{"nrhp_refnum":"81000143","name":"First Unitarian Church","other_names":["University Dance Studio"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2401 Bancroft Way","address_restricted":false,"city":"Berkeley","county":"Alameda County","state":"CA","lat":37.868627995000054,"lon":-122.26116834499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1981-12-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small brown-shingled former church at 2401 Bancroft Way on the University of California campus in Berkeley, designed by Albert C. Schweinfurth and built in 1898.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it was an important early building of San Francisco Bay Region architecture, expressing the 'building with nature' ideas of the Worcester-Maybeck-Keeler-Hillside Club circle. It is Schweinfurth's only known surviving work in the area in essentially original form and the second oldest building on the campus. It also housed a congregation with ties to Berkeley's artists and intellectuals.","narrative":"Built in 1898 at 2401 Bancroft Way in Berkeley, this brown-shingled building was designed by Albert C. Schweinfurth for the First Unitarian congregation. It has a wide, low gabled roof, a large round window of amber glass, porch columns made of redwood logs with the bark left on, and a barn-like sanctuary with exposed dark timber trusses. Its design reflects the Bay Tradition of building with natural local materials and avoiding ornament, an approach tied to Joseph Worcester, Bernard Maybeck and Charles Keeler's Hillside Club, whose members included many congregation members. The church is Schweinfurth's only known surviving work in the area in essentially original form. The congregation held its last service here in 1961, when the University of California bought the property. The building now serves as a university dance studio, with mirrors added to the interior walls, and it is surrounded by later campus buildings. It remains the second oldest building on the campus.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899 (specific date 1898)","architect_builder":"Albert C. Schweinfurth","architectural_style":"Bay Tradition / rustic redwood 'Simple Home' style (Arts and Crafts influenced)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the Regents of the University of California and occupied, used as a university dance studio; the interior has been emptied but the structure and shape are not significantly altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.23703-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/81000143.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000143/6dabe61b30-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000143/6dabe61b30-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Unitarian_Church_(Berkeley,_CA).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:First_Unitarian_Church_(Berkeley,_CA).JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858218","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Unitarian_Church_(Berkeley,_California)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5453941"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/alameda-county/first-unitarian-church-81000143/"}