OpenStreetMap (new tab)

Google Map (new tab)

Building History

German-born real estate man Isador Louis commissioned architect John Bills Stannard to design this four-story Queen Anne Style building to house the Bank of Commerce and the Maison Dorée, an ice-cream parlor. (In 1892, Louis was also a notary public and manager of the Louis Opera House. He also lived in the Louis Block at the time. See San Diego, California, City Directory, 1892-1893, p. 136.) The bank left the building in 1893, after about five years of tenancy. In 1899, Louis operated a jewelry store at 540 5th Avenue. (See San Diego, California, City Directory, 1899, p. 307.)

Louis worked as a shoemaker in San Diego in 1880, but got into real estate investments by the 1890s. He became a naturalized US citizen on 11/02/1864 in San Francisco, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library, California History Section; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4 - 2A; CSL Roll Number: 39; FHL Roll Number: 977094, accessed 05/14/2018.)

In 1971, Seymour and Woodrow Ratner owned the Bank of Commerce Building, in which they operated a store selling televisions, radios, lamps and lighting fixtures.

Alteration

The two grand towers extending above the parapet were taken down before 1971, but were replaced.