{"nrhp_refnum":"89000857","name":"Loring House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1730 Spruce St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Berkeley","county":"Alameda County","state":"CA","lat":37.87645214200006,"lon":-122.26563827499996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-07-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small two-story wood frame house with a basement at 1730 Spruce Street in Berkeley, California, built in 1914 and designed by architect John Hudson Thomas for dentist Ernest L. Loring.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house embodies the distinctive characteristics of a period of construction and is the earliest and truest example of Prairie School architecture in Berkeley. It is also a representative work of John Hudson Thomas, a master architect of the Bay Tradition. It retains a high degree of integrity.","narrative":"Built in 1914 at 1730 Spruce Street in Berkeley, this stucco-clad, two-story house with a basement was designed by architect John Hudson Thomas for Ernest L. Loring, a dentist who had served on the Berkeley Board of Education. Its cross-shaped plan, widely projecting roof that appears to float above a ribbon of casement windows, and simple rectangular corner piers mark it as Prairie School work. Geometric wood panels reflect Viennese Secessionist ideas, while the interior of white plaster and natural redwood follows Bay Tradition practice. The nomination calls it the earliest and truest Prairie School house in Berkeley and a highly representative example of Thomas, whose output ranged across many styles in the 1910s. It resembles published Frank Lloyd Wright designs without copying them. The house has changed little apart from a basement apartment, a partly remodeled kitchen, and repainted trim. Only the original lot is included in the nominated property.","period_of_significance":"1914","architect_builder":"Thomas, John Hudson","architectural_style":"Prairie School; Other: Secessionist; Western Stick","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Described as in good condition and very little altered; the basement was later converted to a separate residential unit and the kitchen partly remodeled. Current function is multiple dwelling.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.072889-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/89000857.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000857/d9515e33f8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000857/d9515e33f8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Loring_House_(Berkeley,_CA).JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Sanfranman59</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:Loring_House_(Berkeley,_CA).JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858264","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loring_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q123357867"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/alameda-county/loring-house-89000857/"}