Nightingale House

Located at 201 Buchanan Street, The Nightingale House is a relic from the Victorian era - built in the Stick-Eastlake style, the house was designed by architect John Marquis in 1882 and completed in 1883. The house featured a square tower and wings with gabled roofs decorated with elaborate wood trim. The house was a wedding present to John Nightingale's daughter, Florence, upon her marriage to Hamilton Page, on a lot next to the sprawling Nightingale mansion. It later became the home of a sister of Florence but was sold after the sister died in 1912. The building became a designated San Francisco landmark in October 1972. One of the house's previous residents was San Francisco Arts Commissioner and artist Jo Hanson, who died March 13, 2007. The private home is not open to the public.

The name of the home comes from the original owner, John Nightingale. He was a real estate developer, pioneer, and businessman who had eight children with his wife. He amassed his fortune by buying up properties in the area and selling them on for a profit. By the time he died in 1912, he had an estimated worth of $3 million, the equivalent of about $72 million in today's money. Nightingale also played a role in the city's politics. His obituary stated that he convinced officials in the city to pass a law giving settlers total ownership of their property from the Gold Rush - which coincidentally, helped increase his wealth. 

The Nightingale House was a wedding present to his daughter, Florence, after she married a man named Hamilton Page. The house was a block away from Nightingale's own elegant mansion, at Buchanan and Haight St. (300 Haight). Hamilton Page, a grain broker, was residing at the Buchanan St. address in 1890, according to a city directory. By 1897, when another Nightingale daughter got married, the John Nightingale residence was still nearby at 300 Haight St., where the ceremony was held. Nightingale insisted that no music be played during the ceremony because he considered a marriage too solemn an occasion for music.

Florence Nightingale Page died at her Buchanan St. home in January 1899 after a "long and painful illness," leaving behind her husband and a fifteen-year-old daughter. By 1899, Hamilton was the managing owner of the Indianapolis Furniture Company. A sister of Florence, Ella Nightingale Jackson, lived in the Buchanan St. home by 1912, with her husband, G. H. T. Jackson and daughter Louelle Jackson. After Ella Nightingale Jackson died in March 1912, her Buchanan St. home was sold. In 1919, a local physician, Dr. Catherine Scott listed 201 Buchanan at the corner with Waller as her address, in an advertisement for Pacific Coast homeopathic physicians.

Newlyweds Elizabeth H. St. Marie and John V. Bressie lived in the house in July 1965. In 1970, the Nightingale House was purchased by Jo Hanson, an artist and political activist. She served on the city's Arts commission for six years in the 1980s and helped create and restore some of the city's beloved public art. She lived in the house on her own for almost 40 years until her death in 2007. 

Anonymous. "Nightingale - Kierulff." San Francisco Call (San Francisco) November 25th, 1897. 12-12.

Anonymous. "Death of Mrs. Page." San Francisco Call (San Francisco) January 12th, 1899. 12-12.

Anonymous. "Deaths: Jackson." San Francisco Call (San Francisco) March 25th, 1912. 4-4.

Anonymous. "Mr. and Mrs. John V. Bressie at Home in San Francisco." Sebastopol Times (Sebastopol) July 22nd, 1965. 5-5.

Butler, Jennie. The History Of The Lower Haight's Nightingale House. Hoodline. Accessed May 13, 2017. http://hoodline.com/2015/08/unveiling-the-mysterious-nightingale-house.

Cerny, Susan Dinkelspiel. Armstrong, Beth A. An Architectural Guidebook to San Francisco and the Bay Area. Layton, UT. Gibbs Smith, 2007.

H. S. Crocker Co. Crocker-Langley San Francisco City Directory for the Year 1890. San Francisco, CA. H. S. Crocker Co., 1890.

NoeHill. San Francisco Landmark #47 Nightingale House. Noe Hill. Accessed April 13, 2017. http://noehill.com/sf/landmarks/sf047.asp.

Scott, Catherine. Pacific Coast Homeopathic Physicians. The Pacific Coast Journal of Homeopathy, vol. XXX No. 19, iii - iii. Published December 1st, 1919. Google Books.