Alfred Chartz House, 412 North Nevada Street, Carson City, Carson City

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS NEV,13-CARCI,14-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

late century "building. The facade, with elabo- rate bay windows and doorhood, is one of the most ornate of its period in Carson City. PART I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION A. Physical History: 1. Date of Erection: c. The property was part of the Curry estate until The house does not show in an "Birds Eye View" of Carson City. 2. Architect: none known 3. Original and subsequent owners: The Chartz House is built on lots 1 and k of Block 39 of Proctor and Green's Division of Carson City. (Frank M. Proctor and Green were two of the four original purchasers in of the Eagle Ranch, upon which Carson City was platted). Prior to the lots on which the house was built were part of the Curry property (see HABS No. NEV-13-13).

The following references tracing the title of these lots are found in the Ormsby County, Nevada Deed Books: Deed, September 30, recorded in Books 18, page Frank Campbell bought from Maryette Curry and others, lots 1, 2, 3 and k of Block 39 of Proctor and Green's Division of Carson City for Deed, May 28, recorded in Book 25, page 28. John Elliott bought from Frank Campbell and wife lots 1, 2, 3 and k of Block 39 for Deed October l6, I89U, recorded in Book 27, page Alfred Jean Chartz bought from John Elliott lots 1, 2, 3 and k of Block 39 for ALFRED CHARTZ HOUSE HABS Wo. NEV-13-15 Page 2 Deed October 19, recorded in Book k 9 page Emma Chartz (widow of Alfred) deeded the property to her children: Helen Haley, Beatrice Chartz, and John M. Chartz.

Deed December 3, recorded in Official Records Book page 350 Marcelline C. Smith, who acquired title as Marcelline K. Charts, (daughter of John M. Chartz), sold lots 1, 2, 3 and If, excepting the west 60 feet of lots 2 and 3, in "block 39 to Gerald M. Harwood and Elaine H. Harwood, his -wife. k. Original Plans, construction, etc: none known. The exterior during the early years of the Chartz occupancy was painted cream with maroon trim. Currently, the house is painted white with brown trim. 5. Alterations and additions: According to Miss Beatrice Chartz, there was a fire which damaged the house six years prior to the time the Chartz family moved there. (This would date the fire in The present rear wing is said to have been added immediately after the fire.

Origi- nally there were two large rooms on the second floor, lit by large windows in each gable end. Around as the family increased, the second floor was partitioned to make four bedrooms, and the two hipped dormers on the northern roof slope were installed. There was a large two-story stable on the rear of the property facing Division Street. This has been replaced by a brick dwelling. An early photograph of the building (reproduced in the HABS collection) shows the ornamental slates over the door hood and bay windows to have had two distinct colors. Currently, all the slates are black. There was also, as shown in the photograph, a fence with ornamental gateposts, surrounding the property. The photograph shows the house before the dormers were installed. B.

Historical Events & persons connected with the Structure: Although neither the builder nor the first owner of the house, Alfred Jean Chartz is the most noted of the personage associated with it, and the one who gave it his name. Chartz was born on February 9* at La Baye du Febvre, Canada. In at the age of twelve, he went to California with his father, two sisters and a brother; his mother having i3- 14- ALFRED CHARTZ HOUSE HABS No. NEV-13-15 Page 3 died several years previously. At age 1^, Chartz began work as printer's devil on the Oakland News. In he journeyed to Nevada where he held several jobs in Virginia City, Carson City, and Dayton.

He then settled in Eureka, where he married Miss Emma Rader in In Eureka, he worked first on the Eureka Sentinal, then in March according to Thompson and West's History of Nevada, he became a reporter and business manager for the Eureka Republican. Edward Ricker, a conductor on the Eureka and Palisade Railroad, had been offended by an article in the paper, and quarreled with Chartz. The latter shot Ricker on June 16, and he died two days later. This caused the demise of the Republican the next week, and caused Chartz to be sentenced to the State Prison for life.

However, as one account of the affair states: "since his incarceration and the declining excitement attending the tragic event, new evidence has been obtained mitigating his offense, and great efforts have been made to procure his pardon." His pardon was granted, and Chartz and his wife moved to Virginia City where he worked on The Territorial Enterprise and then on The Evening Chronicle, becoming Editor of the latter paper. Chartz also found time to read law under W. F. Dehl in Virginia City, and taught himself typing and stenography. In he passed his Bar exam and came to Carson City to practice law. It was at this time that he purchased the house here-in discussed. His practice in Carson City was involved primarily with civil, water, and mining cases.

