{"nrhp_refnum":"82002204","name":"McNear, Erskine, B., House","other_names":["McNear House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"121 Knight Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Rafael","county":"Marin County","state":"CA","lat":37.98534555100008,"lon":-122.48011680299999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-01-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce","Economics","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story wood-frame residence with brick and shingle siding at 121 Knight Drive, San Rafael, Marin County, California, built in 1906 and designed by architect Brainerd Jones for Erskine B. McNear.","why_significant":"The house is tied to the McNear family, who strongly influenced the economic development of Marin and Sonoma Counties through real estate, timber, ranching, grain, shipping, railroad and steamship interests. It is also significant as the work of Brainerd Jones, a regionally well-known and prolific architect active from 1898 to 1930. It remains a link to the earlier pastoral landscape of Point San Pedro.","narrative":"Set on a knoll in San Rafael, this three-story wood-frame house was built in 1906 as the headquarters of a dairy ranch belonging to Erskine B. McNear, part of 2,440 acres the McNear family held on Point San Pedro. Architect Brainerd Jones blended Craftsman, Colonial Revival and Shingle elements on an unusually large scale. The first level and foundation use brick and clinker brick from the family's nearby brickyard, with decorative fieldstone, while the upper floors are shingled. Inside, beamed ceilings, natural wood trim and two clinker brick fireplaces survive. The McNears shaped Marin and Sonoma economic life through warehousing, shipping, railroads, steamships, real estate and brick manufacturing. After Erskine McNear died in 1956, surrounding land was subdivided and the house passed to the Episcopal Diocese of California in 1957, which has used it as a community center, parish offices and nursery school. The house still recalls the earlier pastoral landscape.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Brainerd Jones","architectural_style":"Transitional style incorporating Craftsman, Colonial Revival and Shingle elements","criteria":[],"status_note":"The house is occupied and used by a church as a community center, parish offices and nursery school. It remains essentially unaltered, though surrounding residential development encroaches on its setting.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.137413-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/82002204.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82002204/00ef7bb6c5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82002204/00ef7bb6c5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Erskine_B._McNear_House_121_Knight_Dr_San_Rafael_CA_3-21-2010_3-54-27_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:Erskine_B._McNear_House_121_Knight_Dr_San_Rafael_CA_3-21-2010_3-54-27_PM.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859690","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133295559"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/marin-county/mcnear-erskine-b-house-82002204/"}