{"nrhp_refnum":"94001501","name":"Hotel Covell","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1023 J St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Modesto","county":"Stanislaus County","state":"CA","lat":37.64118068300007,"lon":-121.00036706499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-12-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story brick, steel and reinforced concrete hotel at 1023 J Street in downtown Modesto, California. The J Street portion was built in 1924 and an L-shaped annex facing 11th Street was completed in 1928.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the hotel is a good vernacular expression of Beaux Arts Classicism with Italian Renaissance influences, and one of the best surviving examples of the style in Modesto. Of the four remaining downtown classical-revival buildings, it is described as the most fully developed stylistically. The upper three stories retain their original massing, windows and ornamental details.","narrative":"Hotel Covell is a four-story hotel on J Street in downtown Modesto, built in two phases. The first section opened in 1924 with 70 guest rooms, eight shops, a theater and a lobby. An annex facing 11th Street, finished in 1928, added 50 rooms and gave the building an L-shaped plan. San Francisco architect A. W. Cornelius designed both parts for rancher and developer George F. Covell, and Hansen and Buchen built them. Steel and reinforced concrete construction is faced with brick, and a plaster cornice with medallions and a dentil band crowns the walls. Inside, the lobby keeps oak wainscoting, two staircases, decorative plaster and part of its terrazzo floor. The building was listed for architecture as a restrained local interpretation of Beaux Arts Classicism, and as one of the best of the few such buildings left in the city. Storefronts were remodeled in the 1950s, and the hotel closed in the 1980s and stands vacant.","period_of_significance":"1924-1928","architect_builder":"Cornelius, A. W. (architect); built by contractors Hansen and Buchen","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th century Revival: Beaux Arts, Italian Renaissance","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Currently vacant; the hotel closed in the 1980s. Ground-floor storefronts were altered in the 1950s, while the upper stories and parts of the lobby and mezzanine remain intact.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.995118-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/94001501.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94001501/615d1fe326-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94001501/615d1fe326-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Jon Roanhaus","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hotel_Covell_NRHP_94001501_Stanislaus_County,_CA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jon Roanhaus</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hotel_Covell_NRHP_94001501_Stanislaus_County,_CA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123862158","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Covell","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q65071509"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/stanislaus-county/hotel-covell-94001501/"}