Family Bike Tour of the Historic Buildings of Downtown Reno

START FROM GORDON AVENUE
1 30 Nixon Mansion 631 California Italian villa built by U.S. Sen. George S. Nixon in 1908.  In 1920, it was bought by Mrs. William Johnston, daughter of U.S. Sen. Francis Newlands and granddaughter of Sen. William Sharon.  The last years of her life she managed the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, which she inherited from Sharon.  The 33-room mansion has 19,000 square feet, excellent proportions, classical details, a heavy tile roof, and solariums.
2 no-number Payne House 745 California In 1938, Ed Parsons, Sr. designed for J.C. Penney executive Frank Russell Payne the English Tudor next to the home of his father-in-law, George C. Steinmiller.   Payne's flamboyant wife, Hazel, wrote "The Mystery of the Well Dressed Corpse" under the pen name of Greer Gay.  Set in Reno, the story was published in 1953. 
3 no-number Steinmiller House 761 California Built in 1921 for $12,000 by dentist George C. Steinmiller.    Jack Dempsey once rented the house and put a sparring ring in the side yard.   Steinmiller's daughter, Helen, married architect Ed Parsons, Sr., who designed many commercial and residential buildings in northern Nevada.
4 31 Dexter-McLaughlin Mansion 775 California Built in 1939 by mahogany baron Irving Dexter, who had come from the Philippines to sit out World War II in a secure location.  John "Mac" McLaughlin, an FBI agent who came to Reno in the 1920s to investigate gangsters laundering money in Reno banks, bought the mansion in 1943.  Designed by F.J. DeLongchamps, the Colonial has a separate guest house, a simple rectangular plan and a large, open portico along the length.  The Federal entrance is flanked by side lights and headed with a fan light at the top.
5 32 The Castle 825 California Built by Mrs. William Johnston, who also owned the Nixon Mansion.  It was designed as a guest house and often accommodated the Johnston's children and grandchildren.  The French country house is laid out on six levels and was built of heavy native stone by Italian stone masons
6 1 McKinley Park School 925 Riverside Designed by George Ferris in the Spanish/Mission style.  It was one of the city's first one-story schools.  It is one of the foour elementary schools built in Reno around the turn of the century called the "Spanish Quartet".
7 2 The Dow House 935 Jones Built in 1907-1908 by Lisle Jamison in the Colonial Revival style with Queen Anne influences.  In 1932, it was a popular rooming house for divorce seekers.

cross Riverside to look up, across river, at the back of the Newlands Mansion (#29)
8 8 Lora J. Knight House 615 Jones Built in 1931 in Colonial Revival style to accommodate Knight's guests traveling to Vikingsholm, her mansion on Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe.  The two-story house has six-over-six windows and dormers.
9 7 Lear Theater 501 Riverside Built in 1938, this Neoclassic building was designed by Paul Revere Williams, the recipient of the NAACP's highest award, the Springarm Medal.  His other designs include the Los Angeles International Airport and the Palm Springs Tennis Club.   The building has an irregular cross plan, raised above the surrounding landscape.   The walls, chimney and foundation are finished with a light gray stucco.  A decorative pediment accentuates the center set of the doors.
10 12 20th Century Club 335 W. First Built in 1925 for the Reno's first women's club, organized in 1894.   Designed by Fred M. Schadler. The club provided a forum for solving political issues as well as for educational seminars and social events, including dances and wedding receptions. It was the first prestigious women's club in the area, whose membership of one thousand read like the "Who's Who" of Reno. The women continued to meet here until 1986. The rectangular brick building is a variation of the Prairie School with some Classical Revival design. It has brick over a wood panel structure and a foundation of brick and stone. There is a mixture of hip and shed roof forms covered by a parapet. Twin double hung windows, six over one, are set into the flanking facade windows. The windows have a border of brick with shoulder courses above the headers. The arched windows complement the formal design.
11 14 First United Methodist Church 201 W. First One of Reno's first poured-concrete structures.  The church has a cross plan typical of Gothic Revival churches.  Built in 1925, it gains its cultural importance as one of Reno's earliest churches.
12 20b Colonial Apartments/
Vintage House		 118/123 W. First Built in 1907, this important historic resource is Reno's first large apartment structure.  It was built and owned by C.E. Clough, the organizer of Reno's first power company, the first water system in Sparks, and the Reno Press Brick Company.   Its decorative elements include a projecting cornice with brackets and a central entrance with Ionic columns.

