{"nrhp_refnum":"79000554","name":"Falkenstein, Lewis, House","other_names":["Sarter House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"401 S. Gold Street","address_restricted":false,"city":"Yreka","county":"Siskiyou County","state":"CA","lat":41.729880629000036,"lon":-122.64283161799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-12-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Italianate residence at 401 South Gold Street in Yreka, Siskiyou County, California, with an original core dated to 1855 and later additions. It is now used as a small apartment complex.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a rare western example of an Andrew Jackson Downing-inspired \"suburban cottage in the Italian style.\" Its 1873 rear addition also uses the \"gravel wall\" construction method popularized by Orson Squire Fowler. It is also one of about twelve surviving houses from the 1850s in Yreka and is tied to local figures such as the Warren family.","narrative":"Located at 401 South Gold Street in Yreka, this two-story Italianate house dates to 1855 and was built by Lewis Falkenstein, a German-born bricklayer. The first floor is thick stone and mud mortar coated with penciled cement, while the upper story is brick with penciled stucco under a low hip roof. Its form closely resembles a design in Andrew Jackson Downing's 1850 book on country houses. An 1873 rear addition, made for the Warren family, used poured gravel and lime walls coated in cement, a method promoted by Orson Squire Fowler. Later changes include a 1942 stoop, 1949 and 1963 additions, and conversion to apartments by the Sarter family. The house is one of about twelve surviving homes from the 1850s in Yreka. Its original rectangular core and the 1873 gravel wall construction remain intact, and the landscaped gardens that once surrounded it are gone.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Builder Lewis Falkenstein, a bricklayer (architect unknown)","architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in good condition; used as an apartment house, with alterations from 1873 to 1979 and a porch under construction at the time of nomination.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:32.265136-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/79000554.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000554/b1b85a2306-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000554/b1b85a2306-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"NoeHill","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Falkenstein_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">NoeHill</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:Falkenstein_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861971","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133544297"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/siskiyou-county/falkenstein-lewis-house-79000554/"}