April 18, 2006 marked the 100-year anniversary of the great earthquake and fire that forever changed San Francisco. Throughout the year, exhibits and events throughout the city focused on the disaster, but the Haas-Lilienthal House took a slightly different approach, focusing on daily life at the time of the disaster. The Haas-Lilienthal House, a typical upper-middle class home of the Victorian era, is representative of a prevailing way of life shared by people across most socio-economic levels.

Earthquakes were not a new phenomenon at the time the Haas-Lilienthal House was built in 1886, and savvy builders understood the practicality of building in wood, as opposed to building with brick or masonry. The “balloon frame” construction gave the typical houses strength, combined with flexibility to ride out a certain amount of earth movement. San Francisco’s builders learned the importance of leaving airspace between buildings. Unfortunately, fires were not a new phenomenon at the time either, but the advantages of wood far exceeded the disadvantages of wood. So, even though the city had burned many times in previous years, flammable redwood continued to be the primary building material.

At the time of the great 1906 earthquake and fire, the Haas-Lilienthal House was occupied by a five-person family and a few servants. A family anecdote recalls that Mrs. Haas attended the opera on the evening of April 17 and caught her hand in the carriage door afterwards. To lessen the discomfort, she was given a strong sleeping draught. She slept right through the horrible shaking later waking to general chaos and asking, “William, has something happened to my city?”

The Haas family gathered on the roof of the House and watched as their city burned. Members of the Lilienthal family (who lived just one block away on Van Ness Avenue which was, at that time, a grand residential boulevard) were among those who lost their homes not to the quake itself, but to the creation of a firebreak along the eastern side of Van Ness Avenue.

The fires that followed the earthquake primarily stopped at Van Ness Avenue. West of Van Ness many Victorian-era houses remained intact, but many were turned into multiple-family dwellings and others were later torn down and replaced with larger structures. However, even today there is noticeable Victorian-era architecture West of Van Ness.

Many San Francisco residents relocated temporarily to the north, east & south bay area for a time, and most of them ultimately returned to their beloved city. Though the Haas-Lilienthal House was essentially undamaged in the earthquake and fire, Mrs. Haas & her three children temporarily relocated to the Berkeley hills for a few months, while the City got back on its feet.

A slight buckling in the wallpaper over the main staircase is the only evidence of the quake’s effects on the Haas-Lilienthal House, and it is thought that Mr. Haas deliberately chose not to repair it, seeing it more as a battle scar and a proud reminder of the House’s survival.

Mr. Haas’ wholesale grocery business downtown was destroyed in the disaster, and so his home became their temporary headquarters. The House was used for storage of goods, and he operated his office from the breakfast room/study.