The "now" & "then" photos here were taken from Riverside Avenue across Post Street, looking generally East.
So, it could be said that this building was shaped by fire. Originally built as the Great Eastern Building for the Great Eastern Dry Goods Company of San Francisco, owned by L. Levinsky, it was gutted by fire on January 24, 1898, leaving only the outside walls standing. The gutted building was purchased by "Colonel" Isaac N. Peyton for $42,000, who rebuilt using the remaining walls, naming the building after himself. In 1902 the adjacent three-story Hogan Block to the south was incorporated into the building. The Hogan Block's floors were raised to be level with those of the Peyton Building. Its front (west) façade was changed to match the Peyton Building's façade and two stories were added to make it the same height as the Peyton.
The Peyton Annex (724 W. Sprague Avenue), constructed in 1908, was added to the south end of the Peyton Building and is on the northeast corner of Sprague Avenue and Post Street. It was built to seven storeys in height, so two more floors were added to the Peyton Building to make it the same height.
A minimum of four architectural firms had a hand in the building with Herman Preusse designing the original Great Eastern Building. Cutter & Malmgren then designed the Peyton Building interior when it was built within the walls of the Great Eastern building. Robert Sweatt designed the 1908 Peyton Annex and Archibald Rigg designed interior repairs after another fire in 1916.
From the NRHP Nomination Form