The Reid Brothers, best known as the architects who created the Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill, designed and built the Geneva Office Building in 1901. It was to serve as a depot for the San Mateo Railroad run by Adolph and John Spreckles, who were the sons of sugar tycoon John D. Spreckles. It remains the last physical reminder of San Francisco's first electric railway.

In 1985, the Geneva Office Building and Powerhouse (sometimes referred to as the Geneva Carbarn) was declared a San Francisco city landmark. In the years that followed the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the Romanesque building with its slanted wooden bays and rounded Queen Anne turret was left to deteriorate. Broken windows and roof leaks were ignored. The Municipal Railway planned to demolish the structure and put a parking lot in its place.

Thanks to the work of the Friends of the Geneva Office Building , ownership was transferred to the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department and an effort is underway to secure funding for restoration. In May 2004, a conceptual plan was drafted for the stablization and restoration of the building. (If you clicked the conceptual plan link, please allow a few moments for the document to download).

The Friends of the Geneva Office Building
presents the building design at a public meeting.

Monday, September 22, 2008
6:30 - 8:00 PM
Lick Wilmerding High School
Classroom C (formerly Conference Room A)
755 Ocean Avenue (near I-280)


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