Sacramento's Most Distinguished, Stately and Iconic Buildings (Part 2)

In part one of this series, we covered our first ten most iconic buildings in Sacramento, and here are our next ten. If we left a notable building out or you have a suggestions, feel free to contact us!

1. California State Capitol

The venerable and magnificent white domed edifice that serves as the home to government in California, the State Capitol building in Sacramento opened January 1, 1874. Located on the west end of Capitol Park between L Street and N Street, its three floors reach 75.3 feet high. Construction on the State Capitol began in 1861 under architect M. Frederic Butler, who created the neoclassical building to replicate the White House and other state capitols around the country. The building underwent a significant restoration from 1975 until 1982, when the Capitol was retrofitted for earthquake safety. A trip to the California State Capitol can include visiting the Capitol Museum on site and a pleasant stroll around 40-acre Capitol Park, with its garden-like 11,40 trees, plus shrubs and flowers, represented from all around the world.

2. CalPERS headquarters

Many Sacramento residents don’t even know it exists, but the building with a ridiculously long name – the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) Headquarters Complex, sitting at 400 Q Street in Sacramento, is a true modern marvel.  When construction wrapped up in the fall of 2005, CalPERS’ new home was a 1.1 million square foot mixed use building composed of two horseshoe-shaped buildings with 4-6 floors each in the midst of four blocks bound by 3rd, 5th, P, and R Streets, with a beautiful public courtyard in the center. Built with the help of a whole team of architects and designers from all over the U.S., the CalPERS headquarters actually came in at a cost of $192 million – significantly lower than the projected budget of $265 million.

3. Park Tower in U.S. Bank Plaza

Looking at the Sacramento skyline, this 26-story skyscraper is impossible to miss. It’s equally prominent to the city of Sacramento, as it’s listed the #22 most famous building in the city. The Park Tower was finished in 1991, and standing 380 feet above street level, was the tallest building in the city at the time. Rising from surrounding U.S. Bank Plaza, the Park Tower at 980 9th Street contains 414,000 square feet of office and commercial space.

4. U.S. Bank Tower

Not to be confused with the Park Tower, the U.S. Bank Tower is a 25-story edifice in downtown Sacramento that reaches 404 feet in the air.  Located at 621 Capitol Mall, and designed by architectural firm, Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, Inc., construction started in 2006 and wrapped up in 2008, when U.S. Bank purchased the naming rights. The tower spans 46 floors of mostly offices, and is easily recognizable with a deck of LED screens at the top of the structure, displaying flowing blues and purple that are reminiscent of a river. The U.S. Bank Tower is the second tallest buildings in the Queen City and ranked #23 on the list of most famous buildings there.

5. Eastern Star Hall

If you’re driving past the 2700 block of K Street in midtown Sacramento you may miss it as your eye goes to Sutter’s Fort, but walk or cycle by and you’ll notice the charming Eastern Star Hall, a brick square meeting hall of Romanesque Revival architecture that was built in1928 as a place for the Masonic Women’s Organization to assembled, including for dances and social events. It remains one of only four such buildings constructed by the Order of the Eastern Star and in 1993 was recognized on the National Register of Historic Places.

6. Heilbron House

In 1881, German immigrant August Heilbron came to America and ended up in the budding city of Sacramento, where he made a fortune as a grocer and cattleman. With a then astronomical $10,000, Heilbron had his dream home built on the corner of 7th and Streets not too far from the newly constructed State Capitol. The mansion, built in classic Italianate architecture by architect Nathaniel Goodell, was part of Heilbron’s legacy and still is an iconic part of Sacramento history today.

7. Mesick House

Sitting in charming and historic Alkali Flats in Sacramento, The Mesick House is one of only two remaining High Victorians that feature a mansard roof. Originally built by owner Mary Mesick in 1875, the mansion on 517 8th Street was constructed in the Second Empire and Italianate Victorian architectural styles. The Mesick House is now ranked no. 14 on the list of most famous buildings in Sacramento and on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

8. Renaissance Tower

Another sterling building soaring over the downtown landscape, the Renaissance Tower at 801 K Street was actually the highest skyscraper in Sacramento when it was completed in 1989, but now is the fifth tallest. Its 28 floors reach 372 feet high and include a massive 336,00 square feet of office and commercial space.

