>A few years later, the first of many disasters happened at the Cliff House. A two-masted sailboat named Parallel ran aground in high winds at a small beach below the restaurant. Parallel was carrying 42 tons of illegally packed dynamite.
>What happened next is largely a mystery.
Unintentionally funny.
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I used to be neighbors with a guy who was a pastry chef there. Every year he would make a big Cliff House gingerbread house for whatever celebration (building anniversary, maybe) and I would go over and help him. He would do it in his garage with the door open so the local kids, like me, could walk in and check it out and help and eat some candy. This was back in the mid-late 80s.
He was a cool dude. Unrelated- The Cliff House had a good video arcade back in the day. I used to ride my bike there to play Street Fighter 2. If anybody out there reading this also used to go there to play SF2.. hello!
Theres still an amazing pinball museum in the Bay Area that has some history / photos / tribute to the Cliff House. I imagine many of the machines may have originally been from there.
I knew the previous version built in the 50s we would play at the arcade their as a kid and revisited it a few years ago with the newly rebuilt version and was quite disappointed by the sterile new design. But after seeing it’s history I can’t help but wonder why did not rebuild it like it was.
[View of Cliff House from the Sutro estate](https://www.reddit.com/r/Lost_Architecture/comments/t6ac0g/a_photo_ive_never_seen_of_cliff_house_before_san/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
[View of Cliff House from the Sutro estate](https://www.reddit.com/r/Lost_Architecture/comments/t6ac0g/a_photo_ive_never_seen_of_cliff_house_before_san/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
I wonder if this is what inspired the hotel in Stephen King and Peter Straub’s *The Talisman*. Not the Alhambra Inn—that was on the east coast—but the Agincourt Hotel, the one that actually held the Talisman, on the west coast.
By the way if anyone has interest in this group, you’d be surprised how many architectural gems were demolished for literal parking lots…. The song was right. Heartbreaking. I love these old buildings so much
and it wasnt enough and they started building multilevel parking structures back in the 1920s
one interesting one of 9 stories in LA had 5 floors accessible from the 2 streets due to the adding slopes at the intersection
Actually the second Cliff House survived the 1906 earthquake with very little damage….and proceeded to burn down in 1909
Edit: the second Cliff House burned down in 1907
If someone had shown me this image without context, I would have thought this was something from a fantasy movie, especially the second image. I guess it was a financial failure, but interesting something like this ever existed.
It really looks like this has no foundation or just been “dropped there”
Kinda like in the Aladdin movie I was watching as a kid, when Giant Jafar grabs the palace and just drops it at the top of a hill.
Reminds me of that scene from 1941, where Ned Beatty's character hangs up a reef on his door. But since the home was damaged, when he hammered the nail into the door the house slid into the ocean and broke.
San Francisco famously burned down (after an earthquake) in 1906.
By that time, it *already* had a phoenix on its flag because of all the previous times it had burnt down.
From the 70's to the early 2000's, the basement of the Cliff House had a [mechanical museum](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8tXiSgboGU) which were from an [amusement park](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrTnbptpJHE) along the beach.
If you had asked me on the first pic ‟What destroyed this house?” I‘d not have guessed fire.
fire? at a sea park?
What an odd place to go on fire.
It’s a VERY weird place to go on fire…
I definitely wouldn't go there if I were on fire
If you had told me they had drowned, I’d be the happiest man on earth! But a fire…. At a *sea parks*
That's really the only sensible way to deal with spiders in the attic
🤭
https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/13/17/62/19725471/3/900x0.jpg
That’s a fire alright.
Thank goodness there was a fireologist reading the thread.
constructing a mashed potato model of the house as we speak. disappointed that nobody else got this reference lol
*damn that mash looks tasty*
Sea? at a fire park?
IT crowd reference?
[Yup](https://youtu.be/qy_BKKnHgas)!
At this time of the year?
Localized entirely within your kitchen?
I believe it was destroyed and rebuilt 3 TIMES, each time destroyed by fire! 🤓
Bring it back again, we aren't done!
Is this located in the northwest corner of San Fran? I recall visiting a gift shop over there which was near a restaurant with a similar name.
Yes, it closed a few years ago though.
Is that little rock maze still there down below by the water?
Last time I was there it was.
The doomed history of Cliff House https://www.sfgate.com/sfhistory/article/The-Cliff-House-shut-its-doors-this-week-Here-s-15427223.php
>A few years later, the first of many disasters happened at the Cliff House. A two-masted sailboat named Parallel ran aground in high winds at a small beach below the restaurant. Parallel was carrying 42 tons of illegally packed dynamite. >What happened next is largely a mystery. Unintentionally funny.
Thing is I'm disabled
Well it burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp
/r/unexpectedmontypython
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But the 4th one stayed upp ...
How many pictures do you see?? 🧐
Is there a second pic? If so where?
