Enchanted Castle hides underground water-maze in San Francisco
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ธ.ค. 2023
- Within San Francisco city limits, there's a Norman-style castle with a 4-story turret that few residents have heard of. Built in 1870 by a 21-year-old English immigrant who wanted to start a brewery so he hand-carved two 200-foot caverns under the castle to tap into one of the city’s only sources of natural spring water.
Inside the caverns he dug three stone cisterns to hold the 8,000-10,000 gallons of natural spring water that flows through every day.
Burnelll operated the Albion Porter Brewery until he had to shut down for prohibition. In 1919, it was remade into the Albion Water Company, which specialized in bottled drinking water from the cisterns. The castle was under threat of demolition in 1961 since it was adjacent to a road construction plan, but its nature of producing underground spring waters saved it.
In case of a nuclear attack on the city, the castle could provide emergency water to the city. It is one of the only natural water sources that cannot be contaminated
The castle was nearly demolished in 1961 to make way for a highway, but it was saved based on the argument that the fresh water source under the building “could be the only non-contaminated source of fresh water in the event of a nuclear attack.” (San Francisco Chronicle).
In 2012, Bill Gilbert, who grew up in the neighborhood and remembers seeing the castle as a kid, bought it and installed a complex water filtration system hoping that someday he could begin bottling water here again.
www.thealbioncastle.com/
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Spent my childhood running around them neighborhoods and I remember walking past this place and admiring the look. But boy I had no clue this was a hundred year old castle brewery. So cool thank you for exploring
I grew up around there, I remember that place as Black Mountain Water Company.
I went to an amazing party in this place in maybe 2004-5. It was absolutely wild to be in those tunnels, and the rest of the property. I'd never been able to find any info about the place since.
I kept feeling like rooms looked familiar and I’d been to a party there.
What a treat this was Kirsten, the owners are so gracious to share this beautiful compound.
Thank you Kirsten! I've lived here for 45 years and never knew this existed. I have to say, that was painful to watch. The commentary from the hosts left a lot to be desired. I wish we could've heard about the place from someone who actually knew what they were talking about.
Very interesting. I lived in SF for quite a few years and am fascinated with its interesting history and secrets. I'd heard rumors of this place, and undoubtedly drove by it countless times. I do know that SF is lots of tunnels and right up to the post WW2 era SF was the world center for tunnel building with the Yerba Buena tunnel and the Waldo Grade tunnel among some of the most impressive and well known, but the rest of the area is also tunneled...and of course Alcatraz, the Presidio and even the modern trasnportation system, which are not only convenient in that high aspect landscape but tunnels are surprisingly safe during earthquakes contrary to what some think. Thanks again for this great tour. Cheers.
Lived on Yerba Buena for three years around 1978, looking at the SF skyline every day. I found many tunnels under the old WW2 brig (military jail) always wondered about more undiscovered tunnels. There was generational rumors of more tunnels.
I too, am constantly amazed at the California history and San Francisco history. My family lived in San Francisco in the late 1860's up until not long after the 1906 Earthquake. In the process of searching family history I've found so many stories about hidden tunnels & secret rooms. Secret spaces of course were also part of the rebuild - being Prohibition and all. Also, the building of what we know as the Marina & Financial Districts right on top of collapsed buildings and filling the shallow waters to build out to the edge, for both deeper water ports and simply creating more land in the City. The history is so very interesting!
@@wynelleu my father, being from Mississippi left the southern Baptist church and ma and pa for the Marines Corp. Met my mother overseas but she was from Napa Valley CA. Never could get her to talk about Bohemian Grove in Salinas County. Great research/history to be found there. Many articles written in the SF Examiner.
@@wynelleuwhich history: mainstream or the real that we are left to figure out on our own? to say there were shenanigans going on by the local frat boys and clubs would be a bit of an understatement.
My mind is officially blown! I have lived in San Francisco for 27 years… I even used to have a studio at Hunters Point… I have for sure been by this place hundreds of times and had no idea any thing like this existed! Amazing.
Thoughtfully built for sure. To last a long time. The current owners are trying to fully understand the complexity of the manufacturing process and pass it along the best the can. Super passionate about people are awesome. Thank you for this one. I never would have known about this place especially its water distribution network. Very Cool.
