Lafayette Park

Lafayette Park occupies a unique place in the history of San Francisco land ownership. For decades after the city designated the four blocks as a public park in the mid-nineteenth century, a prominent attorney named Samuel Holladay maintained a private estate right on the hill’s summit. He successfully claimed the land as his own and defended his property against the city in a legal battle that lasted for seventy years. During that time, he built a mansion, gardens, a stable, and a water tower, essentially treating the public park as his personal backyard.