San Francisco County
Biographies
GUSTAVE
MOELLER
One of the most progressive of the real estate men who have had to do with the fine development of San Francisco is Gustave Moeller, who is president of the real estate and insurance firm of Gus Moeller & Sons at 6260 Geary street, his associates being Gustave, Jr., and Henry C. Moeller. He was born in Germany on August 11, 1870, and is a son of the late Hans and Marie (Luetjen) Moeller. Both of his parents died when he was very young.
Gustave Moeller attended school in his native land, but laid aside his text-books when he was fourteen years old for the purpose of going to sea. He shipped from the port of Hamburg, Germany, and during the ensuing ten years he became familiar with nearly every important port on the globe. His seafaring life was an experience filled with adventure and rigorous training, all of which proved of inestimable benefit to him in his subsequent career. His final trip was from China and Japan to San Francisco, and it was in March, 1894, that he walked down the gangplank at this port for the last time as a sailor. He was then twenty-four years old. His first employment on shore was in a business house, where he remained for three years. As noted later, he was married two years after he came to San Francisco, and with the assistance of his wife he established a delicatessen store at Geary street and Fourth avenue. Business grew and soon afterward they added a restaurant and a line of groceries. Success continued to attend their efforts and in 1908, when material rewards had been very gratifying, the business was sold, and Mr. Moeller entered the real estate and insurance business at Clement street and Twenty-fourth avenue. He had moved to the West Richmond district of San Francisco in 1897, and during the intervening years had become acquainted with the desirability of real estate as a vocation. He and his friends would form a pool, buy a block of land, build houses thereon, and sell with profit to themselves. When he came to the West Richmond district it was very sparsely settled, only about five thousand residents then being there. He did much of the pioneering in home building and settlement, and now the district has a population of close to one hundred thousand people. He has constructed several homes in this area, while in the Sunset district he has sold over two hundred homes and developed twelve city blocks. His business has been one of steady progression and enlarged activities. At this writing he is centering his efforts, in association with Niels Schultz, on the property known as Millbrae Highlands, comprising two hundred and eighty acres, which is situated in San Mateo county, California, close to the Mills estate on the El Camino Real (main state highway), and has a frontage of sixteen hundred feet. The tract extends westerly over picturesque rolling ground with the same frontage on the Skyline highway, this being one of the most attractive and desirable locations for homes on the peninsula. Messrs. Moeller and Schultz purchased this property in 1927, and in the following year the first homes began to make their appearance. There are now over two hundred homes constructed, and there are twenty-one stores situated on the state highway, which is considered a most satisfactory growth, with the promise that eventually Millbrae Highlands will have a population of from ten to fifteen thousand people. Mr. Moeller is conducting the sale of this property according to the most modern and ethical methods, with the desires and convenience of his customers the uppermost thought in his mind during all negotiations. In 1926, he incorporated his company under its present title, and at that time took in his two sons as partners. In many ways, the real estate business is more than a business to him. He finds it a hobby and a diversion as well, and the establishment of homes is the paramount pleasure he finds in his labors.
In 1896, Mr. Moeller was married to Miss Annie Kuch, who was born in New York, but came to California with her parents when she was twelve years of age. To Mr. and Mrs. Moeller there have been born three children: Gustave, Jr., Dora, and Henry C. Mrs. Moeller has been a most valuable collaboration with her husband in his business activities, from the days of the delicatessen store to the prosperous years of the real estate period. Mr. Moeller finds his greatest pleasure in the companionship of his family and in the environment of his home. He has been a consistent supporter of civic affairs of benefit to the community, and in politics is a republican. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco, the Real Estate Board of San Francisco and the Insurance Brokers Exchange. Fraternally, he is a member of the Woodmen of the World.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Byington, Lewis Francis, “History of
San Francisco 3 Vols”, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1931. Vol. 3 Pages 256-260.
© 2008 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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