{"nrhp_refnum":"78000777","name":"Villa Mira Monte","other_names":["Hill,Morgan House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"17860 Monterey Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Morgan Hill","county":"Santa Clara County","state":"CA","lat":37.13449409300006,"lon":-121.65726756499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-05-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Villa Mira Monte, also called the Morgan Hill Home, is a one-story white frame house at 17860 Monterey Road in Morgan Hill, Santa Clara County, California. Diana Murphy and Hiram Morgan Hill built it in 1886.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is significant because its builders' lives connected with many figures in the westward settlement of California. It also embodies the style and character of the period just before the 1890s. Few towns carry the full name of their namesake, and fewer still keep a house that the namesake built.","narrative":"Villa Mira Monte, known as the Morgan Hill Home, is a one-story white frame house on Monterey Road in Morgan Hill, California. Diana Murphy and Hiram Morgan Hill built it in 1886 on a rancho Diana inherited from her father, placing it to view Murphy's Peak, with the railroad tracks behind. Built of redwood hauled from Watsonville, it follows a variant of the Victorian stick style. Details include half-timber gable trim in an English Curvilinear pattern, colored glass windows, wide verandahs, and hand-wrought brass door hardware with an Oriental motif. Later changes included removal of the central chimney in the 1930s, when the house served as a funeral parlor, and a roof replacement during World War II. The nomination calls the house significant because its builders were linked to prominent figures in California's settlement, because it reflects the style of the late 1880s, and because few towns retain a house built by their namesake. Morgan Hill's name was given to a nearby railroad stop.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Built by Diana Murphy and Hiram Morgan Hill; architect unknown at this time","architectural_style":"Variant of the Victorian stick style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied private residence, with commercial use also checked; the text mentions an antiques sign. Roof replaced with cedar shingles during World War II.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.612726-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/78000777.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000777/8e300a4594-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000777/8e300a4594-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Villa_Mira_Monte,_17860_Monterey_Rd.,_Morgan_Hill,_CA_9-23-2012_5-18-30_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:Villa_Mira_Monte,_17860_Monterey_Rd.,_Morgan_Hill,_CA_9-23-2012_5-18-30_PM.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861814","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Mira_Monte","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q55757587"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/santa-clara-county/villa-mira-monte-78000777/"}