by Michael Helquist
Copyright 2007 All rights reserved, Michael Helquist
What was a “motorette” and what exactly did she do? We have heard of the Rockettes and some of us remember “girl groups” singing together as an “-ette” of one sort or another, but a motorette?
Mrs. Ella Patillo has the answer, “I drove the streetcar on Mission Street between 22nd street to the Ferry Building.” She added, “I loved being outside and meeting new people all the time. The conductors, mostly men, liked riding with me and didn’t seem to mind flipping up the grate at the front of the car when they reached the end of the line.” When Mrs. Patillo announces, “I liked it better than any job I’ve ever done,” her face lights up and breaks into a laugh. Just for a moment one can imagine waiting for Muni in the morning and being greeted by a bright smile and a hearty hello.
The enthusiasm and joy that Mrs. Patillo brought to her favorite job were likely evident in all her pursuits. As a young girl, she moved with her parents to San Bernardino from a small town in Oklahoma (“it’s too small to even name,” she laughs). Her father was a construction worker and her mother was a housewife. One of her first adult jobs was receptionist at the San Bernardino Army Air Depot; she later became a clerk in the payroll, accounting, and retirement departments. More importantly, it was at the Army Air Depot that she met her future husband, Albert N. Patillo, who was Staff Sergeant over Supply for a thousand soldiers. When World War II ended, the Patillos relocated to San Francisco. After living on Bush Street and in Ingleside, they bought the two-flat residence at 515-517 Central, between Hayes and Grove. Albert Patillo worked first as an electrician at Hunter’s Point Naval Shipyard and later joined a taxicab business. It was during this time that Mrs. Patillo found her dream job as a motorette. With their first child on the way, Mrs. Patillo gave up her job and focused on taking care of her family. The Patillo family eventually included their two children, Leon and Patsy, and their foster child, Perry.
Mrs. Patillo speaks with pride of her children and feels strongly about the responsibility of child rearing. “When you truly want kids, you bring them up right, make sure they learn what’s right, and keep them from what isn’t good for them,” she explains. Her determination about her kids’ upbringing didn’t stop at home. “I wanted to know how my kids were doing at school and what they were learning.” Mrs. Patillo became active in the PTA, and is proud to have served as President of the Andrew Jackson High School PTA until her daughter graduated. In addition, she worked with Cub scouts, Boy and Girl Scouts, and the Little League.
With her children grown, Mrs. Patillo helped care for elderly people in boarding homes and in the 1970s joined the 500 Block Club of Central Avenue, a mini neighborhood group with big accomplishments to its credit. The group, which predates NOPNA by several years, organized neighborhood crime prevention, lobbied to get permit parking signs established, planted street trees, cleaned graffiti and cleared trash from sidewalks. Mrs. Patillo served as President of the association on several occasions. Today she remains involved with the 500 Block Club as well as working with NOPNA.
In 1894 the full block, from Hayes to Grove and Masonic to Central, only had four property owners and four lots. James D. Treadwell of J.W. Realty owned all of the Masonic side. His firm was a major property investor in the immediate area. A middle diagonal swath of the block was claimed by the Market Street Cable Railway Company which would also operate a car barn at the current site of the soon-to-be-completed Fulton Street Market and Condominiums. This line would later merge with Muni, future employer of the one-time motorette on Central Avenue.
Two investors owned lots along the west side of the 500 block of Lott Street, as Central Avenue was known then. S.W. Cowles owned the northwest corner of Hayes and Central, and William A. Buckler owned the other half of the block to Grove Street. While this block, like the others surrounding it, were largely undeveloped sand dunes in the 1890s, wise investors knew there was little financial risk. San Francisco needed new housing, and Golden Gate Park had been developed. By 1886 more than 50,000 residents could be found enjoying the park on any given day. In 1894 more than two million people visited the Midwinter Fair in Golden Gate Park. Streetcar lines on Haight, Oak, Hayes, and McAllister brought park visitors, as well as new commuters, to and from this neighborhood. Cheap lumber and factory-produced appliances and furniture helped fuel a building boom in the western part of the city.
