I randomly came across this image, below, of Adolph Sutro‘s now-lost Cliff House, perched on the rocks outside San Francisco. It stood for eleven years, from 1896-1907, before being destroyed by fire.
[Image: The Sutro Cliff House, San Francisco].
This gallery of images is extraordinary; the house is so badly situated on its site that it appears simply to be hovering over the rocks on an artificial ground plane. It’s like a continental afterthought, the dream of western architecture pushed beyond its ability to retain anchorage. But it’s a cinematic sight, to say the least.
For more about Adolph Sutro, meanwhile, don’t miss the wave motors of California.
That marvellous photo is the one used by Blue Öyster Cult on the cover of their Imaginos album:
http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=1253704
Ha! I hadn't seen that. Thanks, John. Funny how these images circulate. The architectural imaginary.
I've always loved this building. It seemed so magical. Like Henri Cartier-Bresson's photograph of Brie (the dirt road that travels back through the parallel double line of trees). The over-the-top man-made structure in nature seems so fantastical.
I love this photograph. It evokes mystery and conjecture and images of windswept inaccessible bluffs. Beautiful!
Wow! Like a scene from one of the Lemony Snicket books. Totally inappropriate and infeasible for its site but makes for great theatre. This reminds me of a magazine ad a few years back for Trex decking featuring a multi-level deck with gazebo perched on a wave-pounded cliff. Alas, it was (very skillfully) faked with miniature modeling and photo editing.
Here's a close-up of the hovering…
gary
http://www.cliffhouseproject.com
What an incredible house and "scene capturing" photograph! I have to say, it reminds me think I'm inside the scene of an old, classic scary movie!