house was left standing despite an [urban renewal](/source/Urban_renewal) project, which claimed 6,000 Victorian-era buildings over a 60-block area in the [Western Addition](/source/Western_Addition).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] Jim Siegel purchased the home in 1986 for $750,000[5] and has since retrofitted the foundation, removed the dropped ceilings, re-wired, re-roofed, and re-plumbed, and restored the interior and exterior woodwork and the historic, ground-floor ballroom, and decorated the 25-foot (7.6 m) ceiling with period wallpaper crafted by Bradbury & Bradbury.[6] ## See also - [List of San Francisco Designated Landmarks](/source/List_of_San_Francisco_Designated_Landmarks) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-nris_1-0)** ["National Register Information System"](https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP). *[National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places)*. [National Park Service](/source/National_Park_Service). March 13, 2009. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-SFLandmark_2-0)** ["City of San Francisco Designated Landmarks"](https://sfplanning.org/sites/default/files/documents/preserv/bulletins/HistPres_Bulletin_09.PDF) (PDF). City of San Francisco. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20221104172759/https://sfplanning.org/sites/default/files/documents/preserv/bulletins/HistPres_Bulletin_09.PDF) (PDF) from the original on November 4, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2020. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Patrick McGrew (1991). [*Landmarks of San Francisco*](https://archive.org/details/landmarksofsanfr00mcgr). Harry N. Abrams. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780810935570](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780810935570). p. 198. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Paul Duchscherer (2001). [*Victorian Glory: In San Francisco and the Bay Area*](https://books.google.com/books?id=N9pOAAAAYAAJ). Viking Studio. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780670893768](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780670893768). p. 78. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-feldman_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-feldman_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-feldman_5-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-feldman_5-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-feldman_5-4) Brown, Serena. [Third Thursday October 2018: Westerfeld House](https://feldmanarchitecture.com/third-thursday-october-2018-westerfeld-house/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20221206161843/https://feldmanarchitecture.com/third-thursday-october-2018-westerfeld-house/) December 6, 2022, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine). *Feldman Architecture*. Retrieved March 16, 2020. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-curbed_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-curbed_6-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-curbed_6-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-curbed_6-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-curbed_6-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-curbed_6-5) Bowling, Mary Jo (March 28, 2016). [The Westerfeld House: San Francisco's most storied Victorian](https://sf.curbed.com/2016/3/28/11319088/westerfeld-house) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230327222108/https://sf.curbed.com/2016/3/28/11319088/westerfeld-house) March 27, 2023, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine). *Curbed San Francisco*. Retrieved March 16, 2020. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Yu, Brandon (July 5, 2018). [‘Snaggletooth’ fits right into Westerfeld House’s horror heritage in SF](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/Snaggletooth-fits-right-into-Westerfeld-13048440.php) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20221001075300/https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/Snaggletooth-fits-right-into-Westerfeld-13048440.php) October 1, 2022, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine). *San Francisco Chronicle*. Retrieved March 16, 2020. ## External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to [William Westerfeld House (San Francisco)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:William_Westerfeld_House_(San_Francisco)). - [Noe Hill.com: Westerfeld House](http://www.noehill.com/sf/landmarks/nat1989000197.asp) v t e City and County of San Francisco History Timeline Culture Landmarks Media Museums Neighborhoods Notable people Skyscrapers Theatres Universities Government City Hall Mayor Board of Supervisors Superior Court San Francisco consulates Sister cities Arts Commission Board of Education City Attorney District Attorney Ethics Commission Fire Department Human Rights Commission San Francisco International Airport Municipal Transportation Agency Police Department Port of San Francisco Public Library Public Utilities Commission Public Works Recreation & Parks Department Sheriff's Office Transportation Authority San Francisco Unified School District Youth Commission Transit AC Transit Amtrak California BART Caltrain Clipper card Golden Gate Ferry Golden Gate Transit SamTrans San Francisco Bay Ferry San Francisco Municipal Railway SolTrans WestCAT Parks Alamo Square Balboa Park Buena Vista Park Candlestick Point Corona Heights Park Dolores Park Glen Canyon Park Golden Gate National Recreation Area Golden Gate Park Grand View Park Lafayette Park Lake Merced Lincoln Park McLaren Park Mountain Lake Park Panhandle Pine Lake Park Pioneer Park/Coit Tower The Presidio San Francisco Maritime Stern Grove South Park Sunset Dunes Sutro Heights Park Washington Square Park Yerba Buena Gardens Neighborhoods Alamo Square Anza Vista Bayview–Hunters Point French Quarter Bernal Heights Castro Cathedral Hill Chinatown Civic Center Cole Valley Corona Heights Cow Hollow Crocker-Amazon Diamond Heights Dogpatch Duboce Triangle Eureka Valley Excelsior District Fillmore Financial District Fisherman's Wharf Forest Hill Glen Park Haight-Ashbury Hayes Valley India Basin Ingleside Terraces Ingleside Japantown Laurel Heights Lower Haight Marina District Mid-Market Mission Bay Mission District Multimedia Gulch Nob Hill Noe Valley North Beach North Waterfront Oceanview Outer Mission Pacific Heights Parkside Portola Potrero Hill Presidio Heights Presidio Richmond District Russian Hill Sea Cliff South of Market St. Francis Wood Sunset District Telegraph Hill Tenderloin Tendernob Treasure Island Union Square Visitacion Valley West Portal Western Addition Westwood Highlands Westwood Park Yerba Buena Island Related articles Golden Gate Bridge Fisherman's Wharf Alcatraz Island Cable Cars Topics Category Portal v t e National Register of Historic Places in California Lists by county Alameda Alpine Amador Butte Calaveras Colusa Contra Costa Del Norte El Dorado Fresno Glenn Humboldt Imperial Inyo Kern Kings Lake Lassen Los Angeles County Madera Marin Mariposa Mendocino Merced Modoc Mono Monterey Napa Nevada Orange Placer Plumas Riverside Sacramento San Benito San Bernardino San Diego San Francisco San Joaquin San Luis Obispo San Mateo Santa Barbara Santa Clara Santa Cruz Shasta Sierra Siskiyou Solano Sonoma Stanislaus Sutter Tehama Trinity Tulare Tuolumne Ventura Yolo Yuba Lists by city Los Angeles Pasadena San Francisco Other lists Bridges California Historical Landmarks National Historic Landmarks National Natural Landmarks Keeper of the Register History of the National Register of Historic Places Property types Historic district Contributing property Authority control databases: Geographic MusicBrainz place --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [William Westerfeld House](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Westerfeld_House) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Westerfeld_House?action=history)). 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