{"nrhp_refnum":"88000978","name":"St. Francis by-the-Sea American Catholic Church","other_names":["St. Francis Cathedral Chapel","American Catholic Church","The Ch"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"430 Park Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Laguna Beach","county":"Orange County","state":"CA","lat":33.541966467000066,"lon":-117.78284709299999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-06-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A very small church at 430 Park Avenue in Laguna Beach, California, built in 1933-34 from rubble of the Long Beach earthquake. Percy Wise Clarkson designed it and built it with his followers as a bishop's church.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that it represents early 20th-century American interest in Eastern philosophy, occultism and Theosophy, which shaped alternative religious movements. It is tied to Bishop Percy Wise Clarkson, who introduced Theosophy into American Catholic belief. It is also an example of many design styles combined into one unified building, and it survives almost entirely in its original appearance.","narrative":"Squeezed onto a lot measuring 25 by 60 feet, this Laguna Beach church has an interior of only 1,008 square feet, yet it has the features of a cathedral, including sanctuary, nave, side aisle and choir loft. Percy Wise Clarkson, a former Episcopal priest who became a bishop of the American Catholic Church, designed it, and he and his followers built it in 1933-34 from rubble of the Long Beach earthquake. Salvaged brick and colorful ceramic tile decorate the stucco exterior, which blends Mediterranean Revival, Romanesque, Gothic, Byzantine and Craftsman elements. Inside, painted beams carry Eastern and Christian symbols. The church was listed for its role in the Theosophy-influenced religious movements of early twentieth-century California, for its link to Clarkson, and for its unusually well-preserved original appearance. A 1982 restoration changed little. Today's congregation holds traditional Christian beliefs, while the building preserves its earlier Theosophical character.","period_of_significance":"1933-1938","architect_builder":"Clarkson, Percy Wise (designer); architect unknown","architectural_style":"Mediterranean Revival, Romanesque, Craftsman (also Gothic and Byzantine elements)","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Active congregation still using the church; a restoration was carried out in 1982 and the building is largely unaltered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.230748-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/88000978.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88000978/a9823e0085-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88000978/a9823e0085-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"SGT9hJGI","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Francis_by_the_Sea.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">SGT9hJGI</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:St._Francis_by_the_Sea.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860348","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Francis_by-the-Sea_American_Catholic_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7588036"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/orange-county/st-francis-by-the-sea-american-catholic-church-88000978/"}