Mission District House of Latin Rock moves toward landmark protection

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors formally initiated landmark designation for the House of Latin Rock at 2880 25th St. at York Street, putting Richard Segovia’s Mission District home on a path toward city protection. The step would recognize not only the building itself, but also the painted façade that turns the house into a public record of the neighborhood’s Latin rock history.

Segovia grew up in the house after his family bought it around 1963, and the resolution ties the property directly to the Mission’s rise as the birthplace of Latin rock. It says the genre was popularized there in the 1970s by Carlos Santana, Malo, Sapo and Azteca, making the home part of a larger cultural map that stretches from a family residence to one of San Francisco’s defining music scenes.

The house has long functioned as more than a place to live. The landmark report says it served as a recording studio, art studio, rehearsal space and home for artists, while Segovia’s band Pura Bandido began in 1979. It also says artist Michael Rios created work there in the 1990s, including the environment where the cover art for Santana’s Supernatural was created.

The mural on the exterior was painted in 2017 by youth artists from Precita Eyes’ Urban Youth Arts Program. Mission Local reported that the work includes portraits of about 87 Latin rock artists, turning the block at 25th and York into an open-air tribute to the Mission’s musical lineage. Landmark status would give the house more formal protection against changes that could alter or erase that distinctive appearance.

The city’s preservation process still requires public hearings before the Historic Preservation Commission and the Board of Supervisors, followed by a majority vote from the board and the mayor’s signature. SF Planning says the Historic Preservation Commission has prioritized properties reflecting underrepresented communities since 2012 and adopted a racial and social equity resolution in 2020, placing the Mission Latine music landmark squarely within that approach. If approved, the house would join some of San Francisco’s best-known protected properties while anchoring a local history that longtime residents have spent decades trying to keep visible on the street.