{"nrhp_refnum":"76000497","name":"Lyford's Stone Tower","other_names":["Lyford's Tower-The Stone Tower-The Castle-Stone Lodge"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2034 Paradise Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Tiburon","county":"Marin County","state":"CA","lat":37.87344557400007,"lon":-122.44918173299999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-12-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Health/Medicine","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A circular cut-sandstone tower with a wooden conical-roofed superstructure, on a rocky promontory along Paradise Drive in Tiburon, Marin County, California, overlooking Raccoon Strait. It was built about 1889 by Dr. Benjamin Lyford.","why_significant":"It is the only surviving tangible reminder of Lyford's Hygeia, the first subdivision on the Tiburon Peninsula, planned around ideas of health and sanitation. The nomination also cites its simplified Richardson Romanesque design in local stone as a rare early stone structure. It has long served residents and visitors as a landmark and overlook.","narrative":"Perched on a rocky point above Raccoon Strait on Paradise Drive in Tiburon, this round sandstone tower was built about 1889 by Dr. Benjamin Lyford. It served as a gatehouse and office at the entrance to the southern part of Lyford's Hygeia, the first subdivision on the Tiburon Peninsula. The development was themed around health, and its streets followed the land's contours rather than a grid. The tower originally had a battlemented stone base, a wooden upper section under a low conical roof, and a stone archway over the road leading to a small companion tower. The arch and small tower were removed when the road was widened in the 1920s, and the second floor was later lost to weather and vandalism. Gustav Behrnd is named as architect, based on local accounts. An architectural historian describes the design as simplified Richardson Romanesque in local stone. It is the lone survivor of Lyford's pioneering venture and remains a local overlook.","period_of_significance":"c. 1889","architect_builder":"Dr. Benjamin Lyford, Builder; Gustav A. Behrnd, Architect","architectural_style":"Simplified Richardson Romanesque (Richardsonian)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is listed as fair and altered. The interior is stripped of fittings except the fireplace, and the archway, the small tower and the second floor were removed. Present use is marked as unoccupied and as an overlook.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.363358-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/76000497.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000497/1ee258051e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000497/1ee258051e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Frank Schulenburg","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lyford%E2%80%99s_Stone_Tower.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Frank Schulenburg</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lyford%E2%80%99s_Stone_Tower.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859688","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133305393"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/marin-county/lyfords-stone-tower-76000497/"}