Adolph Sutro first encountered the future site of his Sutro Heights home in March of 1881 while on a visit with his daughter Emma to the home of Samuel Tetlow. Legend has it that Sutro was so entranced with the site that he made a deposit of $1,000 (on a total sale price of $15,000) for the cottage and an adjoining 1.65 acres that very afternoon. Sutro acquired the 21.21 acres adjacent to the cottage as well as 80 acres of shore lands bordering Fort Miley and part of the future Lincoln Park. This land included the Cliff House.

Sutro’s renovation of the cottage retained its relatively modest appearance, belying its ownership by a man of Sutro’s wealth and stature. In contrast to his restraint at renovation of the cottage, Sutro concentrated his efforts on the immediate development of elaborate gardens that eventually would cover the twenty-acre site.

Until the early 1920s the gardens remained in relatively good condition. The gardens’ condition declined after Dr. Emma Sutro Merritt deeded maintenance to the City in 1933, and it accelerated after her death in 1938. In 1976, the City of San Francisco transferred ownership of Sutro Heights to the National Park Service, to be managed as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. National Park Service management efforts since that time have attempted to identify and preserve the historic features remaining on the site.

Sutro Heights today continues to provide open space for strolling or other forms of passive recreation but presents a simpler appearance than in its heyday. The main entrance to Sutro Heights Park off Point Lobos Avenue is marked by statuary lions on each side that are reproductions of the originals. Palm Avenue, the broad promenade, is lined still, in part, by palm trees. Intermittent groupings of trees and shrubs—scant reminders of Sutro’s complex planting arrangements—still survive, as does the well house. There are still views of the ocean and surrounding coast from the semi-circular parapet located at the western end of the site, and at intervals along the oceanfront side of the park.