Footprints Dedicated to Preserving and Promoting Historic Resources in the Truckee Meadows Through Education, Advocacy and Leadership
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FootPrints Dedicated to Preserving and Promoting Historic Resources in the Truckee Meadows through Education, Advocacy and Leadership. vol. 15 no. 4 Fall 2012 The HRPS Harvest of Homes Tour 2012 Saturday, September 29, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm Research and Article by Debbie Hinman, Photographs by Emily Rogers uilding on two successful years of home tours, we are back for a third year with six more exciting Bhomes on display. They range from large and elabo- rate to small and tastefully simple, but they have two things in common: they all reflect the tastes and personalities of those who own them and they are all located in the Old Southwest part of Reno. What follows is a brief overview of the homes. For more in-depth history and descriptions, please purchase a ticket and receive a program that will reveal the historical and architectural detail, as well as a little about the lives of those who inhabited them. 1000 Plumas Street This graceful Queen Anne is our oldest home on the tour, circa 1911, and the only one without regular live-in owners. It is known as Plumas House and is rented out to those wishing a longer-term stay in Reno and preferring comfortable surroundings in a graceful, homey atmosphere to a standard vacation rental or condominium. It has a fascinating history of famous inhabitants, a remodel by a pre-eminent local architect, and a first life as a home for “women in distress.” Plumas House is owned by Anthony and Nancy Palladino. 575 Ridge Street Designed in 1927 by Frederic J. DeLongchamps for Edward Chism of the Chism Dairy and Ice Cream Company, this lovely Tudor Revival sits on a quiet, shady street in a lovely old neighborhood south of Court Street. It is clad in the rich, deep red brick that is so characteristic of the old Reno neighborhoods. The elegant entrance is arched and the home displays Tudor half-timbering. Careful examination reveals a porch high above the entry, nearly hidden from view. Owners Mercedes de la Garza and Scott Gibson are longtime HRPS members and Scott is the tour guide for the Newlands Neighborhood Tour. Continued on page 2 1 historicreno.org FootPrints Vol. 15 No. 4, Fall 2012 The HRPS Harvest of Homes Tour 2012 (continued) Continued from page 1 640 California Avenue This lovely home is a Tudor Revival style, but clad in stucco rather than brick. It has a fabulous double entry that creates a small, hidden courtyard in between. Built by William and Catherine Wagner in 1929, the owners soon moved on to a larger home on nearby Marsh Avenue. Now owned by Neil and Roberta Ferguson, the home has been very gracefully enlarged to the rear, but the Fergusons have maintained the wonderful curb appeal of the original structure. The furnish- ings are tastefully understated so the lines of the house are displayed to their best advantage and the front door is a work of art. 716 S. Arlington Avenue This small Tudor Revival home is a gem in a neighborhood of eclectic designs. Constructed of both local and imported brick, the home was completed in June of 1931 and billed in local newspapers as “Mayfair, the finest furnished model home that has ever been opened in the City of Reno.” It was called an “English design home” and was decorated in eigh- teenth-century appointments. Owned by local realtor Craig Sweeney, the home is set off by a beautiful garden in front and a picket fence. Its current furnishings are a lovely blend of quality antiques and striking art pieces. 775 California Avenue This stately mansion, by design reminiscent of Mount Vernon, was built in 1939 on three lots by retired government employee and mahogany baron Irving Dexter. Dexter reportedly had come from the Philippines to sit out World War II in a secure location. Popular local architect Ed Parsons Sr. designed the home. The style is Neoclassical, a style characterized by a full- height front porch supported by classical columns. Parsons made a return engagement in 1948 to design a separate guest- house and pool for the estate. Current owners Stephen and Beth Brennan purchased this landmark Reno home in 2000 and carried out a major remodel and addition in 2001. 