{"nrhp_refnum":"72000229","name":"Catholic-Protestant Chapels, Veterans Administration Center","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Eisenhower Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Los Angeles","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":34.05496350000004,"lon":-118.45626028099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-02-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Two back-to-back chapels combined in a single wood-frame building (Building #20) on the Veterans Administration grounds at Sawtelle, Los Angeles, designed by architect J. Lee Burton and built in 1900.","why_significant":"The nomination cites the chapels as an exuberant example of the shingle style, examples of which are described as rapidly disappearing from cities. The fanciful building gives the Veterans Administration grounds historical depth and continuity with later building styles.","narrative":"Two chapels, one Protestant and one Catholic, share a single wood-frame building on the Veterans Administration grounds at Sawtelle in Los Angeles. Designed by Los Angeles architect J. Lee Burton, it was dedicated in March 1900 and cost $14,000 to build. Large gables on the exterior mark the two chapel spaces inside. The Protestant Chapel faces Wilshire Boulevard and has an arched portico, a balustraded balcony, a square belfry tower and a smaller tower with a pyramidal roof. The Catholic Chapel has an east entrance with an open-arched belfry and steeple. Wood siding, shingles and abundant scroll-saw ornament are painted white. A fire in 1955 damaged the front, and rebuilding included plywood reinforcement and closing the balcony. Restoration cost far less than a new chapel and spared the building from demolition. The nomination values it as a lively example of shingle-style design, a type becoming rare in cities, and as a link in the architectural history of the grounds.","period_of_significance":"20th Century (built 1900)","architect_builder":"J. Lee Burton, Los Angeles architect","architectural_style":"Shingle Style, with Carpenter's Gothic scroll-saw ornament","criteria":[],"status_note":"Marked as good condition and altered; the balcony was closed and the structure strengthened after a 1955 fire. The form checks government and religious use.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:32.145603-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/72000229.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000229/1ed9390da3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000229/1ed9390da3-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Los Angeles","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Catholic-Protestant_Chapels,_Veterans_Administration_Center.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Los Angeles</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:Catholic-Protestant_Chapels,_Veterans_Administration_Center.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"14000926","name":"West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/california/west-los-angeles-veterans-affairs-historic-district-14000926/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859017","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadsworth_Chapel","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7959336"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/catholic-protestant-chapels-veterans-administration-center-72000229/"}