510 Lockehaven St
Pasadena, CA 91105, USA

James Fielding Cosby House - National Register of Historic Places

Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph

The James Fielding Cosby House, built in 1893, is a locally significant example of the Queen Anne subtype of the single-family residence property type identified in the Multiple Property Documentation Form “Late 19"^/Early 20‘Century Development and Architecture in Pasadena.” It meets registration requirements listed in the Multiple Property Documentation Form under National Register Criterion C as a notable example of the Queen Anne subtype of the single-family residence property type. The house is also an important example of the work of a prominent regional architect, William O. Merithew.

Narrative Statement of Significance

The James Fielding Cosby House is exceptional as an example of high style Queen Anne architecture as applied to a single-family house. It retains an outstanding degree of integrity on its primary and side elevations, where, apart from the loss of colored glass transoms and portions of the front and side porches, nearly all of the ornamental and character defining features are intact. The setting, though non-historic, enhances the historic character of the house by surroundings it with mature plantings and trees; moreover, the scale and the setback of the house are congruent with the overall feeling of the neighborhood, which has a large inventory of historic dwellings. This house appears as though it were originally constructed on the site.

The house meets the registration requirements in the Multiple Property Documentation Form “Late 19th / Early 20th Century Development and Architecture in Pasadena” under Criterion C. As noted, it is a locally rare and notable example of high style Queen Anne architecture, which has retained an extraordinary amount of its profuse ornamentation, wall materials, fenestration, roof forms, and other defining features of the style. As a picturesque composition of late nineteenth-century design, the house has high artistic value and embodies the distinctive characteristics of Queen Anne style domestic architecture.