continue up West St. to Commercial, turn right, then down Sierra to 2nd Street
13 18b El Cortez Hotel 239 W. Second Designed by the architectural firm of George Ferris and Son, it gains its primary significance from its Art Deco style.  It was built in 1931 and was the tallest structure in Reno at that time.  Foliated motif and terra cotta ornaments enliven the ground floor level above the window openings, around the main entrance and the steep belt course that separates the second and third stories.
14 19b Reno Masonic Hall/Reno Mercantile Company 98 W. Commercial Row Built in 1872, it is the oldest extant commercial building in Reno.   The upper story served as the hall and the first floor was the Reno Mercantile Company from 1895 to 1970.  This Victorian building, with Romanesque Revival and Italianate elements, represents a type of structure that was common during Reno's nineteenth century past.
15 13 St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral, Rectory and School 310 W. Second The cathedral was built in 1907 and uses Renaissance, Classical and Baroque motifs.  The school and rectory were designed by F.J. DeLongchamps and were built in 1931.  Their institutional design differs greatly from the ornate cathedral.   The cathedral's stained glass windows depict Nevada historical scenes.
16 6 Clifford House 339 Ralston Built between 1885 and 1890, it reflects the design and compositional integrity of the pattern-book houses featured in Andrew Jackson Downing's "The Architecture of Country Houses", which was popular in the late 1800s.  The house once belonged to John Orr, who developed irrigation ditches that still carry water from the Truckee River and Spanish Springs area to north Reno.
17 5 Ralston Apartments 375 Ralston Built in 1885 with Victorian and Italianate elements.  A side porch was added in 1890 using Colonial Revival style rounded columns to support the porch roof.
18 4 Humphrey House 467 Ralston Designed in 1906 by Reno architect Fred Schadler.  The Mission/Spanish style house is linked with Govs. Tasker Oddie and Emmet Boyle.
19 3 Twaddle Mansion 485 W. Fifth Built in 1905 by Eben Twaddle, this Colonial Revival house has fluted posts with Ionic capitals flanking the stairway leading to the entrance.
20 3b Young House 547 Ralston This multi-family Victorian Gothic style residence was built around 1904.   It was used as a boarding house by Mr. Ahler in the 1920s.  Note the gabled roof and stone foundation.
21 34b Nevada-California-Oregon Railroad Depot, Locomotive House and Machine Shop 325/401 E Fourth The depot was designed by F. J. DeLongchamps in 1910.  The locomotive house and machine shop structure, built in 1889, stands as the oldest engine house in Nevada.
22 25 American Railway Express 270 Lake A rectangular one-story, flat-roofed, stucco structure with Mission/Spanish decorative elements.  A cornice is decorated with an egg-and-dart belt above the front.
23 32b Southern Pacific Depot and Freight Station 270 Evans The depot and the freight station are significant for their association with Reno's railroad industry.

take alley back to lake
24 26 Pincolini/Mizpah Hotel 214 Lake Built in three stages: 1922, 1925, and 1930, this hotel, associated with historic Reno's Italian commercial district, was financed by the Pincolini brothers from their agricultural profits.
25 38b Lake Street Bridge   Dedicated to one of Reno's founding fathers, Myron Lake, this bridge stands on the site of the original Reno township and is an early river crossing.   Built in 1937, it has Art Deco concrete balusters and an ornate iron light post complements the northwest corner.

double back to #26
26 36b E.C. Lyons Building (Odd Fellows) 102 E. Second Built in 1908, this building derives its significance from its historical association with notable Reno entities such as the International Order of Odd Fellows, the Reno Business College, the Farmers and Merchants Bank and the Nevada State Life Insurance Company.  After a fire in 1942, the building was given an Art Moderne look.
27 25 Reno National Bank 204 N. Virginia Designed by F. J. DeLongchamps in Classical Revival style for the bank's founder, George Wingfield.  Built in 1915, it is terra cotta clad with extensive low relief sculptural ornamentation and a two-story portico supported by Ionic columns.

