{"nrhp_refnum":"79000529","name":"Fleishhacker, Delia, Memorial Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Zoo Rd. and Sloat Blvd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Francisco","county":"San Francisco","state":"CA","lat":37.73470756000006,"lon":-122.50355202499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-12-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Art","Entertainment/Recreation","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story Italian Renaissance-style building, known as the Mothers House, at the San Francisco Zoological Gardens near Sloat Boulevard, built in 1925 and designed by George W. Kelham. It was donated to the city by Herbert and Mortimer Fleishhacker in memory of their mother, Delia.","why_significant":"It was built as a lounge for mothers and young children at the Fleishhacker Playfield and is described as probably the only structure of its type in the West. It is a good example of the Italian Renaissance style favored by architect George W. Kelham, and it has murals and mosaics by women artists from the Federal Art Project and Public Works of Art Project. It also represents the expansion of San Francisco's park system in the 1920s and 1930s.","narrative":"Built in 1925 on the grounds of what is now the San Francisco Zoo, the Mothers House is a single-story building in the Italian Renaissance style, with stucco walls, a red Mission tile hipped roof, and a loggia of five arches on Corinthian columns. Brothers Herbert and Mortimer Fleishhacker gave it to the city in honor of their mother, Delia, as part of the Fleishhacker Playfield. It was meant as a lounge for mothers with small children, with restrooms, a kitchen and tea service. Architect George W. Kelham, known for San Francisco skyscrapers, designed it. Mosaics by the Bruton sisters decorate the loggia, and four Noah's Ark murals by Helen Forbes and Dorothy Pucinelli fill the main hall. The pool and playfield around it are gone, leaving the building as the remnant. It was used as a visitors center and now operates as a zoo shop. It reflects the growth of the city's park system in the 1920s and 1930s.","period_of_significance":"1925","architect_builder":"George W. Kelham, A.I.A.","architectural_style":"Italian Renaissance (Tuscan, about 1500)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in good condition with minor alterations; it now serves as a shop for Zoo-related merchandise, after use as a Visitors Center from 1973 to 1978.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.20698-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/79000529.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000529/3cba03abec-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000529/3cba03abec-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Robert Quan, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mother%27s_Building_entrance,_1979.png\" rel=\"noopener\">Robert Quan, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mother%27s_Building_entrance,_1979.png"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861108","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q115152191"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-francisco/fleishhacker-delia-memorial-building-79000529/"}