What a gem of a place with the hand-hewn out of rock hidden tunnels, and crystal clear water flowing. They've made a cozy living quarters there. Really enjoyed this; you find the most intriguing places!
Awesome place! That guy was obnoxious though, pulling random figures and facts out of nowhere, dude it’s okay to not know.
His height estimates of the tower went from 100-150ft to 250ft in a one story climb. He's probably off by 200ft...
@@coryjohnson3429 so painful 😅
Kirsten, I can’t think of a better way to start day 1 of 2024 than to be educated by another great video of yours. Salute!
Very interesting property! Rather disappointed by the lack of knowledge of the owners(?). Thank you for providing some details in the description.
Was known as the Mountain Springs Water Company.
During high school years in SF, I remember visiting this place twice. This was over 40 years ago.
The French sign over the toilet is essentially asking, in very fancy prose, that you lower the lid after you are done pooing so as to contain the odors. It's quite funny. The joke is that it's using extremely flowery fancy language to ask for something very prosaic. I don't understand the first word of the 4th line though. It could be Brancher, which means to plug in, except that I've never seen a capital B written like that. "Brancher dans l'amphore un courrant d'onde pur" could mean, "turn on the incandescent light", except that doesn't really make sense, you wouldn't be using the toilet in the dark. That first letter looks like capital E then r but with a backward j in between, which makes no sense. Also "Erancher" isn't a word that I am aware of. I learned to write French script when I was 4, but then at 8 I went to an English school and had to unlearn it. That was 50 years ago.
cool, to know lots of stuff that's amazing and interesting
The word you are looking for is "Epancher", which here is used like "relieve". "Onde" is to be understood like a wave.
The sentence is : "Epancher dans l'amphore un courrant d'onde pur". Translation: "Pour into the amphora a stream of pure waves" (there might be a more poetic way to translate this, I don't know, i'm not native english speaker).
Bisous
@@osenseijedi In other words, flush the toilet. Thanks. ;-) (et bisous du Canada)
The irony is not only is shutting the lid a polite thing to do, but also it is healthier! Many doctors recommend closing the lid to home health care givers (I am one) in order to not spread aerosol-released virus and bacteria.
I think it’s essentially saying not to splash… to aim! 😂
Another super amazing home, a piece of art, so special, incredibly unique. Thank you for showing, happy 2024!
This is such a cool place. Had no idea it exisisted. Great history!
This is one of the wildest and most intriguing places you've visited. Like you say, it's a hidden jem unknown to people walking by it for decades. Like something out of an Anne Rice novel. The historic photos really encapsulates its place in time.
Yes! Anne Rice would write about the French Quarter in New Orleans~~ (making the hair on the back of my neck stand up)~~ old historic vibey vibes!! lol
I've often felt as if the hidden, elusive underbelly of society exists as poeticly described in Anne Rice's work, if not more so. After some time in the military, I realized I knew nothing about the underground, it's real history, or what it consists of. Suffice to say her works of literature underscore reality, if anything.
Safe to say Kirsten is indeed more interested than the average person in cataloging castles.
There were dozens of steam breweries in the latter part of the 1800's that used the steam method of brewing beer because then there was no need to keep it cold. The popular Anchor Steam beer Co. started up in 1896 and is finally calling it quits and is closing its doors in July of this year.
Anchor steam is closing down?? They were the only good american beer besides Sierra Nevada pale ale you could find anywhere for years before the micro brew craze took off😤
In my early 20’s-40’s, I moved to the immediate Bay Area I guess like many never knew of this Hidden Historic Gem❤💪
Ooooo, I just love the mystery of hidden rooms & secret tunnels~~ so evocative!! Great find 🙂 Thanks 4 sharing!
When you were wondering why the house wasn't made out of wood, I was thinking about the Earthship homes in New Mexico you visited. the natural materials are a thermal mass that will help keep the home warm.
And cool:)
What a beautiful home! If I win the lottery, this would be the type of home I’d want to live in!
