Mish House, San Francisco

The Mish House, located in the Haight-Ashbury district, is a stand-out in a neighborhood known for its ornate Victorian homes. The home was constructed in 1885 nearby (407 Divisidero St., at the corner with Oak St.) and was moved to this spot in 1897. The house was home to businesswoman Sarah Mish and then rented out by the Mish family. The Mish House was divided into multiple apartments but was restored in the 1970s. In 1979, the Mish House was added to the National Register of Historic Places, five years after it became a City of San Francisco Landmark. The building currently holds a health care office of Westside Community Services.

In a district famed for its elaborate Victorian architecture, the Mish House is remarkable. The home was designed by McDougal and Son in the Stick-Eastlake style, a variation on the Victorian style which was trendy in the late 1800s. In Stick style buildings, the exterior was ornamented in wooden "sticks" arranged in patterns, or mass-produced wooden gingerbread trim. In Stick-Eastlake style, the carved panels and trim were more elaborate, with flowers, fruits, and animals as popular motifs. The Mish House was built in 1885 for Phenes and Sarah Mish on a corner lot at Oak and Divisidero, facing Divisidero (see the 1893 map image). The house cost $15,000 to build.

Phenes Mish, a successful drygoods merchant born in Prussia, died in 1895. Around 1897, the house was moved to the middle of the Oak St. block, facing north. At the time, Divisadero was changing into a commercial thoroughfare; the Mish family retained ownership of the corner lot. The residence was home to Sarah Mish, matriarch of the family, mother of ten chilldren, and a successful businesswoman who operated a successful milliner shop and retail store out of two downtown locations--133 Kearny and 708 Market Street. Sarah exhibited a case of bonnets at the Industrial Exhibition of the Mechanics' Institute in San Francisco in 1857.

After the April 1906 earthquake and fires destroyed much of San Francisco, there was a shortage of housing. By 1909, the widowed Sarah lived in a home at 425 Divisidero (next door to the former location of the Oak St. House) with several other members of the Mish family, on a lot owned by Jamie Mish. Sarah rented out the 1153 Oak St. house to several families by 1909, including the Felchlin family. Meinrad Felchlin worked at a restaurant and Mrs. Mary Felchin did not work; Richard F. Felchlin was a student. Three musicians also lived in the Oak St. house in 1909: Silvio, G. and A. Severi. August F. Behrens worked for Bunch & Behrens (a barbershop on Eddy St.) and resided at 1153 Oak. Sarah Mish owned the Oak St. home until her death in January 1916.

Sarah's children continued to rent out the Oak St. house for a number of years until it was sold in 1928. The new owners reportedly divided the Oak St. house into multiple rental apartments. A dance school operated here in the 1930s, and by the 1960s, the building was occupied by a social service organization. The interior was heavily damaged by a fire in the 1950s. By the 2010s, the Oak St. house held a community-based mental health service and was not open to the public. The home became a city landmark in 1974 and was restored by the Preservation Group in 1975. In 1979, the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

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