Mills Building and Tower
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Why it's listed
Located at the corner of Montgomery and Bush Streets in San Francisco, this office building was designed in 1890 by the Chicago firm Burnham and Root, with most of the design credited to John Root. It replaced Platt's Music Hall and was built with a steel frame, white Inyo marble on the lowest two stories, and buff Roman brick and terra cotta above. The 1906 earthquake caused minor exterior damage, and fire badly damaged the interior. Reconstruction began in February 1907 and is attributed to Willis Polk. Additions followed in 1907, 1914 and 1918, and a tower designed by Louis Parsons Hobart was completed in 1930-31, financed largely by proceeds from the sale of Mills Estate land for San Francisco's airport. The building is regarded as the city's oldest intact and finest example of the Chicago School and one of its first three steel-frame structures. It is named for banker D. O. Mills, who founded the first bank west of the Rockies.
Significance in brief: The nomination calls it San Francisco's oldest intact and best surviving example of the Chicago School of architecture, and possibly the city's only link to that era. It is one of the first three steel-frame buildings in the city and remains essentially unchanged from its 1907 reconstruction. It also carries the association of banker D. O. Mills.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 77000334, listed April 13, 1977. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 220 Montgomery St. and 220 Bush St., San Francisco |
|---|---|
| County | San Francisco |
| Listed | April 13, 1977 |
| Reference number | 77000334 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1890 |
| Architect / builder | Burnham and Root (Chicago); Willis Polk (1907 reconstruction, attributed); J. S. Bogard, Engineer (1918 addition); Louis Parsons Hobart (Mills Tower, 1930-31) |
| Architectural style | Chicago School |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as occupied, in good condition, in commercial use, and on its original site. |
| Acreage | 1.2 |
| Within district | Port of San Francisco Embarcadero Historic District |
| Coordinates | 37.79128, -122.40152 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 77000334.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6859956
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.