St. Francis Wood

James Frederick Dawson of the Olmsted Brothers designed the community of St. Francis Wood in 1912. Settled in the hillslopes of the San Miguel Hills, the residential park was built upon a site of 175 acres once belonging to San Francisco Mayor Adolph Sutro. Originally referred to as Westgate Park, the plan aimed to maintain the natural scenery of the existing landscape. In order to preserve the backdrop of the established forest growth and “add more interest to the plan and differentiate the streets”, the firm recommended planting a variety of trees with differing heights throughout the property. The planting plan also reflected the narrow and curvilinear nature of the streets and determined it “essential to use shrubbery to give us an immediate effect and to shield the houses which are set back only 15 feet from the street proper.” [Olmsted Brothers to Duncan McDuffie_1913-01-03_OAR-B_05658-im.41] [Olmsted Brothers to Mason McDuffie Company_1912-11-16_OAR-B_05658-im.23]

Also see Job 06485.