{"nrhp_refnum":"96000422","name":"Howard Motor Company Building","other_names":["Acura of Pasadena,California Custom Coach,Inc.,Howard Automo"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1285 E. Colorado Blvd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pasadena","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":34.14637715400005,"lon":-118.12386877199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-04-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Spanish Colonial Revival automobile showroom with an attached service garage at 1285 E. Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, built in 1927 by the Austin Company of California for the Howard Motor Company.","why_significant":"It is locally significant under Criterion A (Commerce) as a well-preserved example of the automobile showroom property type that emerged in Pasadena's early automobile era. It is also significant under Criterion C (Architecture) as an accomplished example of Spanish Colonial Revival style, with a Churrigueresque facade and richly ornamented interior. It remains virtually unaltered from its 1927 appearance.","narrative":"Built in 1927 at 1285 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, this two-story building combines a lavish automobile showroom with a plain service garage behind. The Austin Company of California served as architect and contractor for the Howard Motor Company, a Buick dealership that had outgrown its earlier quarters. The showroom front is finished in smooth cement plaster, with a wide elliptical arch of plate glass and a cast stone Churrigueresque panel of mythical faces, shells, scrollwork and urn-shaped finials. Inside, carved timber trusses, a red tile floor, cast stone coats of arms and two gilded chandeliers decorate the double-height space. The L-shaped garage fronts on North Chester Avenue. The building represents the showroom type common on Pasadena's Colorado Boulevard auto rows, where theatrical design drew attention to the cars and large windows gave a view from the street. It later housed a Packard dealership and remains a showroom today, largely unaltered from 1927.","period_of_significance":"1927-1944","architect_builder":"Austin Company of California (Architect/Builder)","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as an automobile showroom; the building remains virtually unaltered from its 1927 appearance, with some minor changes such as a added sign, infilled mezzanine offices and replaced window framing.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.274097-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/96000422.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000422/68ab7ea5c2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000422/68ab7ea5c2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"TheCatalyst31","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Howard_Motor_Company_Building.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">TheCatalyst31</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:Howard_Motor_Company_Building.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123857512","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Motor_Company_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14682387"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/howard-motor-company-building-96000422/"}