James C. Flood Mansion

You are standing before the James C. Flood Mansion, a building defined by its remarkable resilience. When it was completed in 1886, it was the first brownstone structure built west of the Mississippi River. While neighboring mansions on Nob Hill were constructed of wood designed to mimic stone, this building used actual Connecticut sandstone that was shipped all the way around the tip of South America as ballast for cargo ships. This choice of material proved to be the deciding factor in its survival during the 1906 earthquake and fire, as the stone walls withstood the heat that incinerated every other grand residence on the hill.