Masonry walls like brick or natural stone NEED plaster on them. You need to replace that plaster. Exposed brick is to our time what putting shag carpeting over hardwood floors was in the 1960s & 1970s. Mortar isn't water proof. You will get water intrusion into it. It is, however, partially water soluble. You have to get the water out of the mortar if you want it to last. For thousands of years, the simple way to do this was with gypsum plaster. The plaster is hydroscopic; it will pull water out of the air if it can. It will also pull water out of the masonry. As the walls heat and cool during the day, the temperature shift drives a chemical reaction where the plaster pulls water out the masonry and then releases it into the air. It's sort of like the whole house is breathing. Leaving the plaster off the masonry like that means all the mortar is just going to rot away. It's the same reason why most brick structures were traditionally coated in something like stucco or adobe on the outside. It's not just for aesthetics; it serves a structural role.
Such a cool house. And a Cinderella to complete the look.
🤮
Thanks Kirsten, incredible historic place! Seems like a place that should be donated and opened to the public with Docents to explain accurately it’s history and tell its storied past. 🏰
when i saw the granite, i guessed the labor was done by the Chinese who had just finished building the Transcontinental RR thru the Sierra Nevada. experienced, and limited opportunities for work made for cheap labor.
It might be 50 feet tall at the most, it's certainly not equivalent to a 15 story building and 150 feet tall. It's only got maybe 5 stories above ground. Anyway, it's still an incredible property.
Yes definitely noticed that wild exaggeration. It's a cool place but it does call into question how much he was wrong about.
The SF Armory was also built over water. It runs through the basement. Not many people know about that because there is no 'running river' going through the Mission District. I was able to tour it when it was privately owned. Such neat things in SF.
This is a beautiful place. But the owners don't seem to know the exact history of it .....that is very curious!!! If anything drastic happens people will be climbing your walls to get water.
Not sure they are the actual owners or employees of the owner?
Sounds like an inheritance scenario. The ephemeral owners (visitors) pass, the eternal house lives. Thanks for the fascinating tour!
Love it 😮
It's a piece art work..
The french on the toilet is basically a very fancy and convoluted way to ask people to let some pure flow of water wash the bowl once you are relieved from your "burden" XD.
Fascinating property with the history and even the natural water from the mountain for the brewery. Not my style home but man super interesting. No need for air conditioners with the walls that thick.
Happy New Year.
Thank you to you and your entire family for the many years of creating these wonderful videos
How cool. I wish more of the past was preserved so well. Always a story to tell.
About 7 miles south, in Pacifica, is the McCloskey Castle. A Scottish Castle with it's own interesting history.
After the brewery it was the Albion Water Company into the sixties. The shipyard workers housing surrounding on the hill above became housing projects in the 50s. So this is now lightly filtered runoff. They stopped bottling the water after the radioactive dump caught fire in the late 80s spreading radioactive ash all over Hunters Point hill and the flats. It’s about a kilometer away. They have built modern condos much closer to the dump if your looking to buy in San Francisco…
Im so grateful to the owners of property like this for sharing it so intimately. What a treat! Absolutely amazing property.
So with water shortages do the owners of this property own the water right as well? Pretty cool to have your own spring.
Highly radioactive area - I have always wondered about this place! Thanks so much!
This video made international news in the Daily Mail. Congrats on a great video showing us this awesome spot. Do you know if there are any maps or drawings of the cave system and the house integration? I kept losing my bearings as you walked through the deeper caves and then I was lost with the well. I heard the daughter say that some people swam in the water, without permission. Are they able, should they desire, to section off a tank into a sp type pool area? This seems like it might make for an interesting day spa experience but I am not clear in the water temp…if it is cold or a thermal spring.
Great find and presentation. Drove past many times without knowing.
I think that the builders most likely used dynamite in addition to the picks and wheelbarrows. Very impressive structure they created with the rock, but the restoration in 1930 would've been extensive, (judging from the photo @21:25) that saved it for today. Wow. What a fantastic late 1800s historical building that evaded "imminent domain", so we could see the history in 2024. I really enjoyed the video. Thanks for sharing.
So does someone still live here? What an amazing relic of SF!
Would love to have a tour! Someone asked me once if I had ever visited “The Castle “….of course I had no idea this was here in the area. Absolutely stunning! Please, May I come visit sometime? Happy New Year!!!🎉
As a brewer surely they ground the barley and mashed upstairs then filtered and off to wood fired brew kettles. So much water to cool the batch.
Fascinating history and engineering.
