Mark Hopkins Hotel

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Mark Hopkins at Night

Mark Hopkins Hotel, is a 19 story luxury hotel located at Number One Nob Hill & 999 California Street, San Francisco, California, United States. The hotel is owned by the InterContinental Hotels Group. The chain operates over 200 hotels and resorts in approximately 75 nations.

1 Mark Hopkins
2 History of the Hotel
3 California Historical Landmark 754
4 Photo Gallery
5 References
6 Sources
7 External links
8 See also

[edit] Mark Hopkins

Mark Hopkins, one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad, chose the southeastern peak of Nob Hill as the site for a dream home for his wife, Mary. The mansion was completed in 1878, after his death.

Mark Hopkins Mansion Around 1880

Mrs. Mary Sherwood Hopkins at the age of seventy-three, on her death in 1891, left the Nob Hill mansion and a $70-million estate to her second husband, Edward Francis Searles. In 1893, Searles donated the building and grounds to the San Francisco Art Association (now San Francisco Art Institute), for use as a school and museum.

The Mark Hopkins mansion survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, however it was destroyed by fires that followed.

[edit] History of the Hotel

Mining engineer and hotel investor George D. Smith purchased the Nob Hill site, removed the Art Association building, and began construction of a luxury hotel. San Francisco architects Peter Weeks and William P. Day designed the 19-story hotel, a combination of French château and Spanish ornamentation.

Dons Room Wedding

In one of the banquet areas, "The Room of The Dons", is a piece of California history. One of nine seven-foot-high panel shows Queen Califia and her Amazons, created for the opening of the hotel in 1926, by artists Maynard Dixon^[1] and Frank Von Sloun.

In 1962 the hotel was sold by the original owner George D. Smith to San Francisco financier Louis Lurie. In 1973 Lurie's heirs signed a long-term management contract for the Mark Hopkins with InterContinental Hotels Corporation.

The Mark Hopkins became a social center for the City, and is rated AAA Four-Diamond and has won the Gold-Key award.

[edit] California Historical Landmark 754

A bronze plaque installed by the California State Park Commission, designating the site as a California historical landmark, was commissioned October 20, 1961. It is a recognition of the fact that a place acquired some special significance beyond its geographical location – that it has become exceptional.