Cliff House to Get $14-Million Overhaul

The National Park Service is planning a major overhaul of San Francisco’s landmark Cliff House, an old-fashioned beach resort that draws more than 1.5 million visitors a year.

Cliff House was built as a retreat for the wealthy in 1863 but burned down in 1894. Owner Adolph Sutro, who became mayor of San Francisco, built a Victorian replacement, which burned in 1907.

Sutro’s daughter built a third Cliff House of fireproof concrete in 1909. The Park Service bought the 4-acre parcel for $5.4 million in the 1970s.

The renovation is scheduled to begin next fall and is expected to cost about $14 million, with about $10.6 million coming from the owner of the restaurant on the site.