William Sebatian Mooser was born in 1834 in Switzerland. He moved to San Francisco in 1854 and, after trying his hand at mining, went into business as an architect. He is best known for designing the City Plan of Sacramento. In 1861 he became a founding member of the San Francisco Architectural Society. His son, William S Mooser Jr., was born in 1868. In 1886 Mooser Sr. moved his family to the Casebolt House at 2727 Pierce in Cow Hollow. This house had previously been the first mansion built in the area: it is a commanding white structure set away from the street with a double grand staircase ascending to the front door. Mooser Jr. would join his father in the family business in 1890. Together they opened Mooser and Son, Architect at 14 Grant.

At this time, French restaurants in San Francisco were both prolific and shady. Affordable family dining would be offered on the first floor, with a brothel located above. Of these establishments, The Poodle Dog was the most exclusive. It was first opened in 1849 by two Frenchmen as a small rotisserie-style restaurant at the corner of Washington and DuPont (now Grant) in the heart of the Barbary Coast^[1]. The structure was a wood shanty and its actual name was Le Poulet D’Or (The Golden Chicken), but either because the wife of one of the owners owned a white French poodle or because illiterate miners heard “le poulet d’or” and thought they were hearing “poodle dog”, the name Poodle Dog stuck. In 1868 the restaurant moved to Bush Street and officially changed the name to The Poodle Dog. 

In the 1890s the owners of The Poodle Dog commissioned the Moosers to build a new restaurant at the corner of Eddy and Mason. The architects designed a six story building made of fireproofed pressed brick with a basement. In keeping with other French establishments, it had an upscale restaurant on the first floor with private dining rooms on the 2nd floor and lavish bedrooms on the three floors above. These upper floors were accessed via a private side door that led to an elevator. The 6th floor was a banquet hall that could hold up to 250 guests. In order to run a brothel, all French restaurants, including The Poodle Dog, paid exorbitant bribes to ensure that they could stay in operation and remain scandal free. The Poodle Dog was one of the many such establishments embroiled in the Graft Trials^[2].

The building was destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake and Fires^[3]. A third Poodle Dog (restaurant only) opened that same year. The restaurant would continue at various locations until 1985. 

Mooser Sr. died in 1896 and was buried at the Columbarium^[4]. In 1900 Mooser Jr. was appointed San Francisco’s first City Architect by Mayor James Phelan^[5]. He wrote the City’s first Building Code. His son, William S Mooser III (1893-1969) was educated in Paris and returned to join his father in the family business. Mooser III is best known for designing the Santa Barbara County Courthouse, considered by many to be the most beautiful government building in the United States. Mooser Jr. died in 1962. Mooser III died seven years later. Both men are buried at Cypress Lawn in Colma.

^[1] Barbary Coast: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3823 

^[2] Graft Trials: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4041

^[3] 1906 Earthquake and Fires: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=2849

^[4] Columbarium: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4773 

^[5] James Phelan: story coming February 7th