Even with the financial motivation, the owners of the 500 west Central block were slow to subdivide and develop their holdings. In 1901 the Masonic Avenue side of the block had been subdivided for other members of the Treadwell family, but the rest of the block retained the same configuration well into the first decade of the twentieth century. By 1909 the northeast corner of Central and Hayes had been sold to Ephraim and Adele Vorbe. Ephraim Vorbe was a cashier at the Swiss American Bank and later became the paying teller at the French Savings and Loan Society. In the 1870s and 1880s he and his family resided in the South Park area, which was in decline from its high point as one of the city’s first elite neighborhoods.
In 1914, the Vorbes were selling lots from their large corner holding at Hayes and Central. One of the buyers was William J. Keenan along with Charles J. and Maria A. Keenan. The Keenans built 515-517 Central; by October 3, 1914 they applied for water service from the Spring Valley Water Works. The Keenans were part of the active and prolific San Francisco contracting and construction firm Cranston and Keenan. The stunning row of buidlings lining the 700 Block of Broderick, between Fulton and McAllister, is a fine example of Cranston and Keenan’s work.
The new building on Central was meant to be an investment for the Keenans rather than their own home. In 1915 they sold the property to Edward and Alice Quay who held it as rental units until 1927. During this period Robert and Ernestine St. Denis were long-term renters at 517 Central; they owned the J St. Denis Company, a painting, decorating, and hardwood finishing store at 1045 Sutter. In 1927 the Quays sold the building to William and Cora Sherman, who may have been the first owner-occupiers; they remained for twelve years, transferring the deed to Louis Marks, an elevator operator, and his wife Marian in 1939. On September 21, 1956 Albert and Ella Patillo purchased both 515 and 517 Central from Marian Marks. The Patillos chose to live and raise their family in the lower unit at 515 and rent the upper 517. Mrs. Patillo remembers that the rent for the unit was just forty-five dollars a month.
515-517 Central has a twin, a mirror twin in the sense that 509-511 was built to have the exact opposite appearance and interior layout. Whereas the entries to 515 and 517 are on the south side, those for 509-511 are on the north. The front stairways are side-by-side, and the curved and modified bay windows appear on opposite sides: to the north for 515-517 and to the south for 509-511. Most blocks in the North of Panhandle area have twin buildings; usually they are right next to each other, other times one or more buildings intervene. On the west side of 500 Central, there are, in fact, another set of twins and a row of four buildings of the same style and appearance.
The twins presented here are each two stories high, set above garages. Curved and modified bay windows appear on both levels; four individual flat windows are placed to form a broad curve that extends from one side of the building to the other, allowing space for an inset porch and entry way on the sides.
While the windows are the most prominent feature of the exteriors, a strong cornice crosses the top of both buildings with two rows of ornamentation, one of repeating oval shapes and below it a row of dentils (square-shaped wooden pieces spaced evenly apart like teeth). A further embellishment on either side of the upper windows resembles bases of Ionic columns stacked one on the other. Columns appear at the top of the two front stairways. If these building exteriors seem less extravagant and more restrained than many of the Victorian and Edwardian houses in the neighborhood, it is because these were constructed at a later date, in 1914, and reflect a more modern architectural preference.
The peach colored exterior of 515-517 reflects Mrs. Patillo’s strong preference for color. “I’m a lively woman,” she asserts. “I like lively colors.” Throughout her home Mrs. Patillo has used shades of pinks and reds and lavendars and purples to bring warmth and distinction. The front living room offers a cozy gathering space with two couches and chairs and a fireplace with built-in bookcases on either side featuring dozens of framed family photos. Pocket doors lead to the dining room with a side window and a built-in china cabinet allowing space for the large dining table and buffet. Although her son has been renovating the kitchen, one wall retains the old-fashioned original cabinets. A pantry remains off the kitchen.
The main hallway from the entry door also leads back to the kitchen on the right side, and further to the original water closet and bath and the two back bedrooms, one of which is painted a light lavendar. Rear windows look onto a small yard space, and that is exactly what the Patillos wanted. “After a few years of caring for big back yards at previous residences, we knew we had had enough of that,” according to Mrs. Patillo.
Mr. Patillo passed away in 1966, but Mrs. Patillo and her daughter reside at 515-517, and all the family remain close. Her son, Leon, is a pastor of a non-denominational church in Los Angeles, her daughter, Patsy, is a telecommunications executive and evangelist speaker, and her foster son, Perry Jackson, is a project manager for local construction sites.
San Francisco Block Books, Sanborn Maps, Great Index to Register, city directories, real estate records, San Francisco Water Department records.