National Register #73000442
House at 1249-1251 Scott Street
1249-1251 Scott Street Between Eddy and Ellis
Built 1868

A striking row of Italianate Victorian houses stands on the west side of Scott Street at Ellis Street.

The House at 1249-1251 Scott Street is the green house on the corner. Next to it is the House at 1239-1245 Scott Street, National Register Listing #73000441.

In 1973, some Victorian residences were listed on the National Register of Historic Places and moved to save them from San Francisco Redevelopment Agency slum clearance. These residences were among the first NRHP listings in San Francisco. Prior to 1973, only fourteen San Francisco properties had been listed on the NRHP.

• 33-35 Beideman Place
• 45-57 Beideman Place
• 1840-1842 Eddy Street
• 1239-1245 Scott Street
• 1249-1251 Scott Street
• 1321 Scott Street
• 1331-1335 Scott Street
• 1815 Sutter Street
• 1735-1737 Webster Street

The following is excerpted from the NRHP Nomination Form for 33-35 Beideman Place:

Because of the zoning within the project area, this building has to be either demolished or moved to a more suitable location where it can be rehabilitated and preserved.

This will be one of eight buildings to be moved onto a two block development within the Western Addition. These two city blocks will be intensively developed with projects including scattered public housing, moderately priced private housing, private rehabilitation and rehabilitation for public bidding and resale by the San Francisco Redevelopment agency. A few rehabilitation projects have already been completed within these two blocks.

San Francisco Street Trees

Consider Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey). Lovely building.

Consider the Taj Mahal, the Doge's Palace, the Parthenon, the Lincoln Memorial, the Sagrada Familia, the Winter Palace of the Tsar, the Hagia Sophia, San Francisco's own City Hall and Opera House and Legion of Honor.

Lovely buildings, all. Essential to their appeal is that they stand unobstructed to be admired from any angle and at any distance.

Over the past twenty years or so, many of San Francisco's most distinctive buildings have gone into hiding behind ill-considered street trees. Except for the Spreckels Mansion Spite Hedge which clearly flips the bird to San Francisco, most of these trees were planted in good faith to beautify the streetscape, filter the air, increase property values; but like the cute SPCA puppy who grows up to be a two hundred pound mastiff, many of our street trees would be more at home in the country than the city.

Here is a short list of some striking San Francisco buildings which I wish were more clearly visible. I'm sure the Hop-On Hop-Off tourists would enjoy them too. They can see an ineptly pruned ficus or an ailing plane tree anywhere.

• Building at 33-35 Beideman Place
• Building at 45-47 Beideman Place
• Dallam-Merritt House
• House at 1239-1245 Scott Street
• House at 1249-1251 Scott Street