What a beautiful building. What is more beautiful is the lady in Blue! 🌷
Incredible house! I would love to live there! The water supply itself is priceless! 1867 dynamite was invented. Before that black powder was used for blasting. I wonder if these guys had a little help using explosives initially? So fun to think about. True craftsmanship is seen throughout their structure within the original buildings and what was added in the late 1930’s. Thanks for highlighting this unique and pleasant surprise. These folks are really lucky. ❤️
Maybe they used blasting to help tunnel, if it was hard granite.
San Francisco is a really fascinating geological region, with many rock types, I believe
Probably. This would have been dug 20 years after the gold rush and they used explosives back then. Steam drills as well. Then they hand finished with picks.
Honey is looking fire for her age
There is absolutely no way the "history" on this place is Even remotely accurate.
Remarkable. Very few structures remain from that century in San Francisco. I would guess the people who know about this building's history would be less than 5 percent of the population of the city.
Literally surrounded by the Hunters Point housing projects!!!
Seriously. And very close to the Banya. I've parked my car just past there many times and didn't know it was there.
@@kryscat5481 I just learned about the banya while looking at google maps, though it doesn't look like much from the outside.
Yeah pretty crazy...
Interesting that those tunnels appear to be located directly under some of SF's worst housing projects. I'm not an expert on rock, but that looks like it might be the same kind of (I think serpentine) that is under Nob Hill.
Yea lots of serpentine at Waterdog Park in Belmont too
seems a waste for this prisine water ... 8 - 10 thousand gallons per day to just drain into the Bay.
Primary Water is unique in itself
👏🙌🙏❤️ Christin for another AMAZING VIDEO.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AND YOURS 🎄🎅☃️❤️🌎☮️🙏
Great place. The rest of it needs to be restored as well for living or entertaining.
if they can figure out if the brewery malted its own barley or was able to purchase malted barley it may provide clues as to the use of various rooms. if they did their own malting process, to gernminate, kill then roast the barley; it would require infrastructure.. machinery and rooms dedicated to that process.. especially during prohibition, one would assume commercially produced malted barley would not be available on market. maybe some local historians in the brewing scene, either through commercial breweries or homebrew clubs might be able to reveal more about the history of manufacture in the area pre prohibition and during .. were there known commercial maltsers active?
storing the barley at height probably was for keeping it dru and away from vermin
Grain is stored upward to keep down rodents and molds and grain beetles, etc, pestilence.
@@thefashiongoddesschannel8099 thats definitely the main reason, but it would help to identify the function of other rooms, if it could be understood if they did their own barley malting. which ordinarily would be a fairly low probabilty; but given the backdrop of prohibition, it makes it a serious contender. a minimum of 2 dedicated rooms would be required for this, one for germination of the grain and killing, another for roasting grain.. these would be separate to the to the storage room as the germination would involve humidity and even the roasting (wet roasting for crystal malts) would involve giving off humidity... i wouldnt expect either of these processes to be done directly under the strorage room
@@thefashiongoddesschannel8099
another facet to think of... IF they did malt their own barley during prohibition.. there would be absolutely no way of consealing the aroma in the town.. they would have had to bribe officials for sure.. the plot thickens :)
Always wanted to see in this place, thank you for sharing.
I think I saw the Vallejo ferry in one of those pictures. Would that mean that the trains would stop here as well?
No trains; but you never know
Amazing Thanks for sharing this awesome place. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I would want so badly to renovate this place and make it comfortable and more aesthetically pleasing. A place like this is such a double edged sword because you want to preserve the history but I couldn’t live like that.
imagine what every lot in the city could look like with the addition of a whopping 3-4 trees. it's almost like they WANT to make the city toxic. glad this property stayed alive.
Absolutely amazing. I've owned a house in San Francisco for 60 years and I had no idea anything like this existed in the City. Having said that, even though San Francisco is geographically pretty small, I've rarely gone to Hunters Point in all these years, I'd say it and the Tenderloin are considered the two worst neighborhoods in the city. The place really does seem like another world.
A bit of criticism to offer - please tighten up the editing. Not every shot and every bit of dialogue needs to be included.
For instance, an excessive amount of time was spent at the top of the tower, with repeated questions and answers about the ropes, pulleys, grain ,etc.
We didn’t need to see both cisterns, since they look exactly alike.
