{"nrhp_refnum":"93001020","name":"Hard, Roswell Butler, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"815 W. First St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Antioch","county":"Contra Costa County","state":"CA","lat":38.01712573200007,"lon":-121.81675003699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1993-09-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, T-shaped Italianate red brick house at 815 West First Street in Antioch, Contra Costa County, California, begun in 1867 and completed in 1869 by Roswell Butler Hard, with a historic fence and cistern on the property.","why_significant":"The house was the home of Antioch's first mayor, Roswell Butler Hard, and hosted the first meetings of the town's Board of Trustees in 1872. It is also described as a good example of Italianate architecture and the town's only example of that style. It is one of the oldest buildings in the county.","narrative":"Built of locally made hard red brick, this two-story Italianate house at 815 West First Street in Antioch was begun in 1867 and finished in 1869 by Roswell Butler Hard, a builder, rancher, county supervisor and sheriff. At the time it was the only dwelling in town made of the local brick. The T-shaped house has a low-pitched hip roof, a bracketed wood cornice and tall double-hung windows. Inside, decorative plaster cornices and ceiling medallions survive in the central hall and two eastern rooms, along with redwood trim and oak fireplaces. The grounds include a historic iron fence, a domed cistern that is the only one known to remain in Antioch, and plantings, some dating to the nineteenth century. Hard became Antioch's first mayor after incorporation in 1872, and the Board of Trustees met in the front parlor. The house was also used for civic, social and Masonic meetings. It is the town's only Italianate example and is listed for architecture and politics and government.","period_of_significance":"1869-1888","architect_builder":"Hard, Roswell Butler, Builder","architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Current function is listed as vacant, not in use. The house is described as largely close to its original appearance, with a verandah removed in the 1920s and a rear addition probably from the 1920s.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:26.792413-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/93001020.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93001020/b4db771cff-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93001020/b4db771cff-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roswell_Butler_Hard_House_(Antioch,_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:Roswell_Butler_Hard_House_(Antioch,_CA).JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858532","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell_Butler_Hard_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7370097"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/contra-costa-county/hard-roswell-butler-house-93001020/"}