1080 Mount Rose Street This fabulous structure, our fourth Tudor Revival home is clad in brick with half-timbering, and is obscured behind an impressive gate and numerous trees. In the early 1950s, the home was owned by Sam and Edith Ginsburg of Ginsburg Jewelers. In 1955, it was purchased by the University of Nevada to serve as the University President’s residence. The first President to inhabit the new residence was Dr. Minard Stout. This lovely estate later became the home of well-known couple Rollan and Marilyn Melton. Current owners are Victoria Hines and UNR Professor Dr. Eric Rasmussen, so the university connection has been re-established. A pair of stone lions guard the entry of the home. 2 FootPrints Vol. 15 No. 4, Fall 2012 historicreno.org Volunteering at the HRPS Harvest of Homes Nevada Historical Society Tour 2012 Details Would you like to assist the Nevada What: Historical Society (NHS) and its HRPS third Reno Harvest of Homes Tour professionals by volunteering as a docent? Docents perform vital When: work in all areas of the historical Saturday, September 29, 2012 society including in the galleries from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. as tour guides, in the outreach services to area schools, in the Why: research library, artifacts, manuscript, and Tour the interiors and gardens of six distinguished photography collections, and in the front office and homes in Reno’s Old Southwest neighborhood museum stores. To become an NHS Docent you complete a 4-hour training How: program, a minimum of two workshops, and attend at Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 on day of Tour. least three lectures. You must become a member of the Tickets are available online at historicreno.org, or Nevada Historical Society and the Docent Council and at retail outlets through September 28: Sundance work a minimum of 48 hours per year. Bookstore, St. Ives Florist, Ryrie's Art and Home, Ince Jewelers, Zephyr Books and L’Uva Bella Wine Gallery. The next docent training will be Thursday, September Retail outlets accept cash or checks only. 27 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Nevada Historical Tickets on sale beginning August 23. Society, 1650 North Virginia Street, Reno, NV 89503. For information, please call 688-1190, and ask for Shery. Volunteers Needed for Home Tour: You can email Sue Oddo, President of the Docent Council Two shifts available. Volunteer for one shift and get free at [email protected] for information about admission to all of the homes. Contact Jean at 746-5219 being a docent. or [email protected] Home Tour Funds Support Neighborhood Preservation Fund While we’re gearing up for the improve the curb appeal and the volunteers. We would like to thank third Reno Harvest of Homes Tour, look of older neighborhoods. We Jack Hursh, who heads the strong we like to think about the “good” focused on exteriors and projects panel of local experts in history, that comes from the tour. Some that were authentic and in keeping architecture and construction. He is aspects—the happy attendees, the with the original architectural style ably supported by Mella Harmon, proud homeowners, the capable of the building. Melinda Gustin, Barrie Schuster, volunteers—are apparent on the day Lee Johnson, Cindy Ainsworth and of the event. But there’s an on-going We have now completed two Mercedes de la Garza. community benefit from the Home funding cycles and will announce Tour that extends beyond the day it’s the four recent recipients of the Look for a future announcement held. We call it the Neighborhood most recent cycle in the next issue of a new funding cycle. If you want Preservation Fund (NPF). of FootPrints. The applications have to take a peek at our past Grant been diverse, from grand public Guidelines, refer to the HRPS website From the beginning, the Home Tour buildings like the First United at historicreno.org and go to the was conceived to generate income Methodist Church to homes in “Search” tab and enter “Preservation for this new HRPS venture. It was the Wells Avenue, Southwest Reno Fund.” And in the meantime, grab a way to express our commitment and University neighborhoods. some friends to enjoy the Home to preservation by creating a way We’ve helped with windows, doors, Tour. The more attendees, the bigger to provide mini-grants for home foundations and light fixtures. the pool of money to allocate for improvement and rehabilitation of preservation! historic (over 50 years) buildings in Like all of our operations, the Reno. The goal was—and still is—to NPF process is directed by capable 3 historicreno.org FootPrints Vol. 15 No. 4, Fall 2012 Literary Reno by Charlotte Voitoff, HRPS Tour Guide hen I was asked to take over the night—glazed eyed drunks, crazed Halfway Club, the Coney the Literary Reno tour, I was eyed derelicts, empty eyed tourists—on Island, St. Mary's, the El Whonored. It combines two of the sidewalk and in the streets, shuf- Cortez and other famil- my great loves—books and buildings. fling nowhere." Ross says he "fit right iar landmarks. "I got Nancy Manfredi, my co–tour leader, in." I know his late-night Reno exists, dressed, combed my hair feels the same. She has lived here all her but I'm more comfortable in other and shaved, put on my life and shares priceless recollections places he frequents—Washoe Valley coat and took the dog of places and events as we walk along.