{"nrhp_refnum":"78001933","name":"Church of St. Lawrence","other_names":["Basilica of St. Lawrence","See Also:79001676"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"97 Haywood St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Asheville","county":"Buncombe County","state":"NC","lat":35.59749958800006,"lon":-82.55632426499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-03-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["national","state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A monumental brick Catholic church at 97 Haywood Street in Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina, built 1905-1909 and designed largely by Rafael Guastavino Sr., with a rectory added in 1929.","why_significant":"The church is a dramatic example of Guastavino's \"cohesive construction,\" seen in its self-supporting tile-and-mortar elliptical dome spanning 58 by 82 feet. It is executed in a Beaux-Arts interpretation of Spanish Baroque, reflecting the architect's Spanish origins. It was completed by his son after his death in 1908.","narrative":"Rising above Haywood Street in Asheville, the Church of St. Lawrence is a three-story brick Catholic church with an elliptical plan, twin tile-domed towers and a Spanish Baroque character interpreted through Beaux-Arts design. Spanish-born architect Rafael Guastavino, who kept a summer home near Black Mountain, offered to build it after attending Mass in the small wooden church that preceded it. Its broad nave dome, spanning 58 by 82 feet, is made of structural tile and gypsum mortar without interior supports, a technique Guastavino called cohesive construction. He died in 1908, and his son Rafael Guastavino Jr. finished the building, which was dedicated in 1909. Inside are polychromed terra cotta altar pieces, a Lady Chapel sheathed in blue tile, and the elder architect's crypt. A rectory built in 1929 is joined to the church by a colonnaded passage. The church remains in active use and was renovated in 1968.","period_of_significance":"1905-1909, renovated in 1968","architect_builder":"Raphael Guastavino, Sr. & Jr.","architectural_style":"Beaux-Arts interpretation of the Spanish Baroque","criteria":[],"status_note":"The church is still in active use; condition listed as excellent and altered (renovated).","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:56.927719-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/18/7192/47719218/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/78001933.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001933/7f8bf17b0c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001933/7f8bf17b0c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Elisa.rolle","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Basilica_of_St._Lawrence,_Asheville_(1).JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Elisa.rolle</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:Basilica_of_St._Lawrence,_Asheville_(1).JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"79001676","name":"Downtown Asheville Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/downtown-asheville-historic-district-79001676/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719218","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_St._Lawrence,_Asheville","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4867387"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/buncombe-county/church-of-st-lawrence-78001933/"}