{"nrhp_refnum":"77000283","name":"First Church of Christ, Scientist","other_names":["Christian Science Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2619 Dwight Way","address_restricted":false,"city":"Berkeley","county":"Alameda County","state":"CA","lat":37.86578690950006,"lon":-122.25585370500387,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-12-22","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1977-12-22","areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A church building at 2619 Dwight Way in Berkeley, California, designed by architect Bernard Ralph Maybeck and completed in 1910 for the First Church of Christ, Scientist congregation.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a major work of Bernard Maybeck, built at the request of Christian Scientists who wanted a building inspired by the past but made of contemporary materials. It combines concrete, factory sash, asbestos panels and redwood with Gothic, Japanese, Byzantine and Romanesque detailing. It is described as a high point of Maybeck's career.","narrative":"This church on Dwight Way in Berkeley was designed by Bernard Maybeck and completed in 1910. A group of congregation members asked him for a church that looked like a church and used honest materials. Maybeck responded with industrial and local products: cast concrete, factory sash windows, red asbestos panels and redwood. He drew on four historic traditions. Gothic appears in the window tracery and the gold-painted trusses, Romanesque in the fluted columns topped with carved figures of carollers, Byzantine in the painted decoration and brackets, and Japanese in the portico roof, trellises and timber work. The plan follows a Greek cross, with hinged trusses spanning the nave and forced-air ducts hidden in the truss columns. The nomination treats the building as a high point of Maybeck's career and a rare, sculptural example of eclectic design that draws visitors from far away. It remains in use as a church and in excellent condition.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific date 1910)","architect_builder":"Bernard Ralph Maybeck (1862-1957)","architectural_style":"Eclectic, combining Gothic, Romanesque, Byzantine and Japanese influences","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition marked excellent and altered; occupied and in religious use. Also designated a Berkeley City Landmark in 1975.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.531231-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/77000283_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000283/4203f362cc-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000283/4203f362cc-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Coro","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Church_of_Christ_Scientist.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Coro</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:First_Church_of_Christ_Scientist.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123857877","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Church_of_Christ,_Scientist_(Berkeley,_California)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5452668"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/alameda-county/first-church-of-christ-scientist-77000283/"}