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1029 Dolores Street
 
The two-unit residential building at 1027-1029 DoloresStreet was originally a single-family dwelling addressed 1009 Dolores Street;the address and division of units occurred around 1907-1910. 
 
The house was built in 1879 for William H. Smith, who wasemployed as a ship rigger. It is unknown who built the house, although it mayhave been Smith himself. During San Francisco's early period of growth, whenregulations were not what they are today, it was common for people to buildtheir own homes without the involvement of a professional architect or builder.Someone like Smith, who had a manual labor occupation and a couple of teenagesons, might very well have tackled the project of building the family home onhis own using pattern books, local examples, and mail-ordered architecturalelements. 
 
Spring Valley Water Company tap records indicate that thehouse was connected to water on 18 June 1879, with William Smith as theapplicant. Smith is listed as the resident of 1009 Dolores Street in citydirectories the following year. He is also listed in the 1880 federal census,which reports that he was born in Germany in 1833 and immigrated to the UnitedStates in 1865. He was married to Maria Smith, who was also a native of Germany,born in 1845. The couple lived in New York and Massachusetts for a time, butappear to have moved from New England to California between 1861 and 1866,quite likely during the Civil War but for unknown reasons. The Smiths had eightchildren, who in 1880, ranged in age from one-and-a-half to 19. Their eldestson, George, was also employed as a rigger and probably worked with his father.Another son, David, also eventually became a rigger. In 1900, Marie's widowedmother, Henrietta Oehlmann, lived with the family and, throughout the years,the family typically employed a maid or household servant.
 
William Smith died in 1902 and Marie Smith continued to livein the house for a year or so. By 1904, she had moved away, but her youngestson, Walter Smith, a physician, continued to occupy the house along with threesingle male lodgers; at this time, the house essentially became a boardinghouse. 
 
In 1906, San Francisco was shaken to its foundations by amassive earthquake and then the vast majority of downtown and much of thenorthern Mission neighborhood was extensively burned. The house was locatedonly three blocks from where the fire's southward spread was finally stopped at20th and Dolores streets. It survived the disaster, but the events may haveprecipitated Walter Smith's moving out and the house becoming a dedicated, andsomewhat crowded, boarding house. Quake recovery was slow and caused anincreased demand for housing in the years that followed, so it is likely thatsome of the lodgers at 1009 Dolores Street had been displaced from theirpre-quake homes. They eventually numbered six or seven, and even included ayoung single woman; Miss Jessie M. Rea, a public school teacher. 
 
Probably in 1907, a large ell that originally extended fromthe house's rear south facade was removed, creating the current rectangularfootprint. The neighboring house to the south was constructed in the gap and anew southern parcel line was drawn between the two. Large outbuildings werealso removed from the rear of the lot. These physical changes to the propertycoincide with the house's address number changing to 1029 Dolores Street,followed shortly by a 1909 newspaper advertisement offering the boarding house– building and business – for sale. 
 
New owners appeared not to have continued in the boardinghouse business, because by 1910, the unit addressed 1027 Dolores was added,denoting the creation of the second dwelling unit and the transition fromboarding house to two-unit dwelling.  Atthat time occupancy changed entirely and the 1910 census reports that 1027 wasoccupied by Orin F. Taber, a partner in Thompson & Taber carriage makers,and his family; while unit 1029 was occupied by John H. and Lizzie Bullwinkleand their son Emil C. Bullwinkle. John Bullwinkle was in the liquor business,while Emil was a bookkeeper for Seaboard National Bank.
 
The two dwelling units were likely rented out as apartmentsfor many years. Around 1920, 1029 Dolores Street was occupied by Joseph andElizabeth Kemp and their adult son, Robert. Joseph and Elizabeth were bothIrish and had immigrated in the 1860s and 70s respectively. In their elderyears, they were retired. Robert was born in California in 1884 and worked as adrug store clerk.
 
The address disappears from records in the 1930s and 1940sand it appears that both units were rented out to a series of frequentlyrevolving tenants who were not surveyed by city directories or census takers.By the time of the 1950 federal census, 1029 Dolores Street was occupied by 45year old, Mexican-born, widow Maria Alverado. Her son, Oscar, who worked as anautomobile upholsterer, lived with her, as well as her daughter and son-in-law,Gloria and Robert Webster. Robert worked as a plumber, Gloria was a nurse at ahospital, and they had a young son, Michael.
 
Around 1960, it appears that the unit at 1029 Dolores hadbeen further subdivided into at least two apartments. Apartment 1 was occupiedby Mario Melhado, a machinist, and his wife, Blanca, while the address 1029 ½Dolores was claimed by Victor Rios, a teamster, and his wife, Constance. Thesame situation was in place in 1970, although Henry Knoop occupied apartment 1,while the second apartment was vacant. In 1980, only the main address waslisted in city directories and was occupied by new tenant, L. Schomaker. Thebuilding was converted to condominiums in 2004. 
 
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The house was designed in the Italianate style. In San Francisco,the style appeared in two versions: the flat-front Italianate, popular duringthe 1860s, and the bay window Italianate that became popular in the 1870s. Thelatter featured a dominant two-story bay window – square or canted – on theprimary facade. 1027-1029 Dolores Street falls into the second sub-type, whichis also consistent with its 1879 construction date.
 
The Italianate style incorporated elements of  Classical decoration and is characterized byflat rooflines (often false fronts that conceal a pitched roof behind), ornatebracketed cornices, and picturesque asymmetry. Entrances are typically markedby a heavily ornamented projecting porch and windows are often paired,sometimes arched, and surrounded by ornamentation and prominent hoods.Classically derived Victorian ornamentation is found trimming openings and edges,and wall surfaces are usually clad with horizontal wood siding.
 
Sometime prior to 1958, the wood clad primary facade of 1027-1029Dolores Street was re-clad with faux stone veneer at the first story and stuccoabove. Ornamentation, including a columned and balustraded porch,window-flanking colonettes, wall panels, and bracketed half-round pedimentwindow hoods, were removed. The original arched window openings were kept,while one-over-one double-hung wood window sashes were later replaced in kind.The prominent bracketed cornice and paneled frieze at the roofline were alsopreserved. Some of the original siding and more refined Italianateornamentation, like slender colonettes with Corinthian capitals and beadedmoldings, can still be found on the house's south facade, especially on theunusual pair of canted bay windows.