{"nrhp_refnum":"84001643","name":"Viola Courts Apartments","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"4845 Swiss Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Dallas","county":"Dallas County","state":"TX","lat":32.80134302300007,"lon":-96.77102236799999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-01-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story, 12-unit brick apartment building at 4845 Swiss Avenue, on the northeast corner of Swiss and Fitzhugh avenues in east Dallas, Texas, built in 1923 and designed by Antonio Guidera.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the best intact example of the middle- and upper-middle-class apartment blocks built in east Dallas after 1916, and the earliest local building of its type to survive unaltered. It was built as a luxury transitional building near the Swiss Avenue and Munger Place developments. Its exterior and original interior fittings remain intact.","narrative":"Viola Courts is a three-story brick apartment block with 12 units at the corner of Swiss and Fitzhugh avenues in east Dallas. Built in 1923 and designed by contractor Antonio Guidera, it consists of two rectangular blocks joined by a narrow central hall with porches. Black glazed brick simulating quoins stands out against orange brick on the two street-facing elevations, with cast-stone trim and a classical cornice. Inside, the lobby staircase shows Craftsman detailing, and the apartments have French doors, tan-brick gas fireplaces, cedar-lined closets, oak floors and sea-green bathrooms with maroon Art Deco patterns. The building was placed near the prestigious Swiss Avenue and Munger Place developments to attract well-off tenants at a time when apartment living was only beginning to gain acceptance in Dallas. Residents included professionals, retirees and several prominent Dallasites. It is regarded as the most elaborate early apartment block in the area and the only pre-1925 east Dallas example with both exterior and interior intact.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Antonio Guidera","architectural_style":"Eclectic mixture of Revival styles with Craftsman details and a vernacular interpretation of Art Deco","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as virtually unaltered, with original interior fittings surviving; the form's status box marks it as both occupied and unoccupied.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.464721-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/37/9716/40971637/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/84001643.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84001643/cfc4b3201c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84001643/cfc4b3201c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Viola_Apartments.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Renelibrary</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:Viola_Apartments.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"74002068","name":"Swiss Avenue Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/swiss-avenue-historic-district-74002068/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971637","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110000408"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/dallas-county/viola-courts-apartments-84001643/"}