{"nrhp_refnum":"97001663","name":"Hotel St. Matthew","other_names":["Wisnom Hotel"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"215-229 Second Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Mateo","county":"San Mateo County","state":"CA","lat":37.56791336100008,"lon":-122.31431566699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-01-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story unreinforced brick hotel at 215-229 Second Avenue in downtown San Mateo, California, built between 1901 and 1906 by Robert Wisnom and originally called the Wisnom Hotel.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the best surviving early twentieth-century hotel in San Mateo and embodies the characteristics of that building type. It retains a high level of integrity and is the only three-story structure within several blocks. It also served rail travelers and contributed to the commercial growth of the downtown near the station.","narrative":"Hotel St. Matthew is a three-story brick hotel on Second Avenue in downtown San Mateo, built between 1901 and 1906 by Robert Wisnom and first known as the Wisnom Hotel. Its south facade has four projecting octagonal bay windows, brick quoining, a dentilled cornice and an original iron-and-glass entrance awning. The style is late Victorian with some Classically inspired elements. Located two blocks from the train station, it first served travelers arriving by rail and later motorists on the main road from San Francisco. The Wisnom family owned it into the 1950s, and it was renamed sometime between 1908 and 1920. Its significance rests on its architecture and its role in the town's commercial growth. It is the best remaining early twentieth-century hotel in San Mateo and the only three-story building within several blocks. The building survived the 1906 earthquake and later shocks, and the upper floors now provide single room occupancy housing.","period_of_significance":"C. 1901-1906","architect_builder":"Architect Unknown - Builder Wisnom, Robert","architectural_style":"Late Victorian","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Described as in good condition overall, with superficial wear and many interior changes; the building has ground-floor retail and restaurant space and upper floors converted to single room occupancy low-income housing.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.63316-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/97001663.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97001663/595f458a99-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97001663/595f458a99-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hotel_St._Matthew,_215-229_Second_Ave.,_San_Mateo,_CA_7-31-2011_8-10-01_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:Hotel_St._Matthew,_215-229_Second_Ave.,_San_Mateo,_CA_7-31-2011_8-10-01_PM.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861516","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133522257"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-mateo-county/hotel-st-matthew-97001663/"}