{"nrhp_refnum":"78000801","name":"Old Petaluma Opera House","other_names":["The Maclay Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"147--149 Kentucky St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Petaluma","county":"Sonoma County","state":"CA","lat":38.23488083900003,"lon":-122.641974173,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-12-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick commercial building at 147 and 149 Kentucky Street in downtown Petaluma, Sonoma County, California, built in 1870 as an opera house and remodeled in 1901 as an office building. It is commonly called the Maclay Building.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is notable for its elaborate pressed sheet metal facade, which it calls the most extensive use of sheet metal in Petaluma that retains architectural integrity. It is presented as an important example of a prefabricated sheet metal construction method. It also preserves the original roof trusses of the 1870 opera house.","narrative":"Located on Kentucky Street in downtown Petaluma, this two-story brick building began as an opera house in 1870, financed by a group of investors called the Washington Hall Association at a cost of $25,000. Its original stone facade was Italianate. The hall hosted concerts, lectures, dances and plays until about 1900, and Mark Twain is known to have spoken there. In 1901 new owner Adolph Bloom hired local architect Brainerd Jones to convert it into offices with a large hall upstairs and a store below. A pressed sheet metal front in Eastlake style, with paired columns and an ornate cornice, was added then, and cast iron pilasters came from a San Francisco foundry. The seven roof trusses from 1870 remain in place. The facade is described as the most elaborate sheet metal front in the area. Thomas Maclay bought the building in 1927, giving it its common name. It still holds a furniture store and upstairs offices.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"S. H. Williams & Son of San Francisco (original 1870 architects); Brainerd Jones (1901 remodel); construction supervised by Captain W. Neill and W. J. Nap","architectural_style":"Eastlake Style with Beaux Arts influence (sheet metal facade); original facade was Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied: houses a furniture store on the ground floor with offices and a hall upstairs.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:32.257813-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/78000801.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000801/f8880219dd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000801/f8880219dd-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Petaluma_Opera_House,_147-149_Kentucky_St.,_Petaluma,_CA_5-31-2010_6-45-34_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:Old_Petaluma_Opera_House,_147-149_Kentucky_St.,_Petaluma,_CA_5-31-2010_6-45-34_PM.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"95000354","name":"Petaluma Historic Commercial District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/california/petaluma-historic-commercial-district-95000354/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123862100","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Petaluma_Opera_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7084726"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/sonoma-county/old-petaluma-opera-house-78000801/"}