{"nrhp_refnum":"85003269","name":"Fuller, Peter, Building","other_names":["Cadillac Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"808 Commonwealth Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brookline","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.35036755500005,"lon":-71.10473610899999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-10-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national","state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story Indiana limestone automobile showroom at 808 Commonwealth Avenue, Brookline, Massachusetts, built in 1927 for Cadillac and designed by Albert Kahn of Detroit.","why_significant":"The nomination cites it as one of the few Boston-area buildings designed by Albert Kahn, a leading industrial architect of the 20th century. It is also tied to the automobile's rise and to \"Automobile Row\" on Commonwealth Avenue. It is described as the largest automobile showroom in the area and retains most of its architectural integrity.","narrative":"Built in 1927 at 808 Commonwealth Avenue in Brookline, this five-story limestone building was a Cadillac showroom, sales and repair facility, later long home to the Peter Fuller Cadillac dealership. It stood at the gateway of \"Automobile Row,\" the Boston area's center for car sales and service from the 1920s through the 1960s. Detroit architect Albert Kahn, best known for industrial plants for Ford, Packard and other automakers, designed it. Here he used a more elaborate classical treatment, with fluted pilasters, rosettes, an entablature and anthemion ornament, to make a showplace for a luxury car. Large showroom windows light the lower floors, and a granite band wraps the base. It was considered the largest automobile showroom in the area and kept most of its architectural integrity. It was listed as one of few Kahn-designed structures in the Boston area and as a marker of the automobile's transportation revolution.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Albert Kahn (Detroit); built by the Cadillac Auto Company","architectural_style":"20th C. \"Classical\"","criteria":["A","B"],"status_note":"Owned by Boston University, which plans adaptive re-use intended to preserve its architectural integrity.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.260231-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/14/7927/63792714/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/85003269.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003269/c7e5d82ab2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003269/c7e5d82ab2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peter_Fuller_Building,_Brookline_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</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:Peter_Fuller_Building,_Brookline_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792714","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Fuller_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7174114"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/fuller-peter-building-85003269/"}