Nazareth House Chapel

245 Nova Albion Way
San Rafael

Nazareth House was built in the Terra Linda district of San Rafael in 1962.  It is one of four retirement homes in California established by the Poor Sisters of Nazareth.  The first was founded as an orphanage in San Diego in 1924.  The others are in Fresno and Los Angeles.

The Poor Sisters of Nazareth were organized in 1851 in London and expanded throughout the British Isles, then to South Africa, Australia, and the United States.

The Terra Linda site of Nazareth House became available through the joint efforts of the Poor Sisters of Nazareth, the dairy farmer who was developing his property, and a local real estate broker, all of whom worked together to make the project feasible.

The residences and the chapel were designed by architect Vincent Buckley of San Francisco.

The stained glass windows in the chapel were started in 1964 by Carl Huneke, Century Stained Glass Studio in San Francisco.  Mr. Huneke completed eight of the double clerestory windows in the chapel before his death in 1972.

The four remaining clerestory windows and the rose window over the chapel entrance were probably created by Dombrink Studio of Oakland about 1980.

The five windows in the small chapel off the sanctuary were completed in 1994 by Nick Lukas, John Lukas Studio-Church Art Glass, San Francisco.

The donors of the windows are listed in the plaque at the entrance of the chapel.