The repetition continues in your description of the video. You repeated the bit about the potential 1961 demolition twice.
A fascinating place to see and learn about, made less interesting due to your editing choices, or lack thereof.
15:52 - RAPUNZEL!!!! RAPUNZEL !!! Let down your hair!
The old historic photo of that building shows that that building is already ancient!
Thanks for this. Fascinating. A 3D model of structure and water storage areas would be nice to see.
Not sure which was more stunning, you or the castle!
Fascinating! I lived in the area where this property is located and never knew it existed! No mention that the property backs up to the housing projects where OJ Simpson grew up.
I live in CA, north of Sac, if there’s one thing I probably know is that a LOT of hard labor was done by the Chinese. I have a pretty big hunch that those tunnels and walls were made by them. But, it’s just a guess made by what I know about CA history…
This is the most interesting historical and coolest house and property of all time
I’m French and that poem on the throne is HILARIOUS ! Genius is the one who wrote that, it uses the most sophisticated language to remind you to flush and close the lid 😅
Just googled it and it’s Alfred de Musset, of course
WoW!!! I hope to visit some day...my drive across America. It's awesome, really!! ❤❤❤
I remember Zac Bagans doing a show on this place . Its dupposed to be haunted by some kind of a guardian spirit that protects the spring waters. Interesting stuff for sure. Pretty place. 😊
I actually have seen shows on this place before, and under where that body of water is, is haunted. They've done investigations there.
That place is so amazing! Very huge place beautiful story behind that place.
WOW what an interesting find. Thanks for this post.
WOW, So Interesting, Thanx for the vid
Wow! Impressive work.
Now that's what I call a Grotto!! ~~splish splash~~
they`ll soon regret this video
There's no way that top floor is 250 feet from the ground. This guy has no sense of size, even if each floor was 12 feet high it would still be under 100 feet.
absolutely incredible. so much history and preservation.
This old castle has withstood all the earthquakes.
What??? I had no idea too. Grew up in the Bay Area. WOW
Live in SF and never knew of this place!
Definitely not a castle. Seems like the true definition of a castle has been lost in time along with the true castles of the world.
I couldn't help but chuckle a little bit every time they made the dramatic "dug it out by hand, oh!" ... well, yeah ... but I'm CERTAIN there were also explosives involved. Lol 😂 😊
A lovely bit of old SF! Let's hope that the wacky SF city fathers don't ever covet this, or despise so much uniqueness in private hands!
3 feet a week for a handful of men to pick handsteel and wedge a tunnel big enough to run a mine cart and walk through.
Not a rule, just what you can expect on average from average rock.
I have driven by there dozens of times, from Bernal Heights to The Ramp. We could have all had an evening drink out at The Ramp! And a beer at ... ummmm the beer home.
I wonder if these long tunnels underground actually go under any of the neighbors property and if so, wat if a neighbor wanted to dig down for an underground garage or??? Probably won't happen as it looks like there are only hills behind their place which means that the height above the tunnels increases as one goes up the hills. Just wondering though! Neat place to walk in off the street and be in your own world away from the hustle and bustle of city dwelling!! Wonder where the garage with the car is and how it is approached from the street..????
WHY is this privately owned/closed to the public? I mean, clearly its NOT in SF (you can see SF in the distance across the water), but clearly a cool piece of CA history, should be a museum! Not another billionaire's hoarded extra property. That made me sad.
It is in SF. The city across the bay you’re noticing is Oakland. To look it up, search for 881 Innes Ave SF.
I agree, I’d love to know when this was actually built. Springs under building. Hmmmmm like a pyramid
That place looks way older than 100+ years its crazy
This cave has survived earthquakes.
What these people are sitting on is amazing- if you’re not familiar with the old world / I’d advise that the residents loook up Tartaria - this property should actually be looked at by professionals and professionals in properties of water - that water is not for beer and may contain healing qualities like the water baths of the temples of set in Egypt. This is a property that the elites / the international jOO world order government doesn’t want the people to know about - this is a goldmine for archeologists and soul seekers looking to undercover the mysteries of the universe -
After the train Chinese labor carved many caves in California...Napa valley wineries have Chinese hand dug caves....
It's too bad the public housing projects ( Potrero Hill ) are the backdrop of this property 😂
Very interesting thanks for posting the video. M