{"nrhp_refnum":"74000541","name":"Semorile Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"975 1st St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Napa","county":"Napa County","state":"CA","lat":38.29921453600008,"lon":-122.28495329299994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-11-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick commercial building at 975 First Street in Napa, California, built in 1888. It was used as a grocery business by the Semorile family and is described as unoccupied at the time of nomination.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the most refined example of Italianate commercial architecture in Napa and a long-standing downtown landmark. It is also tied to the Semorile family, described as prominent in Napa's early mercantile history. The architect is believed to be L. M. Thurton.","narrative":"Built in 1888 on the south side of First Street in downtown Napa, this two-story brick commercial building combines red brick with white stone trim. The ground floor has ornate cast iron columns, large storefront windows and recessed doors. The upper facade features pilasters, medallions, an ornamental iron balcony, arched windows with decorative keystones, and a stone cornice on scroll brackets bearing the date 1888. Early photographs show no major changes, though two stained glass windows were removed for storage after a theft and four decorative parapet stones were lost. The building was nominated as the most refined Italianate commercial structure in Napa and a longtime downtown landmark. It housed a grocery business run by Bartholomew Semorile and his sons, members of a family that came from Portofino, Italy, to Mariposa in 1855 and moved to the Napa Valley in the 1860s. The architect is believed to be L. M. Thurton. The building was unoccupied when nominated.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date 1888)","architect_builder":"L. M. Thurton (architect, believed)","architectural_style":"Italianate commercial architecture","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as presently unoccupied; condition marked good, with minor alterations noted.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.212448-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/74000541.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000541/65bad28fc4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000541/65bad28fc4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Semorile_Building,_975_1st_St.,_Napa,_CA_9-5-2010_2-37-43_PM.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Sanfranman59</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:Semorile_Building,_975_1st_St.,_Napa,_CA_9-5-2010_2-37-43_PM.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860090","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semorile_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85800329"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/napa-county/semorile-building-74000541/"}