{"nrhp_refnum":"82001188","name":"Casa Italina","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1151-1161 Amsterdam Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.807455591000064,"lon":-73.96032731099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-10-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Casa Italiana is a six-story neo-Italian Renaissance institutional building at 1151-1161 Amsterdam Avenue on Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus in Manhattan. It was built in 1926-27 as a center for Italian studies.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant as an important part of Columbia University and as the home of the school's first Italian Club, founded in 1914. It is also a superb example of neo-Renaissance design by William Kendall of McKim, Mead & White. It serves as a cultural center for Italian studies, concerts, conferences and interdepartmental events.","narrative":"Casa Italiana is a six-story institutional building on Amsterdam Avenue at 117th Street, on Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus. Designed by William Kendall of McKim, Mead & White and built in 1926-27, it was conceived as a center for Italian studies. Its rusticated limestone base, quoins, tall arched second-story windows, modillioned cornice and hipped tile roof with an arched loggia reflect the neo-Italian Renaissance style. Inside are a vaulted entrance hall, a second-story theatre with a coffered ceiling, and a three-room library. The building grew from an Italian Club founded by students at Columbia in 1914, later the Circolo Italiano. Italian-American communities raised funds, Paterno Bros. offered to build it, the architects worked at cost, and Columbia donated the site. Although outside the original campus master plan, it keeps the cornice line of the older buildings. It houses Columbia's Italian department and hosts concerts, conferences and seminars.","period_of_significance":"1926-27","architect_builder":"William Kendall of McKim, Mead & White","architectural_style":"Neo-Italian Renaissance","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied, privately owned, and in educational and entertainment use; condition is good and altered, with most original features retained.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:42.069295-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/82001188.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001188/ba8f1536ba-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001188/ba8f1536ba-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Beyond My Ken","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2014_Columbia_University_Casa_Italiana_1161_Amsterdam_Avenue.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Beyond My Ken</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:2014_Columbia_University_Casa_Italiana_1161_Amsterdam_Avenue.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319346","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_Italiana","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5047836"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/casa-italina-82001188/"}