You probably know that the Stanyan Park Hotel, at Stanyan and Waller, is the neighborhood's only proper hotel; you might even know that it's listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. But this old lady's got quite a story, stretching back more than a century.

The Stanyan Park Hotel actually predates the 1906 earthquake, though only by a hair—its construction was completed in 1904 and 1905. For some perspective, this is what Haight and Stanyan looked like at the time of the hotel's completion:

Looking north on Stanyan at Haight, 1906. (Photo: SFPL Archive)

And here's a view of Stanyan between Waller and Haight two decades later:

Looking north on Stanyan at Waller, 1927. (Photo: SFPL Archive)

The hotel, originally owned by Henry Heagarty, was fashioned in the Beaux Arts style by architects Martens and Coffey. It opened originally as the Hotel Golden Gate, with a saloon, apartments and storefronts. (Heagarty had run a saloon on the same corner since 1883.)

According to documents from the building's nomination into the National Register of Historic Places, the Golden Gate was one of seven hotels on Stanyan Street alone fronting Golden Gate Park, although it's the last that still exists as a hotel. (Two others have since been converted to apartments.) It was known for being the most ornate and formal of the bunch.

It's unclear just when the hotel was renamed the Stanyan Park, but the story picks up again many decades later. As with a lot of things in the Haight, the 1970s were unkind to the Stanyan Park, although it continued to survive as a hotel. Before its nomination into the Registry, the hotel underwent a gruesome conversion that stripped it of its ornamentation and replaced the siding with a faux-brick façade. The corner dome and balustrade were also removed.

Here it is in 1981, right before its restoration.

750 Stanyan in 1981. (Photo: NPS)

In the early '80s, the hotel underwent a restoration that brought the building closer to its original vision and restored most of the architectural details, using historical photographs as guidance. After the hotel was restored in August 1983, it was nominated into the National Registry of Historic Places.

750 Stanyan in 1983. (Photo: NPS)

The historic value of the building comes largely from the architects who designed it. Ferdinand Martens and Alfred I. Coffey collaborated on a number of San Francisco Victorian and classical revival buildings over their partnership, which spanned 1892 to 1908. Projects they worked on also included the Koster Mansion and St. Boniface Church. Coffey also served as the San Francisco city architect from 1910 to 1912.

The hotel has been under its current ownership since 1996. Today, more than 100 years after it was built, the stately building continues to operate as a small, independent hotel, with 36 rooms and a unique view into the past (and the park). 

Photo: Camden Avery/Hoodline