The San Francisco call., 1909-11-27
SCENIC VIEWS ADD
VALUE TO PROPERTY
Large UndeveIOped Areas in City
Need Only Transportation
to Attract Population


culations regarding the growth OF
population is that il has large unde- !
veloped areas that command such
scenery IS no other city in the world
can boast Of That that scenery is an !
a sset has been proved in this city in
the case Of the values for residential I
purposes of property on Pacific heights, I
on Preside heights. at Bakers beach, /
on the slopes of Russian hill, at the /
summit Of Mob hill and farther down /
the grades in scores OF streets that I
bring the bay or ocean into view. !
along the Preside wall, and in other
sections similarly situated in relation !
10 land and water views.
The first local demonstration of the |
effect of an elevation of land on the
value Of frontage per foot for resi-
dental purposes was afforded when
Rincon hill was The aristocratic part
81 San Francisco.
SCENERY ATTRACTS BUYERS
on that comparatively small eleva-
1ion the homes of the wealtllier citi-
zens IF san Francisco Were erected. !
Bankers. fnanciers. United States sena-
Tors and families OF refined tastes and
ample means placed costly structures
where they could overlook the bay
eastward and southwark. and the
lavish manner with which some Of the
The then supposed to be a permanently
fine residential part OF the city was
striking and illustrative Of the sort of
people scenery can attract and hold
permanently.
Even up to the time that fire swept
Rincon Hill clear of houses there were
still visible some remnants of the
Some Of the older families still dwelt
there. Irving NJ. Scott was a resident
Of RincOn hill for many years. Reu-
ben Lloyd dwelt there. The Latham
ma nsion with its splendors of great
chandeliers that We're worth thousands
OF dollars. its elaborate and costly
wood carvings. its wealth of statuary 1
and illuminated ceilings, pier glasses !
and other belongings of wealth re-
mained. while tenanted by poor people, I
10 show what manner of dwellings had
been in the neighborhood.
HOMES WORLD FAMOUS
when the quartet of overland rail-
WAY constructors OF the pioneer days
selected their home sites they all had
homes on Mob hill. Crocker. Stanford
and Hopkins built there great man +
sions in large. ornamental grounds and
these were filled with works OF art
and costly souvenirs Of all lands in the
world and they so remained until they
100 were swallowed up by the flames. 1
Huntington occupied the Cotton man /
sion Their homes were pointed out
to visitors and the fame of Mob hill
was worldwide by reason Of tens of
thousands Of tourists who had seen
The pleasing combination of superb
scenery and fine architecture on the
hiil.
50 strenuous was James c. Flood in
his desire 10 improve the splendid site
That came TO his possession that he had
~ Of ic re,a g1Qfa
was To be constructed quarried thou
sands OF miles from California. in
Portland, Conn. where the vast de-
pOsits OF brownstone show the tracks
of huge birds that lived before mans /
DAYS on the earth.
HILL PROPERTY IN DEMAND
United states senator Fair. with the
nloneT that he accumulated in his op-
erations ia the Comstock and other 7
mines. also bought and held . block /
Of land on Mob hill. the site Of the l
present l'airmont hotel. He also /
bought other scenic locations in Pine !
street. where he erected costly struc- I
lures Lucky" Baldwin. remembered 4
for his millions; David Cotton. A y i
ToWne and others well known in the 1
c-riy days OF San Francisco bought 1
property on the hill at prices that
were considered large at the time /
Russian hill was also made the site
- many costly homes. Wherever there
was scenery the building sites that
commanded il were in demand. which
is the common experience in all great /
American cities where the environ
ments can be made permanently in 1
accordance with a high class Of con
struction. Scenery was thus al asset
in the earlier days, as il is now and
always viii be.
BENEFIT OF CAR SERVICE
When a : Hallidie invented the
cable railway. that at first afforded
only SLOW transportation from Kearny
snd Clay streets westward in a straight
line TO its terminus at Van Ness ave-
nue-probably straight because the
method OF running a cable around a
corner had not been worked out
glorious possibilities were opened up
FOR the great residential portion Of
san Francisco
The steep slopes that had been COW
cred with blackberry bushes and lupin.
among which the boys OF san Fran
cisco hunted and sometimes killed an
unlucky jackrsbbit or two on a holi-
day, were made accessible through the
Hallidle cable road invention.
Teams could not climb the sleeps but
the cable could take cars over places
where the grades reached their highest
percentages The section west of Polk
fornia street soon had a cable line that
ran from California and Kearny streets
Then Geary and Sutter streets were
given car service.
PROGRESS IN DEVELOPMENT
The easy grades of the Mission and
OF all the region south of Market street
became populous very early because
there were no natural obstacles to
overcome in travel. but the Mission
hills the region west OF Kearny street
and north OF Hayes valley. were settled
up only after the proper transportation
facilities were Afforded. When the
cable roads went out over Castro
street. reached by way Of Sacramento
and other streets out to the cliff, and
crosstown lines were in construction
and operation. the field was opened up
for the splendid upbuilding of the Pa
cilc heights.
II is only within the last 10 years
that the extensive upbuilding of locali-
ties far from the center. entirely on
the basis Of scenic location. fairly-took
shape. AS recently as 1890 the present
Ashbury heights were but untenanted
sandhilIs and even the north line OF the
Golden Gate park panhandle IN Oak
Sfreef had few houses AT that time