The Legion of Honor - San Francisco, CA - Exact Replicas on Waymarking.com

The Legion of Honor was the gift of Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, wife of the sugar magnate and thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder Adolph B. Spreckels.

The building is a full-scale replica, by George Applegarth and H. Guillaume, of the French Pavilion at the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition which in turn was a three-quarter-scale version of the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur.

At the close of the exposition, which was located just a few miles away, the French government granted Spreckels permission to construct a permanent replica of the French Pavilion, but World War I delayed the groundbreaking until 1921.

The Palais de la Legion d'Honneur building, itself, has a curious history.  Located on the left bank of the Seine, this imposing neoclassical building was call ed the Hotel de Salm when it was first built.  It was designed by Pierre Rousseau in 1782 and completed in 1788.  Its first owner was the Prince de Salm-Kyrbourg who lived there for only one year. It's next owner was Madame de Stael.  In 1804 it became the headquarters of the newly established Legion d'Honneur, the order created by Napoleon as a reward for civil and military merit.

The Spreckels chose San Francisco Architect George Applegarth and Paris Architect Henri Guillaume to adapt the original plan of the P arisian building into functional museum space.  A remote site known as Land's End in the northern part of the city overlooking the Pacific Ocean was chosen as the future location of the museum.

Where is original located?: Paris Where is this replica located?: San Francisco Who created the original?: Pierre Rousseau Internet Link about Original: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_de_la_L%C3%A9gion_d%27Honneur Year Original was Created (approx. ok): 1924

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Date Logged Log User Rating   05/31/2016 bluesnote visited it