The Many Lives of the Malloch Building in San Francisco

This beautiful historic building has made its home at the location of 1360 Montgomery Street, in the romantic city of San Francisco on Telegraph Hill. This is the epitome of San Francisco architecture. It was originally built in 1937 and designed in the Streamline Moderne style by architect Irvin Goldstine. 

The Malloch Building is where Irene Jansen (played by Lauren Bacall) resided in the movie “Dark Passage.” Irene’s apartment was the backdrop as Irene cuts the bandages off of Vincent Parry (played by Humphrey Bogart) in this 1947 film noir.  

Fast forward to the present time, the Malloch Building is now a private residential building. A few years ago, you could have bought a one-bathroom condo in this iconic building for $1.5M. In fact, it was Apt 9 that was for sale, right next door to Irene’s apartment, which was Apt 10.

1360 Montgomery Street, Apt 10, is located on the 3rd floor where Vincent Parry (Humphrey Bogart), who is an escaped convict, hides out while he recovers from plastic surgery. The Malloch Building is itself a movie star, and as many movie stars, uses aliases. If you were on a friendly basis with the building, you would just call it 1360 Montgomery Street.

This piece of San Francisco architecture is an old soul, like many seen in the city, and it seems the older the buildings get, the more fascinating those old souls become. Even if the old souls belong to the imaginary world of Hollywood.

The original owner, who also lived in the building, was John Rolph Malloch, who died in 1951 at the age of 39. In the 1980s, the Malloch Building was converted from apartments into condominiums. 

As an added bonus for the decor of the Malloch Building, muralist Alfred Dupont, was contracted to decorate the exterior, so two 40-foot silvery figures stand embossed on the building. Like all of San Francisco’s architecture, those silvery figures never lost the war on time; in fact, they seem to get better with age. Perhaps it is the old souls and spirits that still live at 1360 Montgomery Street that are running the show.