Right on the corner of 36th Ave and Fulton, numbered 6000 Fulton is a large pink building which probably housed a hotel. It is being renovated, and I remember having seen a photo in the S. F. Library History Room of a large bar in the basement. Many months back, the contractor showed me the place and what he thought were small rooms under the roof, accessible for special purposes.

Does anyone know what kind of building it was, and its history?

-- Wolfgang Schubert (wolfgang@legalmatch.com), July 28, 2002

Answers

In the 1920s and 30s it was listed as the "Greer home" under sanatariums.

I would love to know more. Who built it and when?

Good luck in your research.

-- Kurt Iversen (iversenk@aol.com), July 29, 2002.

See this for the bar of the Hotel Cairns: http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAB-1847.jpg

There was another photo of the outside somewhere...

-- Wolfgang Schubert (bigclifftrail@aol.com), July 30, 2002.

A photo from across Spreckel's Lake:

http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAA-7965.jpg

-- Wolfgang Schubert (wolfgang@legalmatch.com), July 30, 2002.

Wolfgang,

I used to live on 35th and Balboa and when that building had its fire a number of years ago someone in Simple Pleasures told me it used to be a "halfway house". That's close to a sanitarium, I guess. I don't know what the residents were halfway out of!

Woody LaBounty Western Neighborhoods Project http://www.outsidelands.org

-- Woody LaBounty (woody@outsidelands.org), August 13, 2002.

I use to live there. I thank the gentleman for mentioning that it use to be a sanitarium. While I lived there I had nighmares about older people being trapped and trying to get out. Now I understand. I use to live down stairs in the area that use to be the bar.

Does anyone know how the fire started? Who owns it now?

-- Mary Taylor Byrd (mary_byrd@msn.com), December 13, 2002.

Ladies and Gentlepeople:

Two pieces of small information for you:

One, a Google search turns up that a Mabel E. Van Wert was a nurse living in the building during 1928-1931 which lends credence to the idea that it was a sanitarium.

1928 Crocker-Langley Van Went May E. nurse r 6000 Fulton

1931 R. L. Polk & Company, Publishers Van Wert Mabel E. nurse Christian Science Home r. 6000 Fulton Also, the fire must have happened after 1997 as VADIM RUBAKHIN posted his resume 1997/08/19 and listed himself as living in unit #14

6000 Fulton St., # 14 San Francisco, CA. 94121 Home Phone (415) 751-5467 Email Wadebyte@juno.com

Hope this helps a little bit.

All best,

F. Forsythe

-- F. Forsythe (cheaterfive@sbcglobal.net), December 29, 2002.

The Cairns Hotel was designed by the architectual firm of Armitage & Howell for James C. Cairns. It was completed as a 50 room hotel in October 1907, costing $50,000. The exterior today, except for the most recent modifications and window changes, is the same as it was originally designed in 1907. It, and the Golden Gate Park Casino, (once inside the Park near the Conservatory, but moved to 24th & Fulton in 1896) were two of the "road houses" where one could get a drink or have a secret daliance in the early years of last century. As the neighborhood became more residential in the 'teens and streetcar service to the beach made them less isolated, they both declined. The Casino was torn down in the mid-20's, but the Cairns Hotel was converted into a sanitarium and later apartment house. It is the last of a series of hotels and bars that were popular along Fulton Street or at Ocean Beach with sporting types who went for a ride with horse and buggy or touring car in Golden Gate Park and stopped for refreshment to clear the dust from their throats.

-- John Freeman (freeman@igc.org), April 28, 2003.