{"nrhp_refnum":"85001327","name":"Elliston","other_names":["Elliston Vineyards"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"463 and 341 Kilkare Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sunol","county":"Alameda County","state":"CA","lat":37.601186889000076,"lon":-121.89032474399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-06-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Politics/Government","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A cluster of six buildings on about 9.5 acres at 463 and 341 Kilkare Road, Sunol, Alameda County, California, centered on a three-story Richardsonian Romanesque sandstone mansion completed in 1890 as the estate of Henry Hiram Ellis.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the stone mansion's distinctive architecture and the lifestyle of the pioneer Ellis family make the estate worth preserving. Captain Ellis was a Gold Rush arrival, early San Francisco vigilante committee member and detective, and the city's first popularly elected Chief of Police. The estate also kept its original water system, stone flume and family houses.","narrative":"Elliston is a hillside estate in Sunol, Alameda County, made up of six buildings on about 9.5 acres. Its centerpiece is a three-story Richardsonian Romanesque mansion of rusticated sandstone, finished in 1890, with walls tapering from 32 to 22 inches thick and bay-like windows with window seats. Stone was quarried in nearby Niles Canyon and carved by hand on site. Henry Hiram Ellis, a Gold Rush arrival who became San Francisco's first popularly elected Chief of Police, built the estate after retiring and named it for the family homestead on Cape Cod. Houses for his children, a carriage house, a reservoir, a cistern and a stone-lined flume were added. The property later served as a nursing home for about forty years before restoration of the main house began in 1969. The architecture and the pioneer family's story are the reasons given for its listing.","period_of_significance":"1885-1890","architect_builder":"Henry Hiram Ellis","architectural_style":"Richardsonian Romanesque","criteria":[],"status_note":"Main house in use as a residence, with plans to use its lower floors for winery functions; outbuildings used as rentals and storage, and the carriage house awaiting conversion to a winery. Condition listed as good.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.068384-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/85001327.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85001327/0c69cb4773-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85001327/0c69cb4773-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"MARELBU","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sunol,_CA_USA_-_Eliiston_Vineyards_(built_1890)_-_panoramio.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">MARELBU</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sunol,_CA_USA_-_Eliiston_Vineyards_(built_1890)_-_panoramio.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"10000843","name":"Niles Canyon Transcontinental Railroad Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/california/niles-canyon-transcontinental-railroad-historic-district-10000843/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858212","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133258257"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/alameda-county/elliston-85001327/"}