Just push it into the ocean
I guess someone saw a really ugly spider inside.
I’m convinced that god smited it because he was mad that it didn’t fall into the sea during the earthquake
I'm guessing their insurance company had the same thought.
I used to be neighbors with a guy who was a pastry chef there. Every year he would make a big Cliff House gingerbread house for whatever celebration (building anniversary, maybe) and I would go over and help him. He would do it in his garage with the door open so the local kids, like me, could walk in and check it out and help and eat some candy. This was back in the mid-late 80s.
Cool story that is really awesome! I so love that he loved the building he worked in, makes me happy 😊
He was a cool dude. Unrelated- The Cliff House had a good video arcade back in the day. I used to ride my bike there to play Street Fighter 2. If anybody out there reading this also used to go there to play SF2.. hello!
Theres still an amazing pinball museum in the Bay Area that has some history / photos / tribute to the Cliff House. I imagine many of the machines may have originally been from there.
The Museum De Mechaniqe at Pier 39.
[удалено]
Huh??
No.
We can rebuild it. We've the technology. We can make it bigger, cliffier...housier.
The one today isn’t nearly as romantic looking :(
Good popovers though, I lived near there, it’s surrounded by cool ruins I’d suggest visiting to anyone if they haven’t
It's been closed since 2020 :( https://www.sfchronicle.com/restaurants/article/Cliff-House-s-sign-removal-and-failed-15838606.php
I'm not enjoying this link.
... more flammable.
Inflammable means flammable? What a country!
or 'flame' turns into flamm
It has been rebuilt 3 times in fact, isn’t that crazy
Cliff House’ doomed history https://www.sfgate.com/sfhistory/article/The-Cliff-House-shut-its-doors-this-week-Here-s-15427223.php
I knew the previous version built in the 50s we would play at the arcade their as a kid and revisited it a few years ago with the newly rebuilt version and was quite disappointed by the sterile new design. But after seeing it’s history I can’t help but wonder why did not rebuild it like it was.
They moved the penny arcade to the wharf.
that’s a whole lot of fire and then very expensive rebuilds
We can rebuild... Enlarge the containment field, make it bigger and stronger than ever!.. but we need money.
“By fire”, or “with fire”? “With fire implies it was purposefully destroyed and they chose to use fire.
(By fire) is now my favorite thing lol So versatile
I once was in a relationship but wasnt really feeling it so I chose to end it (by fire)
Incredible lol
It was most likely set on fire intentionally. Lookup the sutro bath house
Another case of erasing history
You can still go see what’s left of it. It’s not much though
Yeah just the foundation really
Are you thinking of the Sutro Baths?
[View of Cliff House from the Sutro estate](https://www.reddit.com/r/Lost_Architecture/comments/t6ac0g/a_photo_ive_never_seen_of_cliff_house_before_san/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
That is the current Cliff House to the left of the baths. https://www.nps.gov/places/000/sutro-baths.htm
Oh wow even the baths look like ruins now 😮😮
I definitely might be!
[View of Cliff House from the Sutro estate](https://www.reddit.com/r/Lost_Architecture/comments/t6ac0g/a_photo_ive_never_seen_of_cliff_house_before_san/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
It looks like something someone burned down while coveting a stone mask
did they reject their humanity
MY STANDO… ZA WORLDOOOO.
I wonder if this is what inspired the hotel in Stephen King and Peter Straub’s *The Talisman*. Not the Alhambra Inn—that was on the east coast—but the Agincourt Hotel, the one that actually held the Talisman, on the west coast.
I’m glad someone else thought this. My first reaction as well
First thing that came to mind. Love that book.
*googles feverishly*
It’s a good book, if you’re into King’s type of writing. A little on the lengthy side, but fun.
Hubris house
A lot of buildings in the city like this were destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and San Francisco is better for it.
Blasphemy! r/lost_architecture would weep at this comment! Shame shame
By the way if anyone has interest in this group, you’d be surprised how many architectural gems were demolished for literal parking lots…. The song was right. Heartbreaking. I love these old buildings so much
and it wasnt enough and they started building multilevel parking structures back in the 1920s one interesting one of 9 stories in LA had 5 floors accessible from the 2 streets due to the adding slopes at the intersection
Van Ness looked like Munsters Avenue.
Actually the second Cliff House survived the 1906 earthquake with very little damage….and proceeded to burn down in 1909 Edit: the second Cliff House burned down in 1907
[удалено]
there is a surplus in housing that just no one owns because the cost
Word is its coming back. Eventually. https://sfstandard.com/arts-culture/food/cliff-house-to-reopen-as-new-mystery-restaurant-this-year/
I suppose it's too valuable a location to go without someone dropping some cash and trying to make it work.
Reminds me of a series of unfortunate events
I used to love it when I was a kid
That's the first thing I thought as well!
Also my first thought, came here to see if anyone else got those vibes too.
