Fog Over Frisco - The Bradford Mansion
Then ... Having reported Arlene's disappearance to the police, Val Bradford drives back to her Lafayette Park home, seen here heading north along Laguna Street on the west side of the park. In the foreground are cable car tracks along Washington, a line destined to close down 22 years later in 1956.
... and Now, the homes on this block today have all been replaced except for the setback 3-story white building on the corner of the intersecting Clay Street. The park steps too appear to be the same ones.
Then ... She makes a right in front of her home, the corner mansion, but screeches to a halt when she sees the reporters waiting for her. The home's address in the story was 923 Bates Avenue, fictitious, but in real life this mansion was 2180 Washington, built in 1899 by William G. Irwin, a banker and sugar magnate.
... and Now, the Irwin Mansion burned down in 1955; today there's a 12-story condominium building on this site (map). In this view of new and old the common denominator is the cluster of three tall buildings down Laguna.
Here's the mansion in 1953 by which time it had become the home of the Irwin Memorial Blood Bank. (Its cube-like architecture was certainly appropriate for an owner from the sugar business).
But just two years later, sadly, it was destroyed by fire.
... and Now, 2180 Washington today.
Then ... In an earlier scene a view from the home's window shows a shaggy-maned lion on a pedestal, one of a pair facing the park at the front entrance (you can spot it in the 1953 photo and the fire photo above).
... and Now, the lions, the only survivors from the original building, have lost their pedestals but still maintain their vigilant watch at the entrance.
... the fiercely-represented beasts hold an unfolding scroll in their teeth, a symbol of life and a hidden future.