1189 Noe Street

1189 Noe St is the last remaining “tract-type” house on Noe Street that was built by Isaac Moore in 1891 before his death later that year. Records indicate Moore worked first as a shipwright before later becoming a home builder and developer. Moore owned several lots in the area, including a row of lots around the corner on 25^th Street developed into nearly identical tract houses.

Stick-Italianate and Eastlake style in form, this one story home with a large basement below, exhibits its opulent ornamented front with great flare. The projecting slanted bay and bracketed gable end at the front of the house are staples of this era of building. There is a profusion of Stick and Eastlake ornamentation, in particular the number of bullseye medallions and buttons to be found around the windows set in panels in the cornice. They are even echoed on the gate and newel posts of the front steps. The slanted bay features panels of circular and square medallions, stained glass panes and wavy jigsaw corner hoods. The stained glass in the front door and dining room are recent additions. Peaked roof pediments contain shiplap shingles, with a buttress and sunburst in the apex of the bay pediment. The paneled door, iron fence, high wooden stairs and Newell posts are original. Notice how the home widens out to the edges of the lot beyond the bay that holds the front parlor. This was a practical design to provide rooms behind the front parlor the benefit of windows facing the street and to admit more sunlight deeper into the home. From the enlarged back porch, one can enjoy a pleasant outlook across the neighborhood owning to the location of the homesite on the side of a hill. The plain wooden staircase to the garden has been replaced with a fine stairway rescued from a house now destroyed.

Following Isaac Moore’s death in December 1891, Ellen M. Moore sold the property (described as E Noe Street 95’ N 25th Street N24’xE105’) to Edward L. Hunt in 1892 for $3,000. The 1893 SF Directory listed Edward L. Hunt as a bookkeeper for Miller, Sloss & Scott, a wholesale iron, steel & pipe business. The 1900 Census gives more details about the Hunt family: Edward, 50 (b. 1850, Massachusetts), Alice, 37 (b. 1862, Massachusetts), and three children all born in California were living in the home, which was owned without a mortgage. In 1905, Edward sold to Warren Moulton, as the second owner. Warren, 54 (b. New Hampshire), was a carpenter and lived in the house with his wife Florence, 48 (b. California), and four children with three other family members (probably Florence’s family). They owned their home without a mortgage, just like the Hunts.  A 1903 postcard from an early owner (probably the Moultons), discovered and preserved by former owner Cher Zillman, is on display in the home. It features a photo of the house and message to the owner’s brother in Massachusetts inviting him to come visit in San Francisco. The front door prominently featured an etched “M” for the family’s last name, Moulton, as noted in the postcard. The Moultons sold to the Griffin family in about 1937. They also owned the home without a mortgage.

By the 1940 Census, James, 43 (b. Ireland), and Hannah, 36 (b. Ireland), Griffin lived in the home with two young children. James worked for MJB Coffee Roaster, one of San Francisco’s “big three” coffee companies along with Folgers and Hills Bros. San Francisco had become a center for premium coffee due to its strategic location for importing Asian and Central American coffee. The City further benefited from its temperate climate ideal for roasting, and the use of the patented (1898) vacuum sealing process, that extended shelf life allowing for expanded distribution nationwide. James’ likely steady career was interrupted when he died sometime after 1946, leaving Hanna a destitute widow, now with three children and no money to maintain the house. The 1953 SF Directory showed the family still living there. The house deteriorated to the point where the floors rotted through, with the rest of the house in otherwise very poor condition.

In 1965 the Stick-Italianate and Eastlake style home was purchased out of condemnation proceedings by Cher and Richard Zillman for $10,000. Mr. Zillman, who completed restoration himself, once told of over 200 hours of labor just to clean the house enough to begin work on it (he went on to say that, if he had the chance, he would not do it again). Mr. Zillman, a real estate appraiser and investor, instructed on the art of restoring Victorians and was a founding member of the Victorian Alliance. The house is proudly featured in “Painted Ladies Revisited” and in the Junior League’s “Here Today” book on page 282. “Here Today” was researched in the 1960’s and identified many historic homes in San Francisco, at a time when the federally funded Redevelopment Agency was demolishing them at an astonishing rate. Cher and Richard commissioned the stencil painting in the front entry, which has been preserved as a part of the house’s modern history.

When Mike Underhill purchased the home in 1996 from the Zillmans, it was a yellow house, which he later painted to its current purple motif in 2017. Mr. Underhill and SA Kushinka have preserved the Zillmans’ work, adding the tropical garden seen in the backyard and updates to the kitchen and bathroom.

Research by Max Mertens and Gary Goss 

Edited by Max Mertens and Gail Baugh 2024