{"nrhp_refnum":"87001852","name":"Berkeley Apartments","other_names":["Graystone Hotel"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"24 Johnson Park","address_restricted":false,"city":"Buffalo","county":"Erie County","state":"NY","lat":42.89192756300008,"lon":-78.87618492999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-10-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A six-story reinforced concrete apartment building at 24 Johnson Park on the northern edge of downtown Buffalo, New York, built 1894-1897 and known since 1911/1912 as the Graystone Hotel.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is one of the earliest large multi-story buildings in the United States built with reinforced concrete, and probably the first large-scale example in the eastern United States. It was designed by Carlton T. Strong with engineer Ernest L. Ransome. It combined modern construction with a traditional Italian Renaissance stone-like appearance typical of the 1890s.","narrative":"Six stories tall and built of reinforced concrete, this Buffalo apartment building at 24 Johnson Park was constructed between 1894 and 1897 as the Alabama Apartments, later the Berkeley, and eventually the Graystone Hotel. Architect Carlton T. Strong and engineer Ernest L. Ransome designed it, and its cast concrete was finished to resemble rusticated and smooth stone in an Italian Renaissance manner. Wood appears only in doors and interior trim. The nomination describes it as one of the earliest large multi-story reinforced concrete buildings in the United States and probably the first of its scale in the East. Its financier, Charles L. Sherrill, planned a far larger building, but financial trouble led to a foreclosure in 1896. A scaled-down version was completed by a different architectural firm, which explains the unornamented eastern section of the rear wall. The Berkeley opened in December 1897 as an apartment hotel. Interior changes in 1964 left original scagliola, mosaic floors, iron stairs and oak woodwork in the public spaces.","period_of_significance":"1894-1897","architect_builder":"Ernest L. Ransome/Carlton T. Strong","architectural_style":"Italian Renaissance","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied and in private residential use at the time of the form; interior altered in 1964 but public spaces retain original materials.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:44.969447-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/87001852.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001852/6b87564065-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001852/6b87564065-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pubdog (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Berkeley_Apts_Jun_09.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Pubdog (talk)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Berkeley_Apts_Jun_09.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317546","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Apartments_(Buffalo,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4891978"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/erie-county/berkeley-apartments-87001852/"}