{"nrhp_refnum":"97001658","name":"Hood, William, House","other_names":["California State Historical Landmark No. 692"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"7501 Sonoma Hwy","address_restricted":false,"city":"Santa Rosa","county":"Sonoma County","state":"CA","lat":38.443390656000076,"lon":-122.57780221399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-02-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick mansion built in 1858 by William Hood on the grounds of the Los Guilucos Youth Services Center outside Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California. It was expanded in 1905 to 24 rooms and 6,813 square feet.","why_significant":"The nomination argues significance under Criterion A for its association with the Knights of Pythias fraternal order, which bought the house in 1924 and made it the centerpiece of the California Pythian Home for elderly members. It reflects the early twentieth-century boom in fraternal societies and their role in mutual aid. It is also described as the only known surviving pre-Civil War brick building in Sonoma County.","narrative":"Built in 1858 with bricks fired on site, this two-story mansion near Santa Rosa was the home of early California settler William Hood, who made his fortune building housing for gold miners and later ran a winery at Los Guilucos. Utah Senator Thomas Kearns used it as a summer residence from 1905 to 1918 and added two second-story wings, a dining room and fireplaces, bringing it to 24 rooms. Its design blends New England and Southern Colonial elements, with a one-story porch, square Doric columns, dentils and modillions. The Knights of Pythias bought the property in 1924 and made it the centerpiece of the California Pythian Home for aged members, which operated until 1944, when financial pressures from declining membership forced a sale to the State of California. Its importance rests on that fraternal history and on its status as the county's only known surviving pre-Civil War brick building. Sonoma County acquired it in 1974, and it is currently unused.","period_of_significance":"1924-1944","architect_builder":"Hood, William","architectural_style":"Georgian Revival (New England Colonial and Southern Colonial influences)","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Listed as vacant/not in use; described as relatively good condition but needing seismic retrofitting, plaster and window repairs, and cosmetic refurbishing. Owned by Sonoma County.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.176147-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/97001658.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97001658/3cffea2c31-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97001658/3cffea2c31-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Hood_House,_7501_Sonoma_Hwy,_Santa_Rosa,_CA_6-12-2010_7-19-42_PM.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:William_Hood_House,_7501_Sonoma_Hwy,_Santa_Rosa,_CA_6-12-2010_7-19-42_PM.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123862082","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hood_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8012475"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/sonoma-county/hood-william-house-97001658/"}