Percy & Hamilton
Entry Author: David
Parry
Architectural Firm
Frederick F. Hamilton was born in Addison, Maine in 1851.
He began work in 1866 as a draftsman in the office of Boston
architect and book illustrator Hammatt Billings. In 1872 he
joined J. B. Samuels in partnership and they designed several
prominent commercial buildings and churches around Boston.
In September 1875 he journeyed out to California and worked
on the ill-fated San Francisco City Hall, then under the direction
of original architect, Augustus Laver. That building took
20 years to complete, but, when the earthquake of April 18,
1906 shook it apart, was found to have been very badly constructed.
In 1878 Hamilton traveled back east, but returned again to
San Francisco in 1879. He joined fellow Maine native, George
W. Percy, in partnership in January 1880.
Percy was Hamilton's senior by four years, having been born
in 1847, in Bath, Maine. He apprenticed with prominent Portland,
Maine architect, Francis H. Fassett, from 1866 until 1870,
when he came out to California to work in Stockton for two
years. In April 1872 he relocated to Chicago to work on the
rebuilding of that city following the great fire of October
1871. He returned to Boston in May 1873 to work as Superintendent
of Construction for the commercial architectural firm of Bradlee
and Winslow. Percy made his final move out to San Francisco
in September 1875, opening his own office in the City until
the partnership with Hamilton was formed in 1880.
Both architects had considerable experience of working with
Maine granite and both would have been inspired by the architectural
work of Henry Hobson Richardson in Boston (Brattle Square
Church from 1871, and the magnificent Trinity Church built
1872-77). Richardson is still the only American architect
to have a style named after him - Richardsonian Romanesque.
One of Percy & Hamilton's most important buildings in
that style is Greystone Cellars in St. Helena, over 400 feet
long, with walls 22 inches thick, and over 110,000 sq. ft
of interior space. It was built in 1886-89 for William Bourn
who was establishing a cooperative winery for Napa Valley
growers. It was operated for many years by the Christian Brothers,
and is now the Culinary Institute of America's west coast
campus. The building was added to the National Register of
Historic Places in 1978.
In San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, Percy & Hamilton's
Sharon Building has been described as a nearly perfect example
of Romanesque architecture. It was built in 1887 with funds
bequeathed to the City by William Sharon, who had died in
1885 leaving a $10,000,000 fortune from Comstock mine ownership.
With the adjacent Children's Playground and Carousel it comprised
the first playground facility built in a public park in the
United States. The Sharon Building was designated as San Francisco
Landmark #124 in 1981 and now houses an art studio.
In 1889 Percy & Hamilton designed an office and museum
for the California Academy of Sciences on Market Street, between
4th and 5th, on land donated by James Lick, who also funded
the construction. Unfortunately, that building and most of
the Academy's collection was destroyed in the fire that followed
the 1906 earthquake. But a little-known building of Percy
& Hamilton's did survive in the fire area, 85 2nd Street
at Mission, originally built in 1897 for Wells, Fargo &
Co. It was rebuilt in 1908 with an additional floor under
the direction of architects Meyers & Ward. Henry H. Meyers
had started work for Percy & Hamilton as a draftsman in
1891 and went into partnership with Clarence R. Ward in 1902.
Beginning in 1880 with a two-story double house on the 1700
block of Post Street, since a victim of redevelopment, and
continuing through to 1899 when Hamilton died, Percy &
Hamilton were responsible for a significant number of houses
and churches in Pacific Heights. Unfortunately many of the
residences have since been replaced to create denser uses
of the land, but these houses survive, although some have
been significantly altered: 2547 Washington (1884), 1923 Webster
(1885), 2513 Broadway and 2201 Broderick (1889), 1902 Broderick
(1893), 2318 Fillmore and 2230 Sacramento (1894), 2705 Buchanan
(1897). Two of their surviving churches in the area are the
First Unitarian Church at Franklin and Geary (1887), now San
Francisco Landmark #40, and the Seventh Day Adventist Church
at California and Broderick (1892).
One of Percy & Hamilton's earliest designs in Pacific
Heights was the original house at 2516 Pacific for owner Charles
Heise in 1881 on a 53 ft. by 127 ft. lot. The house was bought
by Louis and Lydia Monteagle in 1894. This house may be seen
in the postcard image. In 1920 the Monteagles were able to
buy the adjoining 32 ft. wide lot to the east and they commissioned
architect Lewis Hobart
to redesign 2516 Pacific across the entire 85 ft. frontage.
In 1884 Charles Heise commissioned Percy & Hamilton to
design a new house for him across the street, which still
stands at 2517 Pacific, now the oldest surviving house on
that block. Later Percy & Hamilton would design another
one just to the west of that at 2519 Pacific in 1892 for owner
J. C. Stubbs. Just prior to that though, in 1890, Frederick
Hamilton designed a house for himself at 2513 Pacific, which
he retained as his residence until he died. The house has
a traditional layout and has a lot of original detail. The
stained glass entry door and surround is particularly elegant
and attractive at night with hall lights illuminating it.
A curved bay dining room extension was built in 1914 under
the supervision of architect T. Paterson Ross with a beautiful
marble glass fan dome above it, which has recently been restored.
In 1923 a garage was installed for $500, neatly centered under
the curved living room window. An original fireplace can still
be seen on the west wall in the now converted basement/garage.
Hamilton died on December 1, 1899, bringing to an end San
Francisco's most highly successful Victorian-era partnership.
Percy & Hamilton had just secured a major office building
project at the time, for long-term client Alvinza Hayward,
400 Montgomery at California. Percy completed the design for
the building in 1900. Percy also took on Willis
Polk as a partner during that year, but Percy died on
December 14, 1900, just over a year after Hamilton. The office
building was completed in 1901 under the construction supervision
of Henry Meyers. With its steel-frame and reinforced concrete
floors, it became one of the few downtown buildings to survive
the 1906 earthquake. Percy had been a local pioneer in the
use of reinforced concrete, writing papers recommending its
use for strength and fire protection. It has an unusual 'H'
shape and was declared in 1909 by architect and writer B.
J. S. Cahill to be "one of the most beautiful buildings
in San Francisco". It is now called the Kohl Building
and is San Francisco Landmark #161.
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.
|
Frederick F. Hamilton was born in Addison, Maine, 1851