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Tobin House

Half of a house.

San Francisco, California

The never-completed archway of the Tobin house.   wikipedia
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  Taterchips / Atlas Obscura User
  tylercole / Atlas Obscura User
The front door is like a traditional front door, but the arch leads into a strange truncated space.   Maggie Mason / Atlas Obscura User
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Built by Michael Henry de Young (founder of the San Francisco Chronicle) for his daughter, Constance, the Tobin House was to be the first half of a pair. Built for the wealthy magnate's daughters, one of them had other plans.

Designed in 1915 by prominent architect Willis Polk in Tudor Gothic Revival style, the house was next to the original site of Michael de Young's estate. De Young designed the two houses to be mirror images of each other, and the side of the house features a large archway that was meant to be complemented, and completed, by the neighboring house.

However, while Constance was happy to live in the house, another daughter Helen de Young had other plans, and said, "Thanks, but no, thanks, Dad." The second half of the mirror image house was never built, leaving the archway ending abruptly where it meets the next building.

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Houses Architectural Oddities Architecture Homes

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Added By

rebeccaclara

Edited By

jlin, tylercole, SEANETTA, Taterchips...

Published

February 17, 2012

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