Bay Curious The Eccentric Personalities Behind Sunnyside Conservatory
Mar 2, 2026
Mary Balmana, a longtime San Francisco neighbor curious about a grand hidden Victorian. Katrina Schwartz, journalist who researched and narrated the conservatory’s history. They explore the conservatory’s unusual octagonal redwood structure, its inventor William Merrills and financial drama, secretive later owners, neighborhood rescue efforts, and the long restoration that revived the garden.
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Hidden Victorian Conservatory In Residential Sunnyside
- Sunnyside Conservatory is a smaller Victorian-style glass conservatory set back in a residential block on Monterey Boulevard.
- Its two-story octagonal redwood center once housed exotic plants but now functions mainly as an event space after restoration.
Inventor William Merrills Built The Conservatory
- William Augustus Merrills built the conservatory in 1902 to house his collection of exotic plants after buying several lots starting in 1897.
- Merrills earned money engineering mining equipment and promoted inventions like an automobile starter while also filing many patents.
Reclusive Van Becks Owned The Property Midcentury
- Ernest and Angèle Van Beck bought the property after Merrills' estate was repossessed; Ernest had made money selling fraudulent mining bonds and cultivated a reclusive reputation.
- Neighborhood kids were afraid of him, and he lived on the property until his death in 1951.