The Presidio’s Mother Tree
The Story Behind the Tunnel Tops Benches
Before becoming some of the most recognizable custom benches at San Francisco’s Presidio Tunnel Tops, these monumental timbers began as a fallen Monterey Cypress deep within the Presidio itself.
In January of 2022, the Tunnel Tops project team coordinated the removal of an extraordinary Monterey Cypress tree estimated to be more than 130 years old. Measuring nearly six feet in diameter at its base and standing over 90 feet tall, the tree had fallen years earlier down a steep embankment within one of the Presidio’s historic residential districts while the site was still an active U.S. Army base.
Due to the scale of the tree and the complexity of its location, the operation required extensive coordination between multiple Presidio departments, including crane access planning, road and trail closures, tree preparation, and trucking logistics. The massive tree was ultimately removed in two sections weighing more than 40,000 pounds combined.
Rather than allowing the historic cypress to be discarded, the Presidio initiated a larger effort to reclaim and preserve Monterey Cypress trees originally planted by the Army generations ago and now reaching the end of their natural lifespan.
The salvaged logs were transported to Marshall, California where they were rough sawn before returning to the Presidio for curing and long-term fabrication use.
Gizmo Art Production was selected to fabricate three custom large-scale benches from these historic trees for the Presidio Tunnel Tops project. Each bench measures over 90 feet in length and transforms the reclaimed Monterey Cypress into permanent public furnishings designed for generations of visitors to experience.
The benches serve not only as functional gathering spaces, but also as physical connections to the Presidio’s layered history — preserving material from the landscape itself and giving new life to one of San Francisco’s historic trees.
Today, thousands of visitors interact daily with these monumental benches, often unaware that the wood beneath them once stood towering over the Presidio for more than a century.
Fabricated and installed by Gizmo Art Production, Inc., San Francisco, California.
Photo by Joe Rosato Jr. / NBC Bay Area
