{"nrhp_refnum":"09000175","name":"Frank, Richard and Mary Alice, House","other_names":["The Frank House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"919 La Loma Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pasadena","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":34.13422638700007,"lon":-118.16969092,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-04-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, post-and-beam single-family house of about 4,700 square feet at 919 La Loma Road in Pasadena, California, built in 1957 on a hillside above the Arroyo Seco and designed by Buff, Straub & Hensman.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is an excellent example of the firm's work and of post-and-beam residential Modernism in Pasadena's recent past. It blends Craftsman and Japanese influences into a Modernist design that responds closely to its wooded hillside site. It is judged to retain its integrity and character-defining features, and is significant at the local level.","narrative":"Perched on a brow above the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena, this 1957 house was designed by the architecture firm Buff, Straub & Hensman for a young businessman, his interior-decorator wife and their three children. The family founded Lawry Foods. At roughly 4,700 square feet, it is one of the firm's largest residential commissions. Its pinwheel plan and six interlocking levels step down a steep, oak-covered slope so that large existing trees could be kept and grading minimized. Exposed timber posts and beams, stucco, wood panels, brick and wide areas of glass express a Modernist post-and-beam approach, with Craftsman and Japanese influences. Furniture by Sam Maloof and John Kappel and a landscape by Eckbo, Dean and Williams complemented the design. Later changes, including a 1980s staircase addition, did not undermine the house's overall integrity. It was listed for its architecture, as an example of the firm's early mastery and of Pasadena's Modernist residential work.","period_of_significance":"1957","architect_builder":"Buff, Straub, and Hensman","architectural_style":"Modern Movement","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still in use as a single-family dwelling; later changes include a 1980s interior staircase addition, a replaced balcony and a partly demolished pool house, but integrity is considered high.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.650391-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/09000175.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000175/3db9085bd8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000175/3db9085bd8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"TheCatalyst31","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Richard_and_Mary_Alice_Frank_House.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">TheCatalyst31</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Richard_and_Mary_Alice_Frank_House.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123857470","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_and_Mary_Alice_Frank_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14683816"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/frank-richard-and-mary-alice-house-09000175/"}