|
'''Streethouse''' is a small [[village]] to the east of [[Wakefield]], the south of [[Normanton, West Yorkshire|Normanton]] and the west of [[Pontefract]] in [[West Yorkshire]]. Formerly a mining village, Streethouse retains a train station on the line between [[Wakefield]] and [[Pontefract]] and a miners' club. Unemployment and deprivation prompted several locals to leave and there have been periods when much of the housing has been uninhabited. Streethouse suffers from similar problems to [[Fitzwilliam, West Yorkshire|Fitzwilliam]] and [[Grimethorpe]], though on a lesser scale.
[[Image:cliffhouseproject.jpg|thumb|right|1896-1907 structure http://www.cliffhouseproject.com]]
[[San Francisco, California|San Francisco's]] '''Cliff House''' is a popular [[restaurant]] to both locals and tourists, perched on the headlands on the cliffs just north of [[Ocean Beach (San Francisco)| Ocean Beach]].
A lot of crime is targeted at those who move into the village who do not have a history there. The police are unable to do anything as most people are related and will not report members of their family.
==History==
In other words Streethouse, a village of no fewer than 200 houses is full of dirty thieving inbreds. Remarkably, there are only 5 families within those 200 houses - its quite scary what freakish little creatures they manage to produce. We are talking seriously gimpy plonkers with a whole host of odd looking features and delinquency of epidemic proportions. Luckily the delightful people of Streethouse have access to a state-of-the-art chip shop, the only disadvantage being that it is a three minute walk away from most houses. In addition, when it rains the giant puddle provides a free bathing area, its just a shame it isn't in the middle of the road. The people of Streethouse are easily recognisable from quite a distance, usually the mucky white tracksuit bottoms, stripey Ben Sherman jumpers and Burberry cap's give them away, not to mention the manure-like smell. It is estimated that the average Streethouse villager has between none and three bath's per year, consumes between six and seven hundred tonnes of chips and approximately four hundred gallons of special brew per quarter. They go through roughly 50 pairs of stolen white trainers per year and they don't understand English - the chances of this being read by one of them is estimated to be about sixteen billion to one. All in all, Streethouse is without doubt one of the most dangerous places in the Northern hemisphere. Make sure you avoid at all costs!!
The Cliff House has had three major incarnations since its beginnings in [[1863]]. The original Cliff house was built for Captain Junius G. Foster but was along trek from the city and hosted mostly horseback riders or picnickers on day outing or small game hunters. With the opening of the [[Point Lobos]] toll road a year later, the Cliff House became successful with the Carriage trade for sunday travel. The builders of the toll road constructed a two mile speedway beside it where well-to-do San Franciscans raced their horses along the way. On weekends, there was little room at the Cliff House hitching racks for tethering the horses for the thousands of rigs. Soon, omnibus railways and streetcar lines made it to near [[Lone Mountain]] where passengers transferred to stagecoach lines to the beach. The growth of [[Golden Gate Park]] encouraged beach travelers to search for meals and a look at the [[Sea Lions]] sunning themselves on [[Seal Rock]], just off the cliffs.
[[Category: LandmarksVillages in SanWest FranciscoYorkshire]] ▼In 1877, the toll road, now Geary Boulevard, was purchased by the City for around $25,000. In 1883, after a few years of downturn, the Cliff house was bought by [[Adolph Sutro]] who had solved the problems of ventilating and draining the mines of the [[Comstock Lode]] and become a multimillionaire. After a few years of quiet management by J.M. Wilkens, the Cliff House was severely damaged by an explosion of the schooner, ''Parallel'', that went aground under the restaurant loaded with forty tons of dynamite. The blast was heard a hundred miles away and demolished the entire north wing of the tavern. Seven years later, on Christmas 1894 the patched and repaired old building burned down. Wilkens was unable to save the guest register, which included the signature of three Presidents and dozens of illustrious world-famous visitors.
In 1896, Adolph Sutro built a new Cliff House, a seven story Victorian Chateau, called by some "the Gingerbread Palace," below his estate on the bluffs of [[Sutro Heights]]. This was the same year work began on the famous [[Sutro Baths]], which included six of the largest indoor swimming pools north of the Restaurant that included a museum, skating rink and other pleasure grounds. Great throngs of San Franciscans arrived on steam trains, bicycles, carts and horse wagons on sunday excursions.
The Cliff House and Sutro's Baths survived the [[1906 earthquake]] with little damage but burned to the ground on the evening of of September 7, 1907. Rebuilding of the restaurant was completed within two years and, with additions and modern restorations, is the one seen today.
The building was acquired by the [[National Parks Service]] in 1977. The site overlooks [[Seal Rock]] and the former site of the [[Sutro Baths]]. More than thirty ships have been pounded to pieces on the southern shore of the Golden Gate below the Cliff House.
==Sources==
O'Brien, Robert ''This is San Francisco'' 1948, reprinted Chronicle Books 1994
== External links ==
*[http://www.cliffhouse.com/ Cliff House- Where San Francisco Begins]
*[http://www.cliffhouse.com/cliff-house-history.htm Cliff House History]
*[http://www.cliffhouseproject.com Historic Cliff House Images]
*[http://www.virtuar.com/ysf2/cliff.htm Cliff House Virtual Tour]
{{restaurant-stub}}
{{California-geo-stub}}
▲[[Category:Landmarks in San Francisco]]
[[Category:Restaurants in the United States]]
| 