Bransten House

The Bransten House at seventeen thirty-five Franklin Street stands as a departure from the ornate, gingerbread-laden Victorian homes that define so much of San Francisco. Built in nineteen hundred and four, it is a rare example of a Georgian Eclectic structure, showcasing a move toward the clean, restrained lines of Classical and Colonial architecture that began to take hold at the turn of the twentieth century. Its brick facade, another rarity for domestic architecture in a city long obsessed with wood, marks it as a distinct visual anchor in Pacific Heights. The house was a wedding gift from prominent merchant William Haas to his daughter, Florine, upon her marriage to Edward Bransten. The Bransten family was deeply embedded in the city’s commercial life, as Edward was a key figure in the MJB Coffee Company, a titan of the American coffee and tea trade. This residence served as the long-time home for the couple and their four children, and the structure has since been recognized as a city landmark for its design quality and historical significance to the development of the neighborhood.