Norris House
historic place
The Norris House, a historic place in Palo Alto's Santa Clara County, stands at 1247 Cowper Street. It was built in 1927 for Kathleen and Charles Gilman Norris. Both were novelists; Kathleen Norris was once the highest-paid female author in the United States. Architect Birge Clark designed the house in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. This was Clark's largest and most elaborate design. The house features white stucco, a tile roof, and handcrafted ironwork. In 1949, the Diocese of San Francisco purchased the property, using it as the Newman Center for Stanford University. The house returned to private ownership around 2000. The Norris House was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 24, 1980. It remains a notable example of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in Palo Alto.