Mother's Building

You are standing near the Mother's Building, a structure that occupies a unique place in San Francisco history. Built in nineteen twenty-five, it was originally commissioned by the brothers Herbert and Mortimer Fleishhacker as a tribute to their mother, Delia. At the time of its opening, this Italian Renaissance style villa functioned as a secluded sanctuary exclusively for mothers and their young children. It offered a quiet lounge where women could rest, nurse their infants, and receive medical guidance from onsite matrons while their children played in the nearby pool and park complex. Men were historically excluded from entering the building until the early nineteen seventies, when the structure transitioned into a visitor center and gift shop for the zoo.