AMERICANA / THE MARK HOPKINS TURNS 100

The magnificent Mark Hopkins mansion commands the summit of Nob Hill in this late-19th-century view of San Francisco. Designed by architects Wright & Sanders and completed in 1878, the turreted Victorian showplace was built for Central Pacific Railroad magnate Mark Hopkins and his wife, Mary. Hopkins died before its completion and never lived beneath its elaborate roof. The mansion survived the great earthquake of April 18, 1906, but was consumed by the fires that followed. Two decades later, the Mark Hopkins Hotel rose on the same commanding site at California and Mason streets. Opened December 4, 1926, the landmark hotel celebrates its centennial in 2026—one hundred years above San Francisco and nearly 150 years after the Hopkins name first crowned Nob Hill.

If you are among the ranks of hotel aficionados, who hobby by staying at remarkable inns of note, mark your calendar for December 4 when San Francisco's Mark Hopkins hotel turns 100.

On December 4, 1926, the Hotel Mark Hopkins opened atop Nob Hill and immediately joined the ranks of San Francisco’s grand hotels. One century later, it remains in business at the same prestigious address, overlooking a city that has repeatedly rebuilt, expanded and reinvented itself. 

The 19-story hotel was designed by Weeks & Day, the prominent San Francisco architectural firm responsible for the Huntington Hotel and several major theaters. Its design combined the stately silhouette of a French château with Spanish ornamentation. 

Contemporary admirers proclaimed the finished hotel “architecturally perfect.” The location already possessed a colorful history. Mark Hopkins, one of the Central Pacific Railroad’s “Big Four,” selected the site for an elaborate mansion but died in 1878 before moving into it. 

The property later became the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art. The mansion survived the 1906 earthquake but was destroyed during the fires that followed. Mining engineer and hotel investor George D. Smith acquired the site in 1925, cleared the remaining art-school building and constructed the hotel that still bears Hopkins’ name. 

Nine large murals painted by California artists Maynard Dixon and Frank Van Sloun for the Room of the Dons were completed in time for the opening. The panels, including an image of the mythical Queen Calafia, remain among the hotel’s significant artistic features. 

The hotel’s most famous attraction arrived in 1939, when Smith converted its 19th-floor penthouse into the glass-walled Top of the Mark. Customers reportedly lined up down Nob Hill to enter the new cocktail lounge and admire its panoramic views. 

After the United States entered World War II, the lounge became an unofficial farewell station for servicemen departing for the Pacific. Soldiers, sailors and Marines shared final drinks there with wives and sweethearts. The “squadron bottle” tradition began when a serviceman left a bottle behind for members of his unit to enjoy when they returned. Veterans are still remembered through that tradition. 

 In 1945, the hotel entertained international delegates attending the San Francisco Conference that produced the United Nations Charter. Presidents, royalty, entertainers and business leaders also became part of its guest history. InterContinental assumed management in 1973. Extensive renovations during the following decades modernized the property while retaining its historic character. 

A $50 million project completed around 2000 reduced the room count by combining smaller accommodations into larger rooms and suites. Today, the InterContinental Mark Hopkins has approximately 380 guest rooms, including 39 suites, and continues operating as a luxury hotel. 

A 1929 advertisement offered rooms from $4 per night—the closest readily verifiable rate from the hotel’s opening era. Four dollars then represented approximately $75 in 2026 purchasing power. By 1940, advertisements listed rooms from $5 per day. 

Modern rates vary according to season, conventions and room category. Current booking information places the average at about $210 per night before taxes and fees, with some dates below $175 and high-demand nights exceeding $400. The prices and corporate names have changed, but the essential attraction has not. 

The Mark Hopkins still occupies one of San Francisco’s most valuable pieces of real estate: the crest of Nob Hill, where a cable car stops outside and a century of commerce, hospitality and history comes with the view.