Albert Pissis (1852-1914)

National Register #82002180: Bank of Eureka Building Bank of Eureka Building in Eureka, California
Built 1911 - Photographed 7 July 2007
(Click Photo to Zoom)

Albert Pissis, who was the first San Francisco architect to study at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, is credited with introducing the Beaux Arts style to San Francisco.

Pissis was born in Guaymas, Mexico, to a French father and Mexican mother. The family moved to San Francisco when Pissis was six.

In 1882, after his studies in Paris, Pissis and his partner, William P. Moore, designed a number of buildings in the popular Queen Anne, and Eastlake and Classical Revival styles.

He was important in the rebuilding of San Francisco after the 1906 Earthquake and Fire.

Name Year Address City Sort Address Sort Name
One Sansome19101 Sansome StreetSan FranciscoSansome 0001One Sansome
Bank of Eureka1911240 E StreetEureka E 240Bank of Eureka
Borel Building1908440 MontgomerySan FranciscoMontgomery 0440Borel Building
California Casket Co.1909965 MissionSan FranciscoMission 0965California Casket Co.
Charleston Building1908251-255 KearnySan FranciscoKearny 0251Charleston Building
Emporium1896835-865 MarketSan FranciscoMarket 0835Emporium
Flood Building1904870-898 MarketSan FranciscoMarket 0870Flood Building
Health Sciences Library19122395 SacramentoSan FranciscoSacramento 2395Health Sciences Library
Hibernia Bank18921 JonesSan FranciscoJones 0001Hibernia Bank
Mechanics Institute190957-65 PostSan FranciscoPost 0057Mechanics Institute
Misses Butler Building1909120 EllisSan FranciscoEllis 0120Misses Butler Building
Rochat Cordes Building1909126-130 PostSan FranciscoPost 0126Rochat Cordes Building
Rosenstock Building190828-36 GearySan FranciscoGeary 0028Rosenstock Building
Roullier Building190749 KearnySan FranciscoKearny 0049Roullier Building
Savoy Hotel1913580 GearySan FranciscoGeary 0580Savoy Hotel
Temple Sherith Israel19042266 CaliforniaSan FranciscoCalifornia 2266Temple Sherith Israel
University House1911University House WayBerkeleyUC BerkeleyUniversity House
Vale House18852226 CaliforniaSan FranciscoCalifornia 2261Vale House
White House Department Store1908255 SutterSan FranciscoSutter 0255White House Department Store
49 Kearny Street Designed by Albert Pissis

49 Kearny Street Designed by Albert Pissis
The Oscar Luning Building and the Roullier Building

Roullier Building
49 Kearny Street
Built 1908
Photographed 28 November 2019

The Roullier Building is the skinny, reinforced concrete building on the right. According to Splendid Survivors, a book published in 1979, it is one of three downtown highrise buildings that is only twenty feet wide. One of the skinny highrises is the Heineman Building on Bush Street. I don't know what the other one is.

The building on the left, with more conventional proportions, is the Oscar Luning Building designed by Nathaniel Blaisdell and built in 1907.

Rochat Cordes Building
126-130 Post Street
Built 1909
Photographed 28 November 2019

Michael R. Corbett writes in Splendid Survivors:

"One of the very best and certainly most distinctive example of urban architecture in downtown San Francisco....The facade curves and the design is carried a short way down a dark, narrow alley....There is a certain mystery about the way the facade turns down that alley as if it were going somewhere, or as if it were a much older building in a newer city which has obscured the structure's full glory."

Pissis had a knack for designing corner buildings. The Hibernia Bank. The White House Department Store. The Flood Building. The Health Sciences Library.

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