{"nrhp_refnum":"92001612","name":"Howell House","other_names":["Leighton House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"103 W. Eighth St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Escondido","county":"San Diego County","state":"CA","lat":33.11497697900006,"lon":-117.07696656499996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1992-11-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story wood and shingle Victorian single-family house at 103 West Eighth Street in Escondido, San Diego County, California, built in 1887. It sits on a hill overlooking the valley and is also known as the Leighton House.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is an excellent local example of Queen Anne, Eastlake and Second Empire styles combined, and says it has the only mansard roof remaining in Escondido. It also notes its age as one of the city's oldest houses and its ownership by several prominent local residents, including the Howell family.","narrative":"Built in 1887 on a hill in Escondido, this two-story Victorian house combines Queen Anne, Eastlake and Second Empire details. Its tall mansard roof, clad in wood shingles with a decorative band of rounded shingles, is the only one remaining in the city. A rounded entry porch set into the L-shaped plan was designed to take in views of the valley, and it carries sawn ornament, turned posts and a patterned balustrade. Tall narrow windows with molded lintels and dormers cut into the mansard reinforce the 1880s character. Only small changes have been made: a French door, a stained glass window and an early enclosure of a back porch. The house was listed for its architecture, as a rare local blend of three nineteenth-century styles, and for its history. Owners included a minister of the First Congregational Church, a customs inspector, and Zora Howell, a jeweler and widow of a pioneer Escondido family member, who lived there until 1973.","period_of_significance":"1887","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Queen Anne, Second Empire, Eastlake","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used as a single dwelling; the form describes it as well preserved, with minor alterations to a French door, a stained glass window and an enclosed back porch.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.951211-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/92001612.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92001612/453b4bbce2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92001612/453b4bbce2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Anechka2003","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Howell_House_in_Escondido,_CA.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Anechka2003</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:Howell_House_in_Escondido,_CA.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860888","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5754251"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-diego-county/howell-house-92001612/"}