 He persuaded Willis Polk to go with him to San Francisco, California, and the two were among a number of talented architects who moved from the East Coast at the end of the 19th century and established firms in San Francisco.With his newly established office, his highly regarded upper-class social contacts, a developed East Coast portfolio, and a talented staff that included not only Willis Polk, but Bernard Maybeck and A. C. Schweinfurth, Brown was the favored architect of San Francisco society.His reputation for bringing the most contemporary design aesthetic from the East Coast created the perception that he led the "reorientation of San Francisco architecture from the Victorian to the academic sphere," popularizing the Beaux-Arts style.