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Photo, Print, Drawing Adelphian Apartments, 820 O'Farrel Street, San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA Jordan Hotel

[ Photos from Survey HABS CA-2344  ]

More Resources

[ Data Pages from Survey HABS CA-2344  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS CA-2344  ]

About this Item

Title

  • Adelphian Apartments, 820 O'Farrel Street, San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA

Other Title

  • Jordan Hotel

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Wilde, William
  • Maul, David, transmitter

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  apartment hotels
  • -  California -- San Francisco County -- San Francisco

Notes

  • -  Significance: The Adelphian Apartments (Jordan Hotel) is a contributor to the San Francisco Apartment Hotel District, which has been determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places at the statewide level of significance, under Criteria A - events and C - architecture, as "perhaps the country's only large, virtually intact, architecturally consistent, densely packed inner-city residential area" (Nomination form, block 8). The district's period of significance is 1906 to 1931. The year of significance for this building is 1915, when it was constructed. The Adelphian Apartments is also a good example of the district's "predominant building type: a 3- to 7-story, multi-unit, permanent residential apartment, hotel, or apartment-hotel constructed of brick or reinforced concrete" (Nomination, block 7). In the 1983 National Register Nomination form for the San Francisco Apartment Hotel District, this building is listed among the contributors as No. 716/3, on continuation sheet page 107. The listing reads, "Adelphian Apartments (now Jordan Apartments), 820 O'Farrell Street: 1915, designer William Wilde, 4 stories, stucco facade, marquee, marble steps." Although somewhat modified on the interior and, because of a fire, at the rear east wing, the building is basically intact as to location, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. The Nomination form describes the District's typical building in terms which apply directly to the Adelphian Apartments. "Compositionally the typical apartment or hotel is a two-part vertical block with prominent cornice, residential upper part, and differentiated base. ... It stands on the sidewalk line an usually occupies the entire lot width of 30 to 150 feet. Light courts open at side and rear. It may have bay windows. Sash in the earlier buildings is most often double-hung. ... Roofs are almost always flat and surrounded by parapet-firewalls, which provide compositional space for the decorative cornice" (Block 7). "Most designers chose to ornament their two-part vertical blocks with restrained references to a broadly Classical vocabulary" (p. 53). "Typically the apartment or hotel is entered a few steps up from the street. ... The entry opening, vestibule and front are as imposing as the budget permitted. One finds curvalinear and glass-fringed metal marquees. ... The lobby helped describe the social status of the residents and therefore became an important space" (p. 54). The subject building is a curious example of the social status-seeking norm in the District. While the building was designed for low-rent tenants, (single room apartments, narrow halls, tiny lobby, minimal interior ornamentation with inexpensive materials), it presents a luxurious face to the public. The well-proportioned entry opening appears of normal height for its style, but it actually rises considerably less then the full height of the main floor. Usually in the District, a vestibule or lobby steps up to the main floor in response to a hilly site, but here the site is flat. The steps have luxurious width and marble cladding. There is an unusually large number of steps ten which, along with the glass fringed, flat topped marquee and restricted opening, completely conceal the meager lobby and cramped quarters. The building's design thus seems directed to tenants of severely limited means who wished to give an outward impression of respectability and prosperity.
  • -  Survey number: HABS CA-2344
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1915 Initial Construction

Medium

  • Photo(s): 10
  • Data Page(s): 8
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 1

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS CAL,38-SANFRA,171-

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • ca1765

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HABS CAL,38-SANFRA,171-
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

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    • Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
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    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
    • If possible, include a printout of the drawing.
  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

If Digital Images Are Not Displaying

In the rare case that a digital image for HABS/HAER/HALS documentation is not displaying online, select images for reproduction through one of these methods:

  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
  • Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
  • You can purchase copies of various types, including quick copies, through Library of Congress Duplication Services (price lists, contact information, and order forms for Library of Congress Duplication Services are available on the Duplication Services Web site):
    • Make note of the Call Number listed above.
    • Look at the Medium field above. If it lists more than one item:
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      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.
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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, and William Wilde. Adelphian Apartments, 820 O'Farrel Street, San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA. San Francisco County San Francisco California, 1933. translateds by Maul, Davidmitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/ca1765/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C. & Wilde, W. (1933) Adelphian Apartments, 820 O'Farrel Street, San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA. San Francisco County San Francisco California, 1933. Maul, D., trans Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/ca1765/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, and William Wilde. Adelphian Apartments, 820 O'Farrel Street, San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA. trans by Maul, Davidmitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/ca1765/>.