Mooser, William
Entry Author: David
Parry
Architect
Just a few individuals started dynasties of San Francisco
design and architectural accomplishment. Charles M. Rousseau
(followed by sons Charles J., Arthur and Oliver) would be
one; Julius Case Mathews (followed by sons Walter, Edgar
and Arthur) would be another. However, William Sebastian Mooser
was by far the earliest, and, by 1961, the firm names of William
Mooser or Wm. Mooser & Son had been respected in the local
architectural community for 100 years through the distinguished
efforts of three generations of William Mooser.
William Mooser I was born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1834.
He studied architecture in his native land before arriving
in San Francisco on October 10, 1854. One of his first jobs
was at the Navy Yard designing naval structures, but he soon
followed many other fortune seekers of his generation and
set out for the mines. He later based himself in Virginia
City, Nevada to practice architecture, designing and supervising
the building of at least four substantial commercial buildings
there.
In 1858 Mooser returned to San Francisco, at first joining
pioneer architect Victor Hoffman in practice and then opening
his own office in 1861. One early Mooser design still surviving,
and therefore one of San Francisco's oldest buildings, is
the 1864 Pioneer Woolen Mill at Ghirardelli Square. It is
a red-brick building with broad plank floors resting on exposed
wood columns, acutely-angled onto Polk Street near Beach.
It is now incorporated into the Ghirardelli complex designated
in 1970 as San Francisco Landmark #30. Most of the buildings
there were designed between 1899 and 1918 by his son, William
Mooser II (1868-1962), for the chocolate manufacturer D. Ghirardelli
Co. In 1962, the buildings were saved from demolition by Lurline
and William Matson Roth who hired Wurster, Bernardi &
Emmons to develop them into a retail and office complex, for
which they received a collaborative achievement award from
the American Institute of Architects in 1965. William Mooser
I designed a second building for the Pioneer Woolen Mills
across from the first one, which survived for almost 100 years,
but was unfortunately demolished to be replaced by those twin
obstructions to the view from Russian Hill - the Fontana Towers.
Mooser entered into a few other partnerships during his career
in the City, notably with English architect W. J. Cuthbertson
in the early 1890's. Despite a great deal of his work being
lost in the fire which followed the 1906 earthquake, we are
fortunate to have the group of Queen Anne's at 2811-2821 Buchanan
Street to admire, designed by Mooser in 1893, and the magnificent
home at 2702 California Street which he designed in 1887 for
carriage maker John Dupuy (ref. building contract notice in
California Architect & Building News, June 15, 1887, $7,500
construction cost).
Mooser was well respected in the local architectural community
and was a founding member of the San Francisco Architectural
Society in 1861. His son, William Mooser II, joined him in
the practice in 1890, continuing the company name after his
father died of kidney failure on November 17, 1896. In 1900,
during the Phelan administration, he became the first person
appointed to the position of City architect, responsible for
the plans and supervision of all City construction, in charge
of the new Building Bureau and its building inspectors, and
writing the first San Francisco building code. William Mooser
III (1893-1969), known as William Mooser, Jr. for most of
his life, received his formal architectural training in Paris
at the renowned École des Beaux-Arts and apprenticed
with MacDonald and Couchot, later joining his father in practice
for many years.
Entry taken from the website of David Parry at www.classicSFproperties.com
and is used by permission. Unauthorized use of this copyrighted
material is strictly forbidden without permission from the
author.
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Born: Geneva, Swizerland, 1834