The Cope Row Houses, built in late 1894 for William T. Cope, represent a rare and well-preserved example of attached rowhouse construction, a building type seldom found in the American West. These homes constitute the only row houses in Santa Cruz and part of a small group of such structures in Northern California. Outside San Francisco, the row house form was and is seldom used; even in San Francisco, the model townhouse or row house is structurally detached from its neighbors.

The Cope Row Houses are in excellent structural condition, retain a high degree of integrity of design, and continue in their original use as single-family rental housing.

Excerpted from the NRHP Nomination.