Mark Hopkins was one of the "Big Four" (Collis P. Huntington, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker) who founded the Central Pacific Railroad, American railroad company in 1861. The wealthy San Francisco entrepreneur chose a lot on the southeastern corner of Nob Hill’s summit to build an opulent mansion for his family. The estate was adjacent to property owned by Leland Stanford. Construction on the house began in 1875. The mansion took several architects, three years, and $3 million to complete. Mary Hopkins moved into the house alone because her husband died before the mansion was complete. Soon, Mrs. Hopkins married Edwin Searles, one of the architects who helped design the property. When Mary died in 1891, Searles donated the property to the organization that would become the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) because the couple had moved to the East Coast. The building survived the 1906 earthquake but not the fires. A smaller building was erected in its place. When the art institute moved to its current location, George Smith, a mining engineer and hotel developer purchased and razed the second building. He retained the services of Weeks and Day, the same architectural firm that built the Huntington Hotel. The luxurious 19-story hotel combines French Chateau and Spanish Ornamentation styles. The penthouse on the 19th floor got converted into a restaurant and bar in 1939. Known as Top of the Mark, this vantage point provides a panoramic view of the city, bay, and surrounding area. The hotel and restaurant were popular meeting places for military personnel and their sweethearts during World War ll. The northwest windows became known as Weeper’s Corner because many wives and girlfriends gathered there for one last glimpse of ships passing through the Golden Gate. The hotel banquet room contains murals by artists Frank von Sloun and Maynard Dixon. The collection of nine, seven-foot-tall panels were painted in 1926. One panel depicts Queen Califia, the mythical namesake of the State of California, and her warriors against a gold leaf sky. A bronze plaque designates the former site of the Mark Hopkins Art Institute, the forerunner of the SFAI, as a California State Historical Landmark. The hotel is also a San Francisco Designated Landmark.