{"nrhp_refnum":"09000379","name":"Jacques Marchais Center of Tibetan Art","other_names":["Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"338 Lighthouse Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Staten Island","county":"Staten Island","state":"NY","lat":40.57818870700004,"lon":-74.13755409899994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-05-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Art","Landscape Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Tibetan-style museum complex at 338 Lighthouse Avenue on Lighthouse Hill, Staten Island, New York, created by Jacques Marchais between 1921 and 1948. It has a fieldstone library and museum, three meditation cells, terraced Samadhi Garden, and the Marchais house and garage.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the site embodies the life work of Jacques Marchais, who built a monastery-inspired retreat for her collection of Tibetan and Himalayan art. It is listed for its association with her (Criterion B) and for its Himalayan-style architecture and landscape design (Criterion C). The buildings and garden retain a high degree of integrity from their 1948 peak.","narrative":"Perched on a steep slope of Lighthouse Hill in Staten Island, this complex was created by Jacques Marchais as a hillside retreat modeled on Himalayan mountaintop monasteries. Two flat-roofed fieldstone buildings, a library and a museum, are set into the slope below street level. They were laid up by local stonemason Joseph Primiano and have trapezoidal window surrounds, wood porches and a copper pagoda-style roof inspired by the Potala in Lhasa. Three stucco meditation cells and a terraced Samadhi Garden with stone walls, stairways and a lotus pond complete the design. Marchais built the garden in stages between 1921 and 1948 and filled the buildings with Tibetan and Himalayan art and a research library. The institution was incorporated as an educational organization in 1945. The nomination recognizes Marchais and the unusually intact site she designed. Her former house, now altered, is included but not considered contributing.","period_of_significance":"1921-1948","architect_builder":"Marchais, Jacques; Primiano, Joseph (stonemason)","architectural_style":"Other: Himalayan style","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"The library and museum are in use as a museum with administrative offices and a gift shop. The meditation cells are deteriorated but contributing, and the buildings have suffered chronic moisture problems. The Marchais house is altered and non-contributing.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.616698-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/09000379.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000379/328ab82214-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000379/328ab82214-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Jim.henderson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marchais_Museum_LH_Av_jeh.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Jim.henderson</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marchais_Museum_LH_Av_jeh.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321361","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Marchais_Museum_of_Tibetan_Art","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2740892"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/staten-island/jacques-marchais-center-of-tibetan-art-09000379/"}