"San Francisco is 49 square miles surrounded by reality" – Paul Kantner
Commissioned in 1924 in order to consolidate several smaller buildings into one main headquarters for the then newly formed Bell System, (now AT&T) the skyscraper at 140 New Montgomery Street in San Francisco, was designed according to the basic architectural principles of a Buddhist temple-monastery.
Specifically designed to house dentist offices, Four-Fifty Sutter is alternately referred to by locals as “The Tower of Terror,” “The House of Pain,” Four-Fifty “Suffer” and “The Temple of Doom.” Many have pondered the meaning of the building’s mystical Mayan symbolism, but their curiosity was never quite satisfied…until now.
Sacred Precinct 