{"nrhp_refnum":"85001016","name":"St. Joseph's Hospital","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"355 Buena Vista Ave. East","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Francisco","county":"San Francisco","state":"CA","lat":37.76731821200008,"lon":-122.43975191999999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-05-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Health/Medicine","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A hospital complex at 355 Buena Vista Avenue East, San Francisco, on the slope below Buena Vista Park. It has a six-story hospital (permit 1926, dedicated 1928), a chapel and a nurses' residence, all linked by corridors.","why_significant":"The complex is a visually prominent Spanish Renaissance Revival landmark on the San Francisco skyline. The hospital served the city for 90 years, accepting patients regardless of religion or nationality under the Franciscan Sisters. It was also one of the last major works of the architectural firm Bakewell & Brown.","narrative":"Rising from the eastern slope below Buena Vista Park, this San Francisco hospital complex combines a six-story hospital, a chapel and a nurses' residence, joined by corridors that run mostly underground. Light ochre stucco walls and red tile roofs give it a Spanish Renaissance Revival look, restrained in ornament but large in scale. The long hospital wing bends twice to follow the hillside, and the chapel holds the only significant interior, with Arts and Crafts style murals and art glass windows. The hospital grew from a ten-room house given to the Catholic Church in 1889 and was run by Franciscan Sisters, who accepted patients regardless of religion or nationality. After the 1906 earthquake they fed thousands of homeless people. The present building, designed by Bakewell & Brown, opened in 1928 and closed in 1979 because of seismic requirements and efforts to reduce excess hospital beds. Its skyline presence and its architects account for its recognition.","period_of_significance":"1926-1928","architect_builder":"Bakewell & Brown","architectural_style":"Spanish Renaissance Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Hospital closed in 1979; the form lists the property as unoccupied and vacant. Exteriors are largely unchanged, while interiors other than the chapel are much altered.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.954523-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/85001016.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85001016/b83047204d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85001016/b83047204d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Joseph%27s_Hospital_(San_Francisco).JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Sanfranman59</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Joseph%27s_Hospital_(San_Francisco).JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861321","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Joseph%27s_Hospital_(San_Francisco)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7589188"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-francisco/st-josephs-hospital-85001016/"}