Albert Farr

Architect

(1869 - 1947)

Albert L. Farr was born in Omaha, Nebraska, but spent most of his childhood in Yokohama, Japan where his father had been assigned by the U.S. Government. They returned to the United States and moved to the Bay Area in 1891. Farr received his early training as a draftsman in the office of architect Clinton Day, beginning in 1893. After a spell as a furniture designer, he returned to architecture as a draftsman for the Reid Brothers. In 1897 he opened his own practice and he obtained one of the first State architectural licenses issued (A180) in August 1901. Like his contemporary Edgar Mathews, Farr is associated with the craftsman style of rustic city house, with its exterior typically covered with brown shingles. The work of Ernest Coxhead and Willis Polk was initially influential, but Farr was not afraid to experiment and extend the genre.

Early Single-Family Homes & Flats by Farr

Pacific Heights

  • 2714 Broadway & 2714 Divisadero (1900)

  • 2660 Scott & 2858 Vallejo (1901)

  • 2419 Vallejo & 2175-81 Pacific (1902)

  • 2801 Broadway, 2310 Steiner & 2737 Vallejo (1903)

  • 2881 & 2891 Vallejo (1904)

  • 2400 Vallejo (1905)

Presidio Heights

  • 3333 & 3343 Pacific (1902)

  • 3956 Washington (1903)

By the late 1900's Farr's work owed less to the local precedent of Coxhead and Polk than to the English arts and crafts movement popularized in the Bay Area by Bernard Maybeck. Some of his post-earthquake work includes:

Pacific Heights

  • 2950 Pacific (1907)

  • 2659-61 Green (1911)

Russian Hill

  • 1020 Broadway

  • 1629 Taylor (1908)

Lake Street

  • 653 Lake / 106-112 8th Ave (1911, 4 apartments)

Presidio Heights

  • 3536 Jackson (1912)

  • 3636 Clay (1913)

Sea Cliff

  • 358 El Camino Del Mar (1912)

In 1909 he moved his office to 68 Post, where it remained for the rest of his career. He lived at 2528 Union in San Francisco and also in Berkeley, Piedmont and Oakland, with his wife Margaret and daughter Marion. His work can be seen in many Bay Area communities. Perhaps his most famous project was Wolf House - a rustic fantasy (including redwood logs with the bark still intact) for author Jack London in Glen Ellen. A lot of work went into its production, but unfortunately it burned down shortly before completion in 1913. Arson was suspected. It was not rebuilt. Farr remained in practice continuously, designing a number of houses in St. Francis Wood. In 1922 he took on a New Zealander, Joseph Francis Ward, as associate architect, ultimately making him a partner in the firm of Farr & Ward.

Notable Works from a Long Association

Pacific Heights

  • 2570 Jackson (1923)

  • 2310 Broadway (1926)

  • 2520 Pacific (1930)

  • 2574 Broadway (1932)

  • 2550 Pierce (1941)

Presidio Heights

  • #9 & #37 Presidio Terrace (both 1927)

  • 3699 Washington (1928)

  • 3450 Washington (1929)

  • 3855 Washington (1937)

Russian Hill

  • 6 Russian Hill Place (1936)

  • 25 Montclair Terrace (1937)

  • 1070 Vallejo (1941)

  • 1001-11 & 1033-37 Lombard (6 & 3 apartments, all 1941)

Sea Cliff

  • 455 & 499 Sea Cliff Avenue (1939)

  • 125 28th Avenue (1940)

Farr died on July 12, 1947 at his Piedmont home after a long and distinguished career.

Written by David Parry 2025