{"nrhp_refnum":"86000592","name":"Ramona Street Architectural District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"518--581 Ramona St. and 255--267 Hamilton Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Palo Alto","county":"Santa Clara County","state":"CA","lat":37.44488326100003,"lon":-122.16135443599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-03-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small historic commercial district of eight buildings along Ramona Street (518 to 581 Ramona and 247 and 255 to 267 Hamilton) just south of University Avenue in downtown Palo Alto, California, planned and built between 1924 and 1938.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the district is an architecturally unified group of 1920s Period Revival buildings with no intrusions and few alterations. Monterey Colonial, Spanish Colonial Revival and some Craftsman elements give the street a cohesive, human-scale character reminiscent of an untutored Spanish village. The buildings were designed by Pedro de Lemos, Birge Clark and William H. Weeks.","narrative":"Ramona Street in downtown Palo Alto holds a compact group of eight commercial buildings put up between 1924 and 1938, just south of University Avenue. Their heights run from one to four stories, and they share stucco walls in muted colors, Spanish tile roofs, arches, balconies, wrought iron and decorative glazed tile. Most are Monterey Colonial or Spanish Colonial Revival, with Craftsman woodwork in several interiors and exteriors. Designer Pedro de Lemos and architects Birge Clark and William H. Weeks created the buildings, some for specific tenants such as a dress shop, a savings and loan and a men's clothing store, and others for the Palo Alto Improvement Company. The Cardinal Hotel, with its classical details, is the one stylistic exception, yet it balances the four-story Medico-Dental building at the corner of Hamilton Avenue. The district was recognized for its unified character, the absence of intrusions and the sensitive handling of later changes, giving the block the feel of a Spanish village.","period_of_significance":"1924-1938","architect_builder":"Designer Pedro de Lemos; architects Birge Clark and William H. Weeks; builders include Wells Goodenough and Damant and Son, Contractors","architectural_style":"Monterey Colonial and Spanish Colonial Revival, with Craftsman details; the Cardinal Hotel has Classic/Neo-Classical elements","criteria":[],"status_note":"Buildings are described as in good to excellent condition, occupied, with minimal alterations; one building at 518-522 Ramona was undergoing remodeling and seismic upgrading at the time of the form.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.165261-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/86000592.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000592/086da99405-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000592/086da99405-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Eugene Zelenko","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USA-Palo_Alto-555-581_Ramona_Street-1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Eugene Zelenko</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USA-Palo_Alto-555-581_Ramona_Street-1.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861768","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramona_Street_Architectural_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14683727"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/santa-clara-county/ramona-street-architectural-district-86000592/"}