{"nrhp_refnum":"10000115","name":"William Shipsey House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1266 Mill St","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Luis Obispo","county":"San Luis Obispo County","state":"CA","lat":35.28582786900006,"lon":-120.65010306999994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-03-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Law","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story wood-frame Late Victorian house at 1266 Mill Street in San Luis Obispo, California, built in 1894 and designed by architect Hilamon Spencer Laird for attorney William Shipsey.","why_significant":"The house is tied to William Shipsey, a local lawyer and mayor who helped guide the city through change, including the siting of what became Cal Poly. It is also an excellent example of local design and craftsmanship with Queen Anne and Eastern Stick features by architect Laird and builder Maino & Moore.","narrative":"Built in 1894 at the corner of Mill Street and Johnson Avenue in San Luis Obispo, this two-story redwood-sided house blends Queen Anne and Eastern Stick styling. Architect Hilamon Spencer Laird designed it, and the Maino construction firm built it for attorney William Shipsey. Its exterior shows fish-scale and decorative shingles, carved brackets, a mansard-roofed front porch and an original carved redwood front door. Inside, the floor plan survives, along with eleven-foot ceilings, fir floors, lincrusta wall coverings, and combination gas and electric light fixtures. A recent restoration repaired deterioration from deferred maintenance, and a new carriage-house-style garage was added at the rear. Shipsey served as city attorney and mayor, helped bring California Polytechnic School to San Luis Obispo, and lived here until his death in 1922. The house was listed for his local importance and as a well-preserved example of Laird's work and local craftsmanship from the 1890s.","period_of_significance":"1894 - 1922","architect_builder":"Laird, Hilamon Spencer, Architect; Maino & Moore, Builder; Waite & Ryan, Mill Work","architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Queen Anne, Stick/Eastlake","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Recently restored; the original exterior features and interior floor plan remain intact. A new non-contributing garage/carriage house stands at the rear. Used as a single dwelling.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.557512-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/10000115.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000115/67fcb09883-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000115/67fcb09883-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"KristenTinsley","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shipsey_house_1.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">KristenTinsley</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:Shipsey_house_1.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861483","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shipsey_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14684266"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-luis-obispo-county/william-shipsey-house-10000115/"}