9. Sacramento Public Market Building (Sheraton Grand Hotel)

Back in 1923, a brand new public market opened its doors with a grand affair, including a ten-piece orchestra and speeches by city officials that attracted 40,000 Sacramentans. The Sacramento Public Market Building was built by well-known architect Julia Morgan and commissioned by the powerful Glide family, who wanted a market for the city with a refrigeration system that rivaled the Crystal Palace Market in San Francisco. Even when the building transitioned form a market to the office of the California Secretary of State 50 years later and then to the current use as home of the Sheraton Grand Hotel, the structure remains one of Sacramento’s most important and recognizable addresses.

10. Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament

Sacramento’s largest religious site, this Roman Catholic cathedral is the seat of the bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento. But for those who aren’t Roman Catholic, the cathedral is a proud landmark of civic as well as spiritual pride. Sitting at the intersection of 11th and K Streets, was constructed in 1889 for a total cost of only $250,000! With 1,400 seats, ample square footage and a dome that reaches 175 feet high with three spires 215 feet into the heavens, it’s one of the largest cathedrals west of the Mississippi River.

Sacramento's Most Distinguished, Stately and Iconic Buildings.

1. Bank of the West Tower

Bank of the West Tower is a 25-story high-rise that stands 397 feet high, also known as Five Hundred Capitol Mall, or The Pantheon. Spanning 433,508-square-feet, it includes a stunning 5-story atrium and lobby, retail on the first floor, offices, a 2-level penthouse restaurant/meeting area, and 10 levels of parking garage with 800 spaces. Construction started in 2007 under the watch of architect E.M. Kado & Associates, and developer Tsakopoulos Investments, and the Bank of the West Tower accepted its first tenant on May 26, 2009.

2. Wells Fargo Center

At 423 feet, The Wells Fargo Center in downtown Sacramento wins the honor of tallest building in the capital city of California. This 30-floor office building encompasses more than 500,000 square feet since it opened in 1992. The Wells Fargo Center actually occupies a whole city block, about 2.3 acres, and is highlighted by a stunning five-story interior atrium made from granite, marble, and glass, as well as the ground floor Wells Fargo History Museum. Architect Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum (HOK) and developers William Wilson & Associates and Crocker Properties redefined the Sacramento landscape with the Wells Fargo Center.

3. California Governor's Mansion

Between 1903 and 1967, the Historic Governor’s Mansion was home to thirteen governors starting with George Pardee (including Ronald Reagan, but only for four months), and just started housing its fourteenth governor in 2015 when Jerry Brown moved in. Originally built in 1877 in the Second Empire-Italianate Victorian for local hardware merchant Albert Gallatin, it holds thirty rooms in its thirty stories, as well as a historic park for its grounds, and is on the list of California Historic Landmarks and the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

4. Crocker Art Museum

The name may have changed from the E. B. Crocker Art Gallery to the Crocker Art Gallery, but this iconic museum still entertains, educates, and enlightens Sacramento art lovers. “The Crocker” is actually the longest continuously operating art museum in the western United States, and number 59 on the list of Best Museums in the entire United States. Located at 2016 O Street, the Crocker Art Museum building was built in 1877 by architects Seth Babson and Charles Gwathmey in Victorian Italianate and Classic Contemporary motif. With all of that distinguished history, the Crocker Art Museum is worth visiting not just for what’s inside, but the building, itself.

5. Esquire Tower

One of the more recent additions to the Sacramento skyline, the Esquire Tower, also called Esquire Plaza, went up in 1999, and features 22 floors and 248,416 square feet of office space, as well as the Esquire IMAX Theater, and a restaurant for good measure, with a height of 322 feet. It’s no wonder the Esquire Tower is ranked number ten on the on the list of Famous Sacramento Buildings & Structures.

