{"nrhp_refnum":"94001007","name":"Black, Mary C. W., Studio House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"556 Abrego St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Monterey","county":"Monterey County","state":"CA","lat":36.59698504000005,"lon":-121.89286907299999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-08-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story reinforced-concrete studio house at 556 Abrego Street in Monterey, California, built in 1930 for and designed by the artist Mary C.W. Black, with a garden court, a connected former servants quarters and a gardener's shed.","why_significant":"It is significant under Criterion C in architecture as one of the best remaining residential examples of the Monterey substyle of Spanish Colonial Revival on the Monterey peninsula. It shows a high level of craftsmanship by local artisans and retains remarkable integrity. It is also described as the work of a trained artist who fitted new construction into the historic setting of old Monterey.","narrative":"Built in 1930 at 556 Abrego Street in Monterey, this two-story reinforced-concrete house served as the painting studio of artist Mary C.W. Black. It follows the Monterey substyle of Spanish Colonial Revival, with two-foot-thick stucco walls, a low side-gabled wood shingle roof and a full-width cantilevered second-story balcony. Inside, a tall north-facing studio window lights a double-height room with a concrete fireplace and a gallery. Wrought iron work, much of it by Monterey blacksmith Robert Petersen, and high garden walls with arched gates add to the character. A former servants quarters was joined to the house in 1964, and a gardener's shed on the lot is counted as noncontributing. The house is significant as one of very few good residential examples of its substyle on the Monterey peninsula, and it keeps its original design, setting and materials. Black sited it carefully between two historic adobes and laid brick sidewalks that survive.","period_of_significance":"1930","architect_builder":"Black, Mary C.W./Ruthven, Sidney","architectural_style":"20th Century Revival/Spanish Colonial Revival (Monterey Revival)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The main house and former servants quarters are in office use; the property was rehabilitated in 1989 and has been carefully maintained.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.047901-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/94001007.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94001007/a1b3f70d4a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94001007/a1b3f70d4a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jeffrey Beall","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mary_C._W._Black_Studio_House.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Jeffrey Beall</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:Mary_C._W._Black_Studio_House.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859891","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_C._W._Black_Studio_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14683289"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/monterey-county/black-mary-c-w-studio-house-94001007/"}