1196–1198 Fulton Street

1. 1878

   Designed by architect Henry Geilfuss, who worked in the Gilded Age styles.

   Architecture, Planning & Preservation Professionals: A Collection of Biographies, adopted 2021
2. March 1889

   Construction from the framing up was announced in the trade press in March at a cost of $9,985, two or three times what an ordinary speculative house then cost.

   National Register of Historic Places nomination, National Park Service
3. 1890

   Built by Schmitt & Kecker.

4. 1901

   A jog was added to the east elevation, terminating below the main cornice, with a second-storey window whose surround does not quite match the rest; the main staircase was extended eastwards to fit it. A garage was added at the rear before 1912.

   National Register of Historic Places nomination, National Park Service
5. 1928

   The Westerfeld House, built in 1889 to a design by Henry Geilfuss as a Stick Italianate villa, was rented by the Russian Club from 1928 to 1937. It held the club's library and was the headquarters of the Consolidated Committee of Russian National Organizations, which worked from here on the 1933 amendment to the Registry Act granting amnesty to Russian immigrants; a film was shot inside it in 1933. Émigrés went on renting rooms in the house into the 1950s.

   Nina Bogdan, Russian American Historic Context Statement, San Francisco Planning Department, adopted by the Historic Preservation Commission October 15, 2025
6. July 8, 1965

   Photographed.

   San Francisco Subjects Photograph Collection (SFP 162), San Francisco Public Library
7. 1966

   The William Westerfeld House, run in the mid-1960s as the communal Russian Embassy house. The underground filmmaker Kenneth Anger lived here from 1966 to 1967 and made several of his important works during that time. It is San Francisco Landmark No. 135 and stands in the Golden Gate Park Historic District.

   Donna Graves for San Francisco Heritage, Citywide Historic Context Statement for Counterculture (1965–1975), San Francisco Planning Department, adopted 17 July 2024
8. 1981

   Designated San Francisco Landmark No. 135, Westerfeld House.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
9. Aug 2000

   Permit 200008228590 $$$ $21,840

   Voluntary foundation strengthening at perimeter only & remove & replace lower level sheetrk walls.

10. Nov 2000

    Permit 200011024765 $$$ $30,000

    Replace flooring, take out non load bearing walls for foundation work.insatll sheer walls, drywall&.

11. Jun 2001

    Permit 200106272518 $$$ $1,000

    Adjust 9 existing fire sprinkler heads to new height.

12. Dec 2003

    Issued Permit 200312152259 $$$ $800

    Replace counter tops install sink & faucet. no other work or structural changes.

1 expired permit is omitted. The assessor's roll gives 1890; the city's statement on Victorian era styles gives 1889. The 2025 Russian American Historic Context Statement gives this building's San Francisco landmark number as #134 in one place and #135 in another, and its National Register reference as 89000197 in one place and 89000179 in another.