Sacred Heart Church - San Francisco, CA
Posted by: 
DougK
N 37° 46.487 W 122° 25.856
10S E 550115 N 4180979
Sacred Heart Church in San Francisco, California, is a brick and terra cotta church that is a blend of Lombard and Classical Revival style architectures.
Waymark Code: WMBK28
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 05/28/2011
Views: 6
Sacred Heart Church occupies a sloping hilltop site at the southeast corner of Fillmore and Fell streets, major north-south
and east-west thoroughfares in the Western Addition district of San Francisco. Because of its commanding location, the
monumental Romanesque Revival-style church building, with its towering campanile, is visible from many areas of the
neighborhood and surrounding parts of the city. Designed by well-known San Francisco architect Thomas John Welsh
and constructed for the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco in 1897, the church was built in two major phases over
twelve years. It survived the 1906 Earthquake and Fire unharmed and in the aftermath ministered to the victims of the
disaster by providing spiritual services and food and shelter. The Archdiocese decided to close Sacred Heart in 2004, citing the high cost of seismic repairs. In 2005, the
property was sold to a private owner who intended to reuse the buildings in the complex as a charter school. The school
was never fully operational in this location and the complex, including the church, now stands vacant. Although
unoccupied, the church remains in good condition and retains historic integrity in regard to location, design, setting,
materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.
The scarcely altered building embodies the distinctive characteristics of the Romanesque Revival style and is
indeed one of the finest examples of the style in San Francisco. Its gabled nave and transept arms, towering campanile,
eave-height arcaded corbel table (also known as Lombard bands), decorative stringcourses, as well as the westward
facing, pedimented portico supported by Tuscan order columns, are all distinctive characteristics of the style. Derived
from multiple sources, including late Classical and early Medieaval Christian architecture of Tuscany and Lombardy, as
well as the Holy Roman Empire and Spain and France, the Romanesque Revival style swept across the United States
between 1840 and 1900, culminating with the distinctive and largely homegrown work of Henry H. Richardson, whose
body of work led to the formation of a distinctive style called “Richardsonian Romanesque.” Combining elements of early
mediaeval Christian architecture in Europe, Classicism, as well as naturalistic ornamentation, the Romanesque Revival
style appealed to the religious fervor and picturesque sensibilities of the United States during the Victorian era.
A controversial gutting of the church interior, including the altar, statues, pews, the organ, two windows, occurred in June, 2006. The Save Our Sacred Heart (SOS) organization was formed by concerned parishioners and preservationists in an effort to protect the 1898 edifice from being sold and demolished