The Queen Anne at 850 Steiner was built in 1898 by T. Patterson Ross, who designed more than 200 buildings during his career, including the Alcazar Theatre at 650 Geary. A native of Edinburgh, Scotland, Ross came to San Francisco at the age of 12 in 1885. In 1890, he began working as a draftsman for architect John Gash, and by 1891, he produced an unusual design for the California Building at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago (1893), which celebrated the 400th Anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World. Although the design did not win the competition, it gained Ross recognition within the architecture community. In 1892, Ross produced plans for the Chapel at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, for what appears to be the first building constructed that he designed.
