{"nrhp_refnum":"07001469","name":"Colombo Building","other_names":["Drexler Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1-21 Colombus Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Francisco","county":"San Francisco","state":"CA","lat":37.79553036800007,"lon":-122.40341991899999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-01-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story plus basement Classical Revival commercial building at 1-21 Columbus Avenue in San Francisco's North Beach/Chinatown area, built in 1913 on a triangular gore lot at Columbus Avenue and Washington Street. It was designed by James and Merritt Reid (Reid Brothers) for Elise Drexler.","why_significant":"The building is nominated under Criterion B for its close connection to Elise A. Drexler (1866-1951), a wealthy widow, philanthropist and property developer who challenged gender roles in the Progressive Era. A lawsuit over her late husband's will, involving the property on which the building stands, led to a 1916 State Supreme Court decision that freed her to sell the property. The building is described as the only surviving artifact of that episode.","narrative":"Built in 1913 on a narrow triangular lot where Columbus Avenue meets Washington Street in San Francisco, this two-story commercial building was designed by the Reid Brothers for financier Elise Drexler. It has a reinforced concrete frame, cement plaster walls scored to resemble stone, and Classical Revival detailing including fluted Ionic columns and a rounded corner at the tip of the lot. Shops occupy the ground floor, with offices along a central corridor above and a parking garage added in the basement in 1924. Many storefronts, windows and partitions have been changed over the decades, but most of the original character remains. The building is recognized for its link to Drexler, a wealthy widow and philanthropist whose legal fight over restrictions in her husband's will, involving this property, ended in a 1916 State Supreme Court decision. It is the only surviving structure from that episode.","period_of_significance":"1913-1919","architect_builder":"Architects: Reid Brothers; Builder: McDonald & Kahn","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["B"],"status_note":"Retains a relatively high level of physical integrity despite alterations; ground-floor shops, offices upstairs and a basement parking garage remain in use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.596364-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/07001469.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07001469/eb4f79488c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07001469/eb4f79488c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colombo_Building_(San_Francisco).JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Sanfranman59</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colombo_Building_(San_Francisco).JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861081","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombo_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q115177367"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-francisco/colombo-building-07001469/"}