{"nrhp_refnum":"09001118","name":"Four Fifty Sutter Building","other_names":["450 Sutter Building","Medical-Dental Building","Four Fifty Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"450 Sutter St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Francisco","county":"San Francisco","state":"CA","lat":37.789423605000025,"lon":-122.40778479699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-12-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 26-story Art Deco medical and dental office tower at 450 Sutter Street, a block north of Union Square in San Francisco, designed by Timothy L. Pflueger of Miller & Pflueger and opened in October 1929.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant locally under Criterion C as an important example of the work of San Francisco architect Timothy L. Pflueger and as an excellent example of Art Deco architecture. It combines Mayan-inspired terra cotta ornament, a dramatic entry and lobby, and a flexible \"T\"-shaped floor plan built for medical tenants.","narrative":"Rising 26 stories above Sutter Street, a block north of Union Square in San Francisco, this office tower opened in October 1929 as a building devoted to doctors and dentists. Architect Timothy L. Pflueger of Miller & Pflueger designed it for a Santa Cruz dentist's development company on the former site of Temple Emanu-El. Steel framing is clad in terra cotta decorated with Mayan hieroglyphics, with slightly V-shaped windows to bring light into medical suites. A recessed four-story entry leads to a two-story lobby of marble and metal. Behind the offices, a seven-story garage held about 450 cars. Above the seventh floor, a T-shaped corridor plan let tenants arrange suites as needed. The building is considered locally significant for its architecture, as a leading work of Pflueger and a fine example of Art Deco design. The exterior and main public interiors remain largely intact, and the building still serves mostly medical-related tenants.","period_of_significance":"1929","architect_builder":"Pflueger, Timothy L. (Miller & Pflueger); general contractor Lindgren & Swinerton; terra cotta by Hock & Hoffmeyer","architectural_style":"Modern Movement - Art Deco","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used as offices, predominantly medical-related; exterior and public interior spaces are largely intact, though tenant spaces have been modernized and the steel windows replaced with near-matching aluminum ones.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.736714-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/09001118.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09001118/3cc93ccec6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09001118/3cc93ccec6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"BrokenSphere","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:450_Sutter_St._front_4.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">BrokenSphere</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:450_Sutter_St._front_4.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861120","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/450_Sutter_Street","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4638113"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-francisco/four-fifty-sutter-building-09001118/"}