Renaissance/Baroque
Sharon Building
Sharon Building
39-63 New Montgomery Street
Architect: George Kelham
A handsome steel frame, brick clad office building with what must be the city’s broadest projecting cornice and a narrow ell that fills the New Montgomery Street frontage. It was one of the many buildings constructed for the estate of William Sharon in these years. Sharon was a colorful pioneer who was once William Ralston’s partner in the Palace Hotel and who later was United States Senator. In composition, the building is a three part vertical block with Renaissance/Baroque ornamentation and terra cotta details at the base and capital. Both Webster Cigars and the House of Shields retain their original interiors. The building was being constructed under a general contract at a time when old methods of bidding and contracting with individual trades were being challenged. It is a steel frame structure with reinforced concrete curtain walls, and is “thoroughly fireproof.” In both its structure and the process of construction, this building was considered to be a model in its day. Appropriately, the original occupation was largely by architects and the building trades.
This building is a major element of New Montgomery Street.
39-63 New Montgomery Street
Architect: George Kelham
A handsome steel frame, brick clad office building with what must be the city’s broadest projecting cornice and a narrow ell that fills the New Montgomery Street frontage. It was one of the many buildings constructed for the estate of William Sharon in these years. Sharon was a colorful pioneer who was once William Ralston’s partner in the Palace Hotel and who later was United States Senator. In composition, the building is a three part vertical block with Renaissance/Baroque ornamentation and terra cotta details at the base and capital. Both Webster Cigars and the House of Shields retain their original interiors. The building was being constructed under a general contract at a time when old methods of bidding and contracting with individual trades were being challenged. It is a steel frame structure with reinforced concrete curtain walls, and is “thoroughly fireproof.” In both its structure and the process of construction, this building was considered to be a model in its day. Appropriately, the original occupation was largely by architects and the building trades.
This building is a major element of New Montgomery Street.