Landmark Designation Report: Doelger Building, 320–326 Judah Street (Draft)

This Landmark Designation Report was prepared for the San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission, a seven‐member body that makes recommendations to the Board of Supervisors regarding the designation of landmark buildings and districts. From overview: "320–326 Judah Street, located between Eighth and Ninth Avenue in the Sunset District, served as the headquarters, warehouse and sales office of prolific San Francisco builder Henry Doelger. Constructed in 1932 in a bold Art Deco design, the Doelger Building was one of the neighborhood’s first Modern buildings and functioned as Doelger’s base of operations for nearly two decades. The building was a prominent landmark in the Sunset District at that time and served as a bold advertisement for Doelger’s successful house‐building empire. For two decades, beginning in the mid 1920s into the 1940s, merchant builder Henry Doelger constructed thousands of single‐family houses atop the sand dunes in San Francisco’s emerging Sunset District neighborhood. Pioneering mass construction house building techniques such as assembly‐line production, Doelger’s Sunset District houses rapidly transformed large swaths of southwest San Francisco. Designed for middle‐income home buyers and built to Federal Housing Administration specifications, Doelger’s houses share near‐identical massing, floor plans, materials, and form, with differentiation provided by a profusion of facade styles. Doelger is widely considered San Francisco’s most prolific and significant merchant builder active during the pre‐War era. In 1946, the San Francisco Chronicle dubbed Doelger “the poor man’s Frank Lloyd Wright,”1 and his residential tracts are often affectionately referred to as Doelgerville and Doelger City. The Doelger Building at 320–326 Judah Street derives significance from its nearly two‐decade association with Henry Doelger, its role in the transformation of the Sunset District, and its expressive Modern architectural design." Funding was provided in part by a 2010 Preserve America grant to the City of San Francisco (grant number 06-10-AP-5034) for the Market and Octavia Historic Resource Preservation Project. The grant was administered by the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Preserve America is a federal initiative that encourages and supports community efforts to preserve and enjoy our priceless cultural and natural heritage. The goals of the program include a greater shared knowledge about the nation's past, strengthened regional identities and local pride, increased local participation in preserving the country's cultural and natural heritage assets, and support for the economic vitality of our communities.

Landmark Designation Report: Doelger Building, 320–326 Judah Street (Draft)

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