Columbus Tower

Like most SF landmarks worthy of the title, this one has a seriously checkered career. Built by shady political boss Abe Ruef in 1905, the building was finished just in time to be reduced to its steel skeleton in the 1906 earthquake and fire. The new copper cladding was still shiny in 1907 when not-so-honest Abe was convicted of bribing city supervisors, and by the time he emerged bankrupt from San Quentin State Prison, the cupola was already oxidizing green. Towering artistic aspirations found a home here, too. The Grammy-winning folk group the Kingston Trio bought the tower in the 1960s, and the Grateful Dead recorded in the basement. Since the 1970s it has been owned by Francis Ford Coppola, and film history has been made here by Coppola’s American Zoetrope, The Joy Luck Club director Wayne Wang and Academy Award–winning actor/director Sean Penn.