San Francisco Neighborhoods · Cathedral Hill
Cathedral Hill
Sun zoneA mid-rise corridor of apartment towers and big institutions strung along Van Ness and Geary, anchored by the soaring white sails of St. Mary's Cathedral — north-central San Francisco at its most modern and practical, tucked between Japantown, Pacific Heights, and Polk Gulch.
- Transit-rich, with Van Ness BRT and 38-Geary at the door
- Major hospital care right in the neighborhood
- Walkable to Japantown and Polk Street
- Striking modern architecture and apartment living
On the map
Open Cathedral Hill on the map →The story
The district takes its name from the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, dedicated in 1971 at Gough and Geary, designed by Pietro Belluschi and engineer Pier Luigi Nervi with local architects John Michael Lee, Paul A. Ryan, and Angus McSweeney. Its hyperbolic-paraboloid roof rises 190 feet and reads as a great white cupola over the corridor, earning the nickname the 'washing-machine' cathedral. Through the mid-20th century the Van Ness and Geary corridor filled with apartment buildings and hotels, including the modernist Jack Tar Hotel of 1960, later the Cathedral Hill Hotel, which occupied the full block at Geary and Van Ness until it closed in 2009 and was demolished in 2013. On that site, California Pacific Medical Center opened its new Van Ness Campus hospital in 2019, and the long-awaited Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit busway opened in 2022.
Things most people don’t know
The 'washing-machine' cathedral
St. Mary's Cathedral (1971), at 1111 Gough St, rises 190 feet under a roof of eight hyperbolic-paraboloid segments, topped by a 55-foot golden cross.
CPMC Van Ness, opened 2019
California Pacific Medical Center's Van Ness Campus hospital opened in 2019 on the block once occupied by the old Jack Tar / Cathedral Hill Hotel.
Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit
The Van Ness BRT busway opened in 2022, giving the 49 and 47 lines dedicated center-running lanes down the avenue.
A hofbrau since 1947
Tommy's Joynt, the corner carvery at Geary and Van Ness, has been slicing pastrami and turkey at 1101 Geary Blvd since 1947.
Eating and drinking near Cathedral Hill
Cathedral Hill is primarily residential — these sit in Japantown, Polk Gulch, Pacific Heights.
Restaurants
- Tommy's Joynt · 1101 Geary Blvd
- Grubstake Diner · 1525 Pine St
Bars
- Saint Frank Coffee · 2340 Polk St
Getting around and getting care
Transit. Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit (49 Van Ness/Mission and 47 Van Ness) runs the corridor; the 38-Geary and 38R Geary Rapid cross at Geary. Also the 2 Sutter, 3 Jackson, and 19 Polk.
Nearest hospital. CPMC Van Ness Campus, 1101 Van Ness Ave (in the neighborhood)
Thinking about Cathedral Hill?
Send me an address and I will come back with its sun, wind and fog, what is under it, and what has closed on the block.