Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove

1. 1870

   The Green family planted the eucalyptus, pines and ferns that still grow in the grove, and George W. Green planted Holland grass to hold the sandy slopes.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
2. 1892

   George W. Green, son of the Green family who had farmed the ravine since the 1840s, built the Trocadero Inn, a two-story Stick-Eastlake roadhouse and inn on his family's land; its architect and builder are unknown.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
3. 1896

   Earnest Doelter was running the Trocadero Inn, the first of a string of proprietors that went on to include lumberman C. A. Hooper and boxing referee Hiram Cook, who added a dance pavilion, beer garden, deer park, trout pond and weekend cabins.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
4. 1903

   Businessman Adolph Spreckels leased the inn for a short time.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
5. 1905

   On William H. Green's death the heavily mortgaged family farm, including the Trocadero, passed to his son George W. Green.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
6. March 1907

   Political boss Abe Ruef, indicted in the San Francisco graft trials, hid at the Trocadero and was captured there by detectives, a front-page story.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
7. 1909

   Proprietor J. N. Soldanels advertised the Trocadero as an ideal family resort serving meals all night.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
8. 1910

   After the proprietor gave up his lease, George W. Green offered the building and nineteen acres around it for sale but found no buyer.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
9. 1911

   The newly formed Woman's Outdoor Club, led by Mabel Hawkins (Mrs. Charles Hawkins), took the Trocadero as its clubhouse, offering members overnight stays, dances, picnics, cooking and folklore classes and open-air theatricals.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
10. October 1911

    The Woman's Outdoor Club held a Jubilee Picnic of suffragists here to celebrate passage of California's Proposition 4, which gave women the vote in the state.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
11. 1912

    The Girl Pioneers of America ran a summer camp in the valley around the Trocadero, with tents, strawberry picking and long hikes.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
12. 1912

    The Woman's Outdoor Club's weekly Sunday dances at the Trocadero drew objections from the public and the Board of Supervisors.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
13. 1915

    The Sanborn map showed the Trocadero as a dwelling with the same footprint it has today, among a small dwelling, wagon shed, rabbit pens and greenhouse in the wooded ravine.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
14. 1916

    George W. Green closed the Trocadero as a roadhouse.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
15. January 1918

    The building's brief run as the Ardenglen Country Club ended when it was refused a liquor license.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
16. 1931

    Rosalie Meyer Stern bought the Trocadero Inn and twelve acres around it for $50,000 through the Sigmund Stern Recreational Fund, set up in memory of her husband, and gave them to the city for recreational use only.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
17. 1931

    Age and debts forced George W. Green, who had built the Trocadero and lived in it tending the grounds, to sell the property; he died in 1934.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
18. 1932

    Bernard Maybeck restored and repaired the old inn for park use, leaving it largely as it was; he called it perfect as he found it.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
19. June 4, 1932

    Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove was dedicated, and the old inn became the Trocadero Clubhouse, rented out for parties and club meetings.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
20. June 19, 1932

    The first concert was held in the Stern Grove amphitheater.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
21. 1935

    WPA workers began building stone retaining walls, gutters and steps up toward 21st Avenue, stone barbecues, and a fish pond with paths around the clubhouse, finishing in 1937.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
22. 1936

    The Historic American Buildings Survey photographed the clubhouse; measured drawings followed in 1937.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
23. 1938

    The grove's annual Midsummer Music Festival began.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
24. 1948

    The Ladies' Convenience Station was built directly beside the clubhouse, joined to it by the porch.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
25. 1949

    With the new Wawona Clubhouse built nearby, the Trocadero stopped serving as the park's clubhouse and became an event space.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
26. December 1960

    A fire damaged the second floor, likely prompting interior alterations.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
27. 1968

    The building was documented in Here Today: San Francisco's Architectural Heritage.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
28. 1975

    The building was being used for administrative offices.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
29. 1976

    The building was rated 2 in the Department of City Planning's architectural quality survey.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
30. 1987

    A Page & Turnbull renovation undid the 1950s–60s interior changes and returned the building to its 1930s appearance, with seismic stabilization, disabled access, restored ornament and finishes, and new stained-glass windows by Kimiko Kogure matching the historic look.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
31. 2003

    Work was approved to add ground-floor restrooms, renovate floors and walls, upgrade electrics, replace the fireplace, and replace the wood porch and ramp with a larger deck on the west side for accessibility.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
32. 2014

    Work was approved to replace the deteriorated wood deck, ramp and guardrails and to rebuild the historic part of the guardrail to its original design from photographs and HABS drawings.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
33. March 9, 2021

    The Board of Supervisors initiated landmark designation of the clubhouse.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
34. March 19, 2021

    The Mayor approved the resolution initiating the clubhouse's landmark designation.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
35. September 15, 2021

    The Historic Preservation Commission recommended the clubhouse's designation as a city landmark.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
36. April 5, 2022

    Designated San Francisco Landmark No. 301, Trocadero Clubhouse.

    SF Planning, landmark designation

Maybeck's partner on the restoration is named both as William Merchant and as Gardner Dailey.