Beach Chalet

The Beach Chalet is a two-story [1] Spanish colonial revival style building at the far western end of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

Beach Chalet
Beach Chalet
Beach Chalet
Beach Chalet
General information
Architectural styleSpanish colonial revival style
Address1000 Great Highway
Town or citySan Francisco, California
CountryUnited States
Coordinates37°46′10″N 122°30′37″W
Current tenantsBeach Chalet Brewery and Restaurant, Park Chalet
Completed1925
OwnerSan Francisco Recreation & Parks Department
Design and construction
ArchitectWillis Polk
Website
beachchalet.com
NRHP reference No.81000172
Added to NRHPJuly 22, 1981

History

The building was designed by Willis Polk and opened in 1925 in as a city-run restaurant and included changing rooms for beach visitors.[2] It replaced an older building called the Golden Gate Park Chalet, built in 1892, that had stood on the opposite side of the Great Highway.[3]

Murals

Elaborate murals painted by Lucien Adolphe Labaudt were added to the first floor as a 1936 Works Progress Administration project. The murals depict real people and scenes from San Francisco in the 1930s. After World War II the city leased the Beach Chalet to the Veterans of Foreign Wars for $50 a month.[4] A 1952 "smoker" featured gambling, strippers and lewd films; arrested in connection with this was Salvatore (Tarbaby) Terrano of the Waxey Gordon narcotics ring.[4] The VFW moved out after the city bumped the rent to $500 a month in 1979.[4] The Mural room is now the San Francisco Visitor's Center.

Restaurant

After several years of closure and following a renovation completed in 1996, the building now houses the Beach Chalet Brewery and Restaurant on the second floor, opened by Lara and Gar Truppelli and Timon Malloy. Its sister restaurant, the Park Chalet, is located to the back of the Beach Chalet with a dining room facing the park and outdoor dining on a terrace and lawn area.

+ It's important to remind all patrons to keep all valuables out of sight when parking their car in the Beach Chalet parking lot. There has been a city wide epidemic of thieves breaking into cars by smashing the windows. It occurs virtually every single day and night at Beach Chalet. Tourist rent a cars are especially vulnerable.

References
  1. "Beach Chalet". SF Rec & Park. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  2. Harry J. Johnson (November 13, 2009). "The Beach Chalet". Artamble. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
  3. Van Niekerken, Bill (June 27, 2018). "Beach Chalet: From 1925 draw to dangerous dive bar to SF classic". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  4. Carroll, Jerry (December 26, 1996). "Tide Turns for the Beach Chalet". SF Gate. San Francisco. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
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