walk bikes across Virginia x2 to be able to go south on Virginia to Mapes
28 23 Mapes Hotel 10 N. Virginia Built in 1946, this Art Deco hotel was the first to combine a hotel and casino in Nevada and became the prototype for modern hotel/casinos.  Big name entertainers, such as Sammy Davis, Jr. and Marilyn Monroe, flocked to this hotel/casino and its famous "Sky Room" with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Truckee River and Virginia Street.
29 21 Virginia Street Bridge   Built in 1905, it is the oldest functioning bridge in Reno and one of the first reinforced concrete bridges in Nevada.  According to folklore, many newly divorced people would kiss the pillars before throwing their wedding rings into the River.
30 19 Riverside Hotel 17 S. Virginia Opened in 1927 by George Wingfield to lodge prospective divorcees (residency requirements were reduced from six months to three months that year and reduced to six weeks in 1931).  The Period Revival brick building with Gothic terra-cotta detailing was designed by F.J. DeLongchamps.  The first Riverside Hotel was built on the same site in 1881 and was destroyed by fire.
31 22 Reno Downtown
Post Office		 50 S. Virginia Designed by F. J. DeLongchamps and opened in 1934.  One of the best Art Deco/Moderne edifices in Nevada, its exterior is terra-cotta siding incised to resemble quarried stone.  The aluminum panels over the entrances salute transportation and are integrated with patriotic and Indian motifs in the interior.   The first-floor lobby has highly ornamented, dark marble walls highlighted with cast aluminum.
32 7b Pioneer Center 100 S. Virginia The Center is significant because of its unique Populuxe architecture exemplified in its geodesic dome.  The land was given to Reno by Myron C. Lake under the condition that whatever was erected there must serve the public.  The dome encompassing the front of the building is the first of its kind to have aprons over the windows.
33 20 Washoe County
Court House		 117 S. Virginia Designed by F. J. DeLongchamps in the Classical Revival style.  Built from 1909 to 1911, it once marked the center of Reno.  The central Corinthian portico rests on a rough-cut granite foundation.  The land was donated by Myron Lake, who owned the toll bridge that crossed the banks of the Truckee River.
34 27b Southside School Annex 190 E. Liberty This two story red brick building, with its Art Deco entrance frontispiece, was built in the 1940s.  Three of the second story front and rear windows are ornamented with a floral and owl motif.
35 26b The Charles Burke House 36 Stewart Designed with elements of Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles, and built in 1908 by Mr. Burke, the house retains most of its structural integrity.   Burke was in the real estate business and was responsible for the development of southeast Reno.
36 25b California Apartments 45 California The significance of the California Apartments comes primarily from its architect, F. J. DeLongchamps.  Its horizontal composition and classical entrance portico with four Tuscan columns distinguishes the building as a solid, elegant structure.
37 11 Levy House 121 California Built in 1906 and is an elegant example of Classical Revival architecture.   This symmetrical, formal residence which originally faced east on State Street has many handsome Classical characteristics, including the corner pilasters or inset columns, double fluted Ionic columns with ornamental scrolls on the capitals and a triangular pediment above the massively scaled front portico. The roof is hipped with gabled dormer windows and composition shingles.  It was built for William Levy, a prominent merchant who owned the Palace Dry Goods Emporium, an important downtown enterprise for many years.
38 10 Giraud-Hardy House 442 Flint Designed in Colonial Revival style in 1914 by noted Nevada architect Frederick J. DeLongchamps.  Decorative features include porches projecting from three sides.  Built for sheepherder Joseph Giraud.  It was bought in 1934 by Roy Allen Hardy, a mining engineer who worked for George Wingfield.
39 17 Tyson House 242 Liberty Built between 1904 and 1906, it was once owned by U.S. Sen. Francis Newlands.  This clapboard and scalloped shingle residence is Queen Anne with Colonial Revival influences that can be seen in the porch. It is Victorian with some Classical motifs like the simple Doric columns and triangular pediment above the entranceway. Typically Victorian are the corner turret, steeply pitched gable roof and vertical nature of the building design.
40 18 Nortonia Boarding House 150 Ridge Built in 1900, this is one of the best remaining examples of the Queen Anne style in Reno.  The porch roof, supported by narrow Doric columns, forms a balcony with a balustrade topped by small wooden balls.  This building is associated with the boarding house phenomenon that existed in Reno in the early 1900s.
41 15 George Wingfield House 219 Court A Classical Revival home built in 1907 for the famous Wingfield, who was a state political power as well as a leading figure in mining, banking, industrial and commercial development during the early 20th century.  A dominant feature of the house is a one-story porch that encircles three sides.  Paired Doric/Tuscan columns support the textured frieze and cornice.
42 16 Frisch House 247 Court The home of Roy J. Frisch, a bank cashier who had agreed to give state's evidence in a Federal mail fraud case involving the Wingfield-owned Riverside Bank.   Frisch disappeared less than a block from his home in 1934.  He was never seen again, and rumors of foul play persist because "Baby Face" Nelson was in the area on the date he disappeared.  The residence was built in 1907 and features exemplary columns, asymmetrical dormers and a rusticated base.
43 27 Patrick McCarran House 401 Court Built in 1913 (by Mary Pickford?) and bought in 1921 by Patrick A. McCarran, U.S. senator from Nevada from 1933 to 1954.  Double Doric columns frame the entrance and a Greek key frieze rests below the roofline.
44 9 Hawkins House 549 Court A Colonial Revival home built in 1911 by Los Angeles architect Elmer Grey for Prince Hawkins.  Grey also designed the Beverly Hills Hotel.  The Hawkins family was in banking and is known for its contribtions to art, science and music.   Mrs. Hawkins was a granddaughter of John Mackay of Comstock mining fame.  The Georgian style, white wood trim and Doric columns enhance the elegant front entry on the traditional red brick structure.  The Hawkins House received the city's first Historical Landmark status.
45 29 Newlands Mansion 7 Elm Court More easily viewed from Riverside Drive.  The residence of Francis W. Newlands, U.S. congressman from 1893 to 1903 and U.S. senator from 1903 to 1917, was built in 1889 with the front wing and arbor added before 1908.  The house was bought in 1920 by George Thatcher, attorney for George Wingfield.  The house has numerous Queen Anne features with wings, bays, porches and a steep gable roof.  Because of Newlands' prominence in politics, water and reclamation projects in the West and as the developer of Chevy Chase, Maryland, this property is a National Historic Landmark, the highest designation of national significance.
46 28 Hood Mansion 657 Ridge Might be called the "medical mansion".  Built in 1921 for Dr. Claudius W. West, it was acquired by Dr. A.J. "Bart" Hood in the early 1930s when Hood added a "children's wing".  West put medical shields on the concrete flower boxes in front of the house.  Hood was a descendent of the state's first doctor.  The house's horizontal plan, tile roof and arched windows are typical of the Mediterranean style.

The information for this bike tour was excerpted from various sources: