{"nrhp_refnum":"77001190","name":"Sansom Row","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"3402--3436 Sansom St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.95339596600007,"lon":-75.19255252599999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-12-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Sansom Row is a row of eighteen houses in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, near the University of Pennsylvania campus, built in 1869-1871 in the Second Empire style. Sixteen houses are faced in rough brownstone and the westward end buildings in common Philadelphia brick.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the row is significant for its architecture, notably the higher-quality brownstone facades and imbricated mansard shingles that set it apart from typical red brick rows of the city. It also cites the row as one of the last survivors of the post-Civil War housing boom, its association with a notable range of residents, and its role as a contrasting element in the University of Pennsylvania campus environment.","narrative":"Eighteen row houses built between 1869 and 1871 in Philadelphia, near the University of Pennsylvania, make up Sansom Row. Sixteen of the houses are faced in rough-textured brownstone laid as random ashlar, and the westward end buildings are faced in common Philadelphia brick. The houses are built in mirror-image pairs sharing a party wall, with paired doorways and continuous bracketed cornices. Their Second Empire detailing includes round-arched doorways, segmentally arched windows with projecting keystones, heavy bracketed cornices, and mansards pierced by round-headed dormers. The row is regarded as significant for its architecture, especially the brownstone facades and imbricated mansard shingles, which distinguish it from the typical red brick rows of the city. It is also considered one of the last surviving examples of the post-Civil War building boom in the region. Residents over the years included Madame Elena Blavatsky, founder of the Theosophists, and stone carver John M. Gessler.","period_of_significance":"1869-1871","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Second Empire","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Interiors have been much changed, converted into apartments, and some have been modernized; the row retains its essential character as a row.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.538476-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/77001190.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001190/6395ea8c81-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001190/6395ea8c81-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"See below","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WTP_A05_youcanlookitup_2.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">See below</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:WTP_A05_youcanlookitup_2.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997002","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sansom_Row","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7419025"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/sansom-row-77001190/"}