James Francis Dunn in the TL Architecture Walking Tour with Linda Day

TLM’s resident expert on the Tenderloin’s built environment debuts another close look at an architect who defined the neighborhood’s style. Join Linda Day for a walking tour to learn about the life and work of homegrown talent James Francis Dunn and visit several of his Art Nouveau inspired buildings.

James Francis Dunn was a self-taught architect raised by a widowed mother in a working-class Irish-American Mission District neighborhood. Enchanted by Beaux Arts architecture, Dunn studied architectural journals to learn the design flourishes that would make his buildings all things French.

Hotel Essex at 684 Ellis, designed by Dunn with an Art Nouveau flavor, was constructed to "evoke the urban character of life on a Parisian boulevard." Dunn designed in many other styles, including Moorish as with the 860 Geary Street Alhambra Apartments, designed with Daniel Kearns.

With the Tenderloin Museum closed for repair, this tour of Dunn’s six Tenderloin buildings begin and end at Le Marais Bakery, 1138 Sutter Street, a Tenderloin French outpost.