Timothy Pflueger: The Man Who Built San Francisco

Many world-famous architects have utilized San Francisco as a canvas from which to create. Everyone from Frank Lloyd Wright to I. M. Pei has built within our 49 square miles. Some San Francisco Bay Area-based architects like Julia Morgan created notable buildings in the city but are more famous for structures they designed outside of our city-by-the-bay, like the Hearst Castle in the little town central coast town of San Simion.

Timothy Pflueger was born in San Francisco in 1892. He was never formally trained as an architect, but designed some of the most iconic structures in the city. Chances are you have driven over, or entered, an iconic San Francisco building; the look and feel of which sprang from his mind. He was honored by artists from other mediums and was instrumental in in persuading Mexican mural-master Diego Rivera to create three billboard-sized murals in San Francisco. One prominently featuring Timothy Pflueger himself.

His first major contract to receive attention, and probably his most well-known building, is the world-famous Castro Theater. A grand dame of a movie palace built in 1922 when movie theaters were not multiplex bunkers, but overtly ornate edifices which were meant to be an event when crossing its threshold. The Castro Theater became the center of gravity for the neighborhood when the area was predominantly a working class-Irish enclave called Eureka Valley.

The Castro Theater

When the area became a Mecca for the LGBT+ community, The Castro Theater changed with the times and reflected the new community surrounding it. In fact, you can see it in the background in prominent scenes from the 2008 film, Milk starring Oscar-winner Sean Penn. In the 21st century, the Castro Theater is home to countless film festivals, live Q&A's, and community events like Pride Month in June.

The Pacific Telephone Building

Following in quick succession was the completion of The Telephone Building, and his Mayan-themed 450 Sutter Building. Technically it opened as the Pacific Telephone Building in 1925 and actually has little telephone references peppered throughout the building. This L-shaped edifice appears as a muscular solid block when viewed from one side of the building, but because of its fulcrum-point shape, the opposite side looks almost avian with its two sections fanning out of a central core like a bird's wings.

The Stunning Lobby of 450 Sutter Street

Completed just weeks before the Stock Market Crash of October 1929, the 450 Sutter Street Building was considered by some to be his best work. Etched into its terra-cotta exterior are subtle Mayan-themed designs, but the real jaw-dropper of the building is the lobby. I had a dentist in that building, and when I first caught a glimpse of it, I was floored. In fact, when I am showing visitors around Union Square, I always make a one-block detour and show them the lobby.

In addition to office buildings and movie palaces, Timothy Pflueger designed schools like the Roosevelt Middle School in the Inner Richmond. It had a small part in David Fincher's 2007 film Zodiac, seen in the background when Robert Graysmith (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) picks up his son from school. He also developed buildings for higher education as well, such as the Science Hall at San Francisco City College. He designed bars, like the Top of the Mark rooftop lounge, at the Mark Hopkins Hotel. For you film nerds it's where Dirty Harry confronts Threlkis at his daughter's wedding in Sudden Impact.

He was also a groundbreaker, no pun intended, as the first underground garage was designed by his hand. When Union Square was redesigned in the 1940s, an underground garage with valet service and bathrooms were part of the plans. Today an underground garage is as common as X-shaped diagonals on a suspension bridge tower, like the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which he also designed. Timothy L. Pflueger died suddenly at the age of 54 and although his name might not be well known, his San Francisco legacy is experienced every day.