6. John T. Greene House

If you’ve driven past McKinley Park on H Street in East Sacramento, you’ve probably noticed a stunning and expansive American Craftsman Bungalow home with wood shingles, handsome green trim, and a stone base. In fact, that’s the John T. Green House, built in 1925 by Pasadena architects Greene & Greene for Sacramento developer John T. Greene, who coincidentally was of no relation to his architectural team. The home was built based on the dimensions of the Golden Rectangle, an ancient law of proportion. No matter what the influence, the home remains one of Sacramento’s proudest structures, and now on the National Register of Historic Places in Sacramento County.

7. Pony Express Terminal

The history of California may not be the oldest, but it is certainly filled with epic events, amazing stories and colorful characters, and many of those are reflected in the Pony Express Terminal in Sacramento. Also known as the B. F. Hastings Bank Building, this building was the furthest western point of the legendary Pony Express mail system when it opened on January 1, 1852. It also served as the first location of the California Supreme Court. These days, the Pony Express Terminal still stands as part of the Old Sacramento State Historic Park, a National Historic Landmark District, featuring the second Gold Rush museum along with the Wells Fargo Center. Interestingly, the Pony Express has two separate addresses depending on whom you ask, with the NRHP listing it at 1006 2nd St. and HABS claiming it's at 128-132 J Street.

8. Blue Anchor Building

Sitting at 1400 10th Street in downtown Sacramento, this Spanish Colonial Revival style commercial building is one of Sacramento’s historic landmarks. It was first built by the architects Starks and Flanders in 1931 as part of the California Fruit Exchange, and named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

9. Sacramento City Library

The Sacramento City Library, located at 828 I Street adjacent to Cesar Chavez Plaza, is also referred to as the Central Branch, and the keystone of the Sacramento Public Library system. Built in 1918 with the help of funding from a Carnegie grant, architect Loring P. Rixford, designed the library to look like a late 19th century Italian Renaissance edifice, as it replaced the existing library that had stood since 1872 only one block west. While the exterior looks the same, the interior has undergone numerous renovations, and in 1992 the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

10. J. Neely Johnson House

While not a household name in Sacramento, the J. Neely Johnson house has a fascinating history. It was first built in 1853 for a horticulturist named William Cozzens who made the journey to California via Panama. Mr. Cozzens started building his house but unfortunately for him, couldn’t pay the construction bill on this Greek Revival-Neoclassical masterpiece, so he lost the house to the court.

The home was then purchased and lived in by the fourth Governor of California,

J. Neely Johnson, and subsequently State Treasurer Selden A. McMeans, and then California Supreme Court Justice David S. Terry. Adding to its mystique, the home’s three prominent owners, Johnson, McMeans and Terry members of the American Party, also called the "Know Nothings" because they conducted meetings in secret – some of them probably in this house.

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If you like Sacramento architecture, rest assured that we're far from done! Look for part two and three of this series coming soon, with more great buildings from the capital city.

10 Styles of residential architecture you'll see in Sacramento.

One of the best things about Sacramento is its diversity, not only in cultures but in historical influences, threads as old as California, itself, woven together to form a rich textile.  There's no greater example than in our architecture, with residential homes built since the mid 1880's in just about every style imaginable, often right next door to each other.  One Sunday afternoon, take a pleasant drive through midtown, East Sacramento, downtown, Alkali Flats, Land Park, Curtis Park, or other great historic neighborhoods and you'll see beautiful homes in these 10 architectural styles.

1. Colonial Revival

1876-1955

This return to the oldest classical home style was a tribute to American in architecture. The revival period imitated the colonial homes that were as old as the country, itself.  Colonials exhibit sprawling square form with plenty of dressing in shutters, window boxes, a prominent front door, and a sharply pitched roof.  

2. Minimalist Homes

1935-1950

This form of architecture has actually been called “devoid of style, at all,” and is a function of attitudes of frugality and caution after the Great Depression – as simple as they come. But there are offshoots of minimal styles as time and attitudes evolved, including traditional, minimal transitional, and even minimal modern.  These small, 2 bedrooms 1 bath “salt flats,” were often erected with the intent of being temporary housing for the workers who constructed Sacramento’s more grander neighborhoods.

