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Norris House

Coordinates: 37°26′33″N 122°8′57″W / 37.44250°N 122.14917°W / 37.44250; -122.14917
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Norris House
Norris House is located in California
Norris House
Norris House is located in the United States
Norris House
Location1247 Cowper St., Palo Alto, California
Coordinates37°26′33″N 122°8′57″W / 37.44250°N 122.14917°W / 37.44250; -122.14917
Arealess than one acre
Built1927 (1927)
Built byGoodenough, Wells
ArchitectClark, Birge
Architectural styleSpanish Colonial Revival
NRHP reference No.80000859[1]
Added to NRHPJuly 24, 1980

The Norris House is a historic house located at 1247 Cowper St. in Palo Alto, California. The house was built in 1927 for Kathleen Norris, a novelist and columnist who was once the highest-paid female author in the United States, and her husband Charles Gilman Norris, also a noted novelist. Kathleen Norris' novels featured female characters who represented her ideals of motherhood and moral virtue; her columns appeared in major magazines and included both short stories and advice columns. Charles Gilman Norris wrote novels which touched on contemporary social issues and served as Kathleen's agent.[2]

In 1949, the Diocese of San Francisco purchased the house to serve as the Newman Center for Stanford University. Around 2000 the house was sold into private hands again.[3]

Architect Birge Clark designed the Spanish Colonial Revival house. At the time, the house was Clark's largest and most expensive design. The house's layout features several one- and two-story sections surrounding a patio. The house is built from white stucco with a tile roof; handcrafted ironwork and woodwork is used in the beams and decorations.[2]

The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 24, 1980.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b Boghosian, Paula; Beach, John (May 31, 1979). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Norris House". National Park Service. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  3. ^ "Catholic Community at Stanford, History". Retrieved April 28, 2016.