{"nrhp_refnum":"66000235","name":"Norris, Frank, Cabin","other_names":["Redwood Retreat"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"10 mi. W of Gilroy off CA 152","address_restricted":false,"city":"Gilroy","county":"Santa Clara County","state":"CA","lat":37.052968142000054,"lon":-121.72720893999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1962-12-29","areas_of_significance":["Literature"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-room, one-story log cabin with a stone-buttressed porch, set among redwoods in the mountains near Gilroy, Santa Clara County, California. The form calls it the \"alleged\" cabin of novelist Frank Norris; no construction date or builder is given.","why_significant":"The cabin is tied to Frank Norris (1870-1902), described as one of the most stimulating and militant early American naturalist writers. His novels McTeague (1899) and The Octopus (1901) are called distinguished landmarks of American literature. Norris bought a ranch near Gilroy in 1902, intending to make it his home, shortly before his death.","narrative":"Deep in the redwoods above Gilroy, California, a two-room, one-story log cabin with a stone-buttressed porch is associated with novelist Frank Norris. The form describes it as the \"alleged\" Norris cabin and reports it unchanged and intact. Near it stands a circular seat of native stone, put up by friends of the writer as a memorial. Reaching the site takes about a mile on a rough private canyon road, then another mile on an unmarked trail up a steep slope. Norris (1870-1902) was a journalist and novelist who studied art in Paris, attended the University of California and Harvard, and became a leading American naturalist writer. His novels McTeague (1899) and The Octopus (1901) are regarded as major works of American literature. In 1902 he bought a ranch near Gilroy, planning to settle there, but died that year. The cabin was recognized for this literary connection.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as unchanged and intact, occasionally used as a private summer residence, and difficult to reach by a two-mile hike.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.260846-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/66000235_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000235/b9c587a9d0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000235/b9c587a9d0-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Louis Sanchez Collection, Oakland, California","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frank_Norris_Memorial,_Redwood_Retreat_Road,_Gilroy_vicinity_(Santa_Clara_County,_California).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Louis Sanchez Collection, Oakland, California</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frank_Norris_Memorial,_Redwood_Retreat_Road,_Gilroy_vicinity_(Santa_Clara_County,_California).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858103","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Norris_Cabin","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5488704"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/santa-clara-county/norris-frank-cabin-66000235/"}