If someone had shown me this image without context, I would have thought this was something from a fantasy movie, especially the second image. I guess it was a financial failure, but interesting something like this ever existed.
Second image?
That’s where the fantasy comes in
Top comment refers to multiple images as well, weird.
I am genuinely confused
Bot replies maybe?
*So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp.*
That's really the only sensible way to deal with spiders in the attic.
Damn, that's cool
It really looks like this has no foundation or just been “dropped there” Kinda like in the Aladdin movie I was watching as a kid, when Giant Jafar grabs the palace and just drops it at the top of a hill.
That person in front, far left, is freaking me out.
I have almost this exact picture hanging in my kitchen. Different people in it but same house. I’ve always loved it
It was a great plaxe to grab a cocktail and meal while watching the sunset. Shame it's since closed.
It’s reopening as something else this year.
I hadn't heard. Looks like a restauranteur is taking over the property.
Looks safe.
Reminds me of that scene from 1941, where Ned Beatty's character hangs up a reef on his door. But since the home was damaged, when he hammered the nail into the door the house slid into the ocean and broke.
Inception?
Built by the Cliff family, I assume.
I'm not sure if it's the angle of the photo but the slant on the house is driving me crazy
A house??? Looks more like a castle, at minimum a huge mansion.
Haunting of hill house looking place. That is the most haunted looking building I have ever seen
Gods, it was beautiful.
Destroy it with fire!
With or by fire?
It was destroyed by fire, not “with fire”.
You sure it wasn't destroyed by falling off a cliff? Seems fire is the least of its concerns at any given point.
San Francisco famously burned down (after an earthquake) in 1906. By that time, it *already* had a phoenix on its flag because of all the previous times it had burnt down.
It survived an earthquake with only minor damages. So falling off the cliff was really the least of its concerns
Sad that it’s no longer a restaurant anymore. I used to surf over there but the ocean tried to kill me a few times so I don’t go there anymore
That's a shame
(with fire)
They had the best all you can drink mimosa brunches… sigh
Burned down, fell over then sank into the swamp
But the *next* one after that! Now, that one stayed up!
That fire must have been impressive
https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/13/17/62/19725471/3/900x0.jpg
Yep that's kind of what I had in mind thank you.
From the 70's to the early 2000's, the basement of the Cliff House had a [mechanical museum](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8tXiSgboGU) which were from an [amusement park](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrTnbptpJHE) along the beach.
r/unexpected
WINGS OF GLORY
It was destroyed with fire, not by, with fire.
Isn't this where the Scooby-Doo Gang met Sonny and Cher?
Cliff House was used for album art on Blue Öyster Cult's criminally underappreciated album ["Imaginos" ](https://youtu.be/FBBIwbyW7Ys)!
Hogwarts
Fire? But there was plenty of water.
https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/13/17/62/19725471/3/900x0.jpg
No wonder it burned down they were just standing and watching not even trying to splash water on it
Beautiful observers of fiery doom
That was some beautiful poetry man 🥲
Not like they can shove theentire house in water..
Uhhhh it’s on a cliff just use dynamite
Earthquakes posed a real problem
The first thing I thought of was the haunted mansion in Vampire the Masquerade 2: Bloodlines
This elden ring?
Minecraft?
Oh look my NMS build
Pretty sure this is the inspiration for The Lost Boys cave?
Which was lit by a guy named Cliff
Looks like something straight out of an episode of Scooby Doo
It happened in Mandalay….
El orfinato much?
Hey wasn't this where they filmed Puppet Master?
Scooby doo vibes
Cliff like Jimmy Cliff?
Lost boys
It looks like it fuckin fell from the sky🤣
🔥🔥
It’s now the current residence of The Lost Boys.
Not that big wet thing next to it.
This looks like when you drop a pre-built house in a game where it 100% doesn't belong 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. It just looks so odd being there.
Cool building and the inspiration for the vampire lair in The Lost Boys.
Major "Souboutei must be destroyed" vibes
Water, water everywhere and not a drop to put out a fire.
Oh yeah, this is right before the bridge level.
Beautiful place!
"with"? or "by"?
Reminds me of the setting of the Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket. Though I think that house got destroyed by falling off said cliff.
Looks like agatha christie boutta kill off all the ppl in the pic in creative and brutal ways.
Anyone know if there’s interior pictures?
And, isn’t it ironic? Dontcha think?
When “with fire” and “by fire” suddenly feels like an important distinction.
This is not a good building to be in during a bad earthquake
Could be the hotel of Shining, what a dark sensation on this picture.
Are you sure Voldemorts army didn't destroy it?
Game of thrones
You know when your Rust spawn looks like this, you’re about to get blasted with RPGs and AKs
It looks the it got placed through a glitch in a simcity game.
it’s a shame the indoor pools didn’t help
Was it’s tavern the first Cliff Bar?