San Francisco Landmark #208
McCormick House
4040-4042 17th Street Between Castro and Collingwood
Built 1902

The following is excerpted from the San Francisco Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board Final Draft Report by Tim Kelley dated September 1999:

"The McCormick House, designed by Kidd and Anderson, is an essentially unaltered example of high Queen Anne style flats which survived the 1906 earthquake and fire.

"The most distinctive feature in a well composed design is the unusual onion dome which tops the eastern tower. Occupying a prominent position on the rise of 17th Street just above the intersection of Castro and Market, it is an important contributor to a streetscape famous worldwide.

"Exterior and interior appear almost entirely original. Both flats retain fine woodwork, paneling, mantles and other details such as brass speaking tubes from the entrance to the flats, curved glass windows, and 'patent stone entrances' and steps.

"This block of 17th Street was severely impacted by the building of the Twin Peaks tunnel in 1917 and the extension of Market Street in the early 1920s. Several properties adjacent on the east were condemned, resulting in the loss of at least seven Victorian buildings. Because of this, the streetscape at the northwest corner of Castro and Market is now characterized by undistinguished modern buildings."

From 1892 to 1902, the United States experienced the worst economic depression before the Great Depression of the 1930s.

During the depression, the building industry nearly came to a halt in San Francisco. Insurance agent John W. McCormick and his family lived in a modest cottage next door.

In 1902, when new construction boomed, McCormick built this residence which reflects the transformation of Eureka Valley from working class to middle class.

In 1913, the property was deeded to thirteen year old Claire McCormick and remained in her name until 1972. Claire McCormick is reported to have been institutionalized for most of her life because of mental incompetency. It is a mystery why the family put the property in her name because her parents and older brother were alive and mentally competent.