31-33 Liberty Street – A Julius Krafft House

Stephen Wing, a retired U.S. Mint worker turned capitalist, commissioned 31-33 Liberty Street as an investment property, which was completed in November 1892. Wing had commissioned famed architect Julius Krafft, and builder Daniel Powers, to construct the two-story Stick-Eastlake house at a cost of $4,330. Originally numbered 15 and 15½ Liberty, the flats are now 31 and 33 Liberty, respectively. The building is now a contributor to the Liberty Hill Historic District.

Krafft opened his architectural office in 1889 and continued working into the 1930s, although many of his best-known commissions came during his first dozen years in practice. Among these was St. Paulus Lutheran Church, a towering Gothic Revival building of redwood constructed in 1892-1894 at Eddy and Gough, facing Jefferson Square. Designated a City Landmark in 1980, the church was destroyed by fire in 1995. Krafft also designed the Queen Anne residence at 1819 Jackson, begun in 1889; the James Leary Flood mansion at 2120 Broadway, built in 1900-1901; and the shingled home of Fireman’s Fund president Bernard Faymonville at 1 Presidio Avenue in 1902.

Stephen Wing, born in Massachusetts around 1823, came to San Francisco in 1874 to work as a clerk at the U.S. Branch Mint. He became a supervisor of melting in 1885, and by 1888 the city directory listed his occupation as “capitalist.” He appears to have retired around 1890. Stephen and his wife Isabella, of Maine, had settled on Liberty Street in 1883 or 1884, purchasing Antonio Diaz Pena’s 1878 house at what is now 35-37 Liberty, just West of 31-33 Liberty. After Stephen’s death in 1896, Isabella remained next door until 1917, while the flats continued to provide rental income.

Census records offer a glimpse of the families and tradespeople who lived in the lower flat at 33 Liberty. Its occupants in 1900 are unknown, but by 1910 it was home to Delia McGrath, a Canadian native born in 1867, and her widowed sister M. Alyward. The household included Mrs. Alyward’s four children: Frederick, a sheet metal worker; David, a clerk for an oil company; William, a clerk for Urban Realty Improvement Company; and May, who was sixteen. Eighteen-year-old Emma Weyand boarded with them. In 1920, 33 Liberty housed Michael Crocker, a German immigrant who operated a crockery store at 969 Valencia, and two of his sisters. The neighboring flat at 31 Liberty housed machinist William Schneider and his family in 1900, mechanical engineer Frank Longley’s household in 1910, and laundry foreman Benjamin Millhoyt’s household in 1920.

The flats were sold to John and Mary Ryan in 1917, following Isabella Wing’s death. The property then passed to five Ryan siblings in 1922. The building was then sold to Mary F. Milton. Mary and her husband Raymond moved into 33 Liberty, becoming the building’s first known resident owners. Raymond, a former teamster, worked as a clerk for Ames Harris Neville Company, suppliers of canvas bags, tents, awnings, and related goods. In 1927, the Miltons sold to John J. and Nora Gallagher. John worked as a life insurance agent and died around 1941. Nora sold to Ann Sullivan in April 1953, beginning a period of frequent changes in ownership that continued through 1972.

The current occupants of 33 Liberty are Lawrence Siracusa; Brent Hatcher; their two boxers, Luna and Eddie; and Romeo, a 36 year old parrot. Lawrence is a retired lawyer and Brent is an architect and the art director for Alta Journal, a quarterly magazine about California. Lawrence purchased the building in 1996 with a friend and moved into 33 Liberty with Romeo (and two boxer dogs). The building was subsequently converted into two separate condominium units. Brent moved into 33 Liberty in 2003. Lawrence and Brent have made significant renovations to the flat including a new kitchen and bathrooms. The building was recently earthquake retrofitted with a new foundation that will hopefully allow it to stand for another 100 years.