{"nrhp_refnum":"83001194","name":"Gano, Peter, House","other_names":["Holly Hill House (Lookout Cot.)"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"718 Crescent Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Avalon","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":33.34283833400008,"lon":-118.32308850899994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-09-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story Queen Anne style house, also called Holly Hill House, on a bluff overlooking Avalon Bay at 718 Crescent Avenue, Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, California. Peter Gano began building it in 1888 and finished it in 1890.","why_significant":"The house is tied to the development of Avalon as a vacation resort during the land speculation that followed the transcontinental railroad's arrival in Southern California. It is the third oldest surviving home in Avalon and the island's most outstanding example of Queen Anne architecture, noted for its craftsmanship and detailing. It is one of few homes left from the earlier development period before the 1915 fire and the 1920s Spanish Colonial Revival rebuilding.","narrative":"Perched on a bluff above Avalon Bay on Santa Catalina Island, this three-story Queen Anne house was built between 1888 and 1890 by Peter Gano, a Midwestern civil engineer and skilled woodcarver who retired to the island from Pasadena. No architect is recorded; Gano likely adapted a pattern book design. He made much of the interior woodwork, exterior trim, two cisterns and a sundial himself. The basement is local stone set with shells and Indian artifacts, and a circular cupola crowns the wood upper floors. Materials came from the mainland on his sailboat and were hauled uphill by a horse-powered pulley. The house is the third oldest surviving home in Avalon and the island's finest Queen Anne example, and one of few survivors from the resort's first building boom. The Giddings family bought it in 1921 and renamed it Holly Hill House. A 1964 fire damaged the cupola roof, and the present owner has since restored the house with period furnishings.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899, 1900- (specific date 1890)","architect_builder":"Peter Gano (builder-owner); no architect recorded","architectural_style":"Queen Anne","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied private residence in excellent condition, under ongoing restoration to its turn-of-the-century appearance; used as a vacation home and open for guided group tours by appointment.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.630662-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/83001194.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001194/188f868531-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001194/188f868531-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Brewbooks","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Holly_Hill_house,_Avalon,_California.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Brewbooks</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Holly_Hill_house,_Avalon,_California.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859133","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Gano_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q65043792"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/gano-peter-house-83001194/"}