{"nrhp_refnum":"90000120","name":"Mills, Robert, Dairy Barn","other_names":["Burleigh H. Murray Ranch"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Higgins Purissima Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Half Moon Bay","county":"San Mateo County","state":"CA","lat":37.45565934900006,"lon":-122.38943580479503,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-02-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A district in Half Moon Bay, San Mateo County, California, centered on the Robert P. Mills dairy barn, an English-style bank barn built from 1889 to 1893, with a bunkhouse, a stone culvert, an arched bridge and retaining walls along Mills Creek.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the barn combines English bank barn design with Italian stonemasonry in a California setting. It is the only identified English bank barn in California and one of very few farm structures of its size in San Mateo County. It also reflects Robert Mills's role in the growth of Half Moon Bay and uses an iron-rod tension system that may be unique.","narrative":"On a hillside near Half Moon Bay, a redwood dairy barn built for English-born entrepreneur Robert P. Mills in 1889-1893 stands on a sandstone foundation laid by Italian stonemason G.B. Martini. It follows the English Lake District bank barn form, with wagon roads on the uphill side to deliver hay into the loft. Originally 200 feet long and able to house 100 cows, it lost about 35 feet of its southern end between 1917 and 1925. Its platform frame is held in tension by vertical iron rods, a method experts consulted for the nomination had not seen elsewhere in the United States. The listed area also includes a bunkhouse, a covered stone culvert, an arched stone bridge, retaining walls along Mills Creek and the remains of a grainery basement. The property was listed for architecture, for its link to Mills, who helped promote local development, and for its place in the area's dairy history. It is now a state park unit and is not in use.","period_of_significance":"1889-1897","architect_builder":"Mills, Robert P.; Martini, G.B.; Mills, Charles","architectural_style":"Other: English Bank Barn","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Listed current function is vacant/not in use; the property is a park unit of the California Department of Parks & Recreation. About 35 feet of the barn's southern end was lost between 1917 and 1925.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.86448-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/90000120.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861536","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-mateo-county/mills-robert-dairy-barn-90000120/"}