Columbus Tower, also known as the Sentinel Building is a mixed-used building in San Francisco, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 completed in 1907. The distinctive copper-green Flatiron style structure is bounded by Columbus Avenue

Columbus Avenue (San Francisco)

Columbus Avenue is a diagonal street that runs through the North Beach and Chinatown areas of San Francisco, California, from Washington and Montgomery Streets by the Transamerica Pyramid to Beach Street near Fisherman's Wharf.Avenue This street is home to several notable venues, such as Jack...

, Kearny Street

Kearny Street

Kearny Street in San Francisco, California runs north from Market Street to The Embarcadero, with a gap on Telegraph Hill. Toward its south end, it separates the Financial District from the Union Square and Chinatown districts. Further north, it passes over Telegraph Hill.-History:Kearny Street...

 and Jackson Street, straddling the North Beach-, Chinatown-, and Financial-districts of the city. It is designated landmark number 33.

History

Despite the 1907 finish, building work had begun before the 1906 earthquake the previous year, but extensive damage to the building site, and the rest of the city, slowed down the construction considerably. For a relatively small building such as Columbus tower, with the extensive workforce available in San Francisco at that time, taking more than a year to complete the building was slightly longer than would have been expected.

The top floor initially housed the headquarters of the notorious Abe Ruef

Abe Ruef

Abraham Rueff , known as Abe Ruef, was an American lawyer and politician...

, a local political figure at the time. Also featuring early in the building's history is the restaurant 'Caesar's', which is the restaurant widely credited with the creation of the popular Caesar Salad

Caesar salad

A Caesar salad is a salad of romaine lettuce and croutons dressed with parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, egg, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and black pepper. It may be prepared tableside.-History:...

. Despite its flourishing business, the restaurant was closed down during prohibition

Prohibition

Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...

 under the Eighteenth Amendment

Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution established Prohibition in the United States. The separate Volstead Act set down methods of enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment, and defined which "intoxicating liquors" were prohibited, and which were excluded from prohibition...

. The Kingston Trio owned the building and used it as their corporate headquarters during the 1960s. They built a recording studio in the basement which they used themselves and for many other artists including the We Five

We Five

We Five was a 1960s folk rock musical group based in San Francisco, California. Their best-known hit was their 1965 remake of Ian and Sylvia's "You Were on My Mind", which reached #1 on the Cashbox chart, #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart...

.

By the early 1970s the building was falling gradually into a state of mild disrepair. The film director Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...

 chose then to purchase the building, and renovate it into the building that can be seen today. Coppola then set up his own business in the building, and remains there to this day.

Tenants

Currently occupying much of the tower is Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...

's American Zoetrope

American Zoetrope

American Zoetrope is a studio founded by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas. Founded on December 12, 1969, American Zoetrope was an early adopter of digital filmmaking, including some of the earliest uses of HDTV...

 studio. On the ground floor is the Cafe Zoetrope (previously Cafe Niebaum-Coppola), which has occupied part of the building since 1999. The cafe is a bistro

Bistro

A bistro, sometimes spelled bistrot, is, in its original Parisian incarnation, a small restaurant serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting. Bistros are defined mostly by the foods they serve. Home cooking with robust earthy dishes, and slow-cooked foods like cassoulet are typical...

 and wine shop satellite of the Rubicon Estate Winery

Rubicon Estate Winery

The Rubicon Estate Winery is located in Rutherford, California, USA. The winery sits on a portion of the historic Napa Valley property first acquired in 1879 by a Finnish Sea Captain Gustave Niebaum, founder of the Inglenook Winery.-History:In 1975, Francis Ford Coppola and his wife Eleanor,...

 in the Napa Valley.