3. Bungalow Homes

Bungalows are one of the most common forms of home architecture in certain areas of the country, and certainly California.  But there are many different kinds of bungalows, including California, Arts and Craft, and Spanish Revival.  California bungalows feature 1 to 1 ½ stories, thick columns, and big front porches. Arts and Craft is actually commonly known as Craftsmen architecture, originating from the magazine where designer Gustav Stickley first published his house plans.  Spanish bungalows are inspired by the Mexican-American experience and influence in old California.  In combination, bungalows are a fun, handsome, and homey style of architecture that breaks the rules just as often as it follows suit.  Curtis Park and T Street in midtown has some great representations of bungalows.

4. Spanish Colonial House Style

1600 – 1900

These homes incorporate elements of the Spanish bungalow but also bring in stone, adobe, or stucco walls depending on the era, flat or red tile roofs, parapets, decorative tiles, wooden doors, second-story balconies, interior courtyards, and other touches inspired from Spanish culture in the Southwest.

5. Victorian

1840 -1900

Victorian architecture was brought into existence thanks to the Industrial Revolution, where mass production allowed decorative materials and building technologies like no time before. Victorian houses seem to pride themselves on delicacy and detail, combining elements of Greek, Federalist, Colonial, Gothic, Italiante, and even medieval architecture.  There are plenty of gorgeous Victorian homes in areas like Alkali Flats, Sacramento’s oldest neighborhood.  

6. Mission Revival House Style

1890 – 1920

Mission homes are seen a little less frequently in Sacramento but a few do exist.  They are more popular in Southern California and areas of the American southwest like Arizona and New Mexico.  They have smooth stucco siding, roof parapets, square pillars, round windows, and red tiled roofs in the traditional Spanish style.

7. Tudor Cottage

1890-1940

Imitating the romance of countryside homes in England, the Tudor style has been described as something out of a storybook.  They’re also called Ann Hathaway Cottages, Hansel and Gretel cottages, Cotswold, and English country cottages.  They have brick, stone or stucco siding with brick or stone fireplaces as show pieces, small-paned windows and dormers, low doors, and cramped, sloping second floors beneath uneven roofs.  They became very popular in the United States around the 1920’s and 1930’s.

8. Neoclassical House Styles

1885 – 1925

This architectural style exhibits all the symmetry and order of Georgian, Federal, Classical Greek and Roman Styles.  Neoclassical is seen as more of a trend than one particular style, but it’s always perfectly with distance from the central front door and perfectly symmetrical windows and often columns and pediments. You’ll see a couple of massive, beautiful neoclassical homes in the Fab 40’s.

9. Medieval Revival Homes

Also called Tudor Homes, these homes feature decorative timbering, steep rooflines, tall, narrow windows, and huge chimneys.  They are often bred with elements of European design like thatched roofs, overlapping gables, and stonework.  Not defined by a particular size, Medieval Revival homes can be as small as country cottages or as big as Antebellum mansions, but give us a glimpse back to construction techniques in the middle ages, even if just for show.

10. Prairie Style

1893-1920

This style was brought to America’s attention by revolutionary architect Frank Lloyd Wright, a creative genius many decades ahead of his time.  At a time when others were looking at traditional and European home revivals, Wright defined a new truly American style with low, wide horizontal lines, overhanging eves, open and spacious floor plans, and large windows.  They were constructed in L, T, or Y shapes instead of the traditional rectangles, homes seemed to mimic and celebrate the endless open spaces of our country.  Wright’s homes were popularized as “Prairie Style Homes,” after an article in Ladies Home Journal in 1901 described them as “A Home in Prairie Town.”  As the Great Depression changed our outlook and priorities, Wright simplified his version of these homes with the more boxy and pragmatic American Foursquare or Prairie Box style.  Take a walk around McKinley Park and look across the street for a good glimpse at Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired homes!