Sentinel Building

San Francisco, CA (³⁄₂₀₁₅): stunning!
What a standout building, night or day! A Flatiron styled building that survived the Great Earthquake of 1906 during its construction to be finally completed the following year. The contrast of this Sentinel Building, aka the Columbus Tower, is striking alongside the Transamerica Tower several blocks away, when viewed from southbound Columbus Ave. at Kearny and Jackson. This is a quick walk from Chinatown and worth the detour.
Other Unilocal reviewers have already shared some of the history related to this gem. For more detailed architectural reading, check out the link below.

My family visited SF this summer. What a beautiful city and really so interesting.
The Sentinel Building stands out because of the unique color and design. It was fun reading about the history of this building.

The Sentinel Building (also known as the Columbus Tower) is the 33^rd historical landmark in San Francisco. This «flatiron» style building survived the 1906 earthquake and fire during it’s construction, but did suffer some damage that delayed the building completion date to 1907. The unique copper-​clad windows on the building have aged over the years to a green shade. Some people may find this building to be an ugly green monstrosity, but I think the building is gorgeous and oozes character.
Initially the top floor housed political figure, Abraham «Boss» Ruef, and later a restaurant, Caesar’s, that was credited for inventing the Caesar Salad. Despite it’s success, the restaurant closed down during Prohibition. The musical group, The Kingston Trio, owned the building in the 1960s and used the space as their corporate headquarters. By the 1970s the building was starting to fall apart and was in a desperate need of a renovation. Film director, Francis Ford Coppola, purchased the building in the early 1970s and revived the building. To this day he still owns the building.
The Sentinel Building is nestled in between Little Italy and Chinatown so there are plenty of great restaurants nearby. Café Zoetrope currently resides on the ground floor of the Sentinel Building. Grab some wine and Italian cuisine at Café Zoetrope or go across the street to House of Nanking for some amazing Chinese food.
If you enjoy historical buildings and landmarks the Sentinel Building is worth checking out!

Sometimes they don’t turn on the lights. WTF? This is the green goblin of our town and should be on display ²⁴⁄₇

The most beautiful building in SF.
[It really needs to be separate from Café Zoetrope, in spite of the close connection.]
Also known as Columbus Tower, construction began before the big earthquake and finished in 1907. It is now designated Landmark Number 33.
The top floor housed the headquarters of Abe Ruef, a notorious political figure of the day. The street level was home to Caesar’s, which is one of the alleged birthplaces of the Caesar Salad (other stories revolve around San Diego.)
The building is now famous for being owned by Francis Ford Coppola, as is mostly occupied by his company American Zoetrope Studios and Café Zoetrope downstairs.
Part of The Godfather was edited here. Lost In Translation was written and edited here as well. The building is currently responsible for producing ideas and scripts for future movies, and is under the control of Coppola’s son and daughter.