Lower Nob Hill

At a Glance

Lower Nob Hill is registered in the National Registry of Historic Places. It was once the hub of the theatre world of San Francisco, with hotels and residential building occupying a 5 block radius. Still a vibrant neighborhood, with plenty of restaurants, apartment complexes and nightlife.The Lower Nob Hill Apartment Hotel District is located in downtown San Francisco on the south slope of Nob Hill. The district is bounded by Bush Street on the north, the Financial District on the east, the Tenderloin on the south, and the Polk-Van Ness corridor on the west.

It is a close-packed district of residential buildings with a height of three to seven stories. The buildings are unequaled in quantity and quality anywhere in California except possibly in the Tenderloin. For blockfront after blockfront, the apartments and hotels march along at nearly even cornice lines, breasting similar bay windows and fire escapes above the sidewalk steps and store fronts, agreeing on the form of dress and the vocabulary of ornament.

Most were constructed between 1906 and 1925, giving them a remarkable consistency of style. Most remain nearly intact. There are almost no new buildings.

It has always been a residential district - apartments, residential hotels and apartment hotels with a few office conversions. It remains what it was when constructed a century ago.