The White House (West Coast Version) – Sutter Street Looking Eastward from Grant Avenue, Financial District, San Francisco, California

Exquisite goods and impeccable service marked the golden age of department stores. After the great earthquake and fire in 1906, San Francisco’s major retailers couldn’t wait to rebuild – and on an even grander scale than before the disaster.

The brilliant Beaux Arts-style building – commonly known as the White House – on the corner of Sutter and Grant was home to Raphael Weill & Company. The building was designed by Albert Pissis. He was one of the first Americans to study at the legendary École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a key figure in introducing that style to San Francisco.

Raphael Weill, a French Jew, came to San Francisco in 1855 and in three years became a partner in the J.W. Davidson Dry Goods Store, one of the biggest dry goods dealers in California. By 1885, the store was all his. Weill was one of the legendary figures of San Francisco. His store regularly closed at 6 o’clock (one of the first to adopt such a policy), he offered his employees annual vacation and sick time with pay, and they earned sales commissions. Following the 1906 earthquake, he ordered 5,000 dresses and suits to be quietly distributed to the displaced women of the city. When 1,500 employees were drafted to fight in World War I, Weill had half their salary put into their bank accounts for a year. He was a founding member of the Bohemian Club, too, and regularly cooked lavish Sunday morning breakfasts at the club. The popular dish, Chicken Raphael Weill, is named after him.

In addition to its impeccable customer service and exquisite goods imported from France, the White House boasted a lavish Parisian style tearoom that was a social center, art galleries, and lectures on art and fashion.

The store closed in 1965 and the building was eventually broken up into small retail storefronts. The property deteriorated. In 1996 it was taken over by The Gap clothing company which renovated and reunited all the parts of the original White House department store, restoring much of the splendor of Pissis’s design. The building currently house the flagship store of Banana Republic, a subsidiary of the Gap company

In the background, you can see the Hunter-Dulin Building constructed between 1925 and 1927 to house the West Coast headquarters for the National Broadcasting Company. Behind it, is 44 Montgomery Street, a 43-story, 172 m (564 ft) office skyscraper in the heart of San Francisco’s Financial District. When completed in 1967, it was the tallest building west of Dallas until 555 California Street was erected in 1969. The building was once the world headquarters for Wells Fargo Bank.