Chartz also became a director of the Bullion Exchange Bank. A portrait of him has been given to the Nevada State Museum by his children. The current owner-occupants and Harwood) have furnished the home with an extensive and appropriate collection of furnishings and decorative objects of the second half of the century. Many of these objects were formerly housed in the Savage Mine Office (HABS No. NEV-15-58) in nearby Virginia City, which was restored, lived in, and operated as a house museum by the Harwoods until C. Sources of Information: 1. Old views: Photograph of the house soon after it was pur- chased by the Chartz family (circa The photograph shows the house before the dormers were added. Photograph is in possession of Beatrice Chartz, 4ll N. Division Street, Carson City, Nevada. 2.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS NEV,13-CARCI,14-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

ALFRED CHARTZ HOUSE HABS Ho, NEV-13-15 Page h Scrugham, James G. > ed., Nevada, A Narrative Of the Conquest of a Frontier Land, Vol. 11. Chicago: The American Historical Society1 , Inc., Thompson, Thomas H. and Albert A. West. History of Nevada Berkeley, California: Howell Worth, [facsimile reprint of this volume which was originally printed in Wren, Thomas, ed., A History of The State of Nevada, Its Resources and People. New York: The Lewis Publishing Co., Interviews: Miss Beatrice Chartz, daughter of Alfred and Emma Chartz, October 31, Mr, Burd Lindsay November 3S of Carson City. Prepared S. Allen Chambers, Jr. Architectural Historian National Park Service December PART II. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION A. General Statement: 1.

Architectural Interest and Merit: The Chartz House is a late nineteenth-century house with attractive exterior features, and is largely in original condition. 2. Condition of fabric: Generally good; recently recondi- tioned and put in good repair on the exterior and part of the interior. B. Detailed Description of Exterior: 1. Overall Dimensions: The original portion is approximately 36' x An old one-story addition extends the length 2V. Original portion is one-and-a-half stories with three by three bays. The layout is rectangular. 2. Foundations: low; large sandstone blocks; wooden water table 3. Walls: Novelty siding with corner board; painted. ALFRED CHABTZ HOUSE HABS No. NEV-13-15 Page 5 4. Structural system: Wood frame. 5.

Porches, Stoops: On the east front there is a low wooden porch "between the hay windows, which serves as an entrance stoop. On the north front of the addition there is a one- story porch with a shed roof, three bays long and one hay in depth. The columns are square. Between them there is a balustrade of boards pierced with an ornamental design. The floor is wood. 6. Chimneys: There is a chimney on the ridge near the center of the original portion and another on the addition. 7- Openings: a. Doorways and Doors: The main entrance is located at the center of the east front. It is sheltered by a hood with brackets and dentils; at each side of the opening there is a pilaster strip. The single door has moulded panels; the upper pair have rounded heads and cusped lower corners.

The lower panels have cusped corners. Above the door there is a rectangular transom with a delicate etched pattern in the glass. b. Windows: There are four bay windows, all of them on the original portion: two on the east end and one on each of the (north and south) sides, near the west end. The pair on the east front are rectangular in plan and have two windows on the front and one on each side on sandstone foundations. A moulded wooden panel is below each window sill. At the corners and in the center of the front, there are round colonnettes with a simple base and capital, and sash beads. The entablature consists of a narrow frieze, and a cornice with dentil course, corona and cymatium. Each bay window is covered by a hip roof of slightly concave profile, sur- mounted by a turned finial.

The other bay windows are similar in size and plan, but have paneled pilaster strips at the corners, a wide frieze with brackets, and a pent roof somewhat resembling a mansard. Other windows have plain trim and are capped with a small moulded cornice. All are double hung, two lights above two lights. In the east gable there is a pair of windows with shutters which are only ornamental. Afev. ALFRED CHARTZ HOUSE 14- HABS No. NEV-13-15 Page 6 8. Roof: a. Shape,, covering; The gable roof is covered vith wood shingles. b. Cornice: There is a "boxed cornice with "bed and cyma mouldings, above a plain frieze. It returns at the gable corners. c. Dormers: On the north side of the original portion there are two hipped dormers. C. Detailed description of Interior: 1.

Plans - First Floor: The original portion has a central hall extending from the east entrance to the west; south of this are two major roomss and north of it there is a large "double parlor." The addition has a large "double dining room" extending across the entire width of the house except for the space occupied by the north porch. To the west of this room there are a kitchen and accessory rooms. A stair rises from the southeast part of the large room to the second floor, where there are minor bedrooms. The first- floor ceilings are fourteen feet high. 2. Interior finish: 1. First-floor hall. There is a high plinth and moulded base, above which is a wainscot of "lincrusta" orna- mented with a small scale diaper pattern (the local corruption of this term is "Lin&quist.").

Door openings are rectangular with architrave trim; they contain four-panel doors, moulded transom bar and two-light transoms. There is no cornice. Except for the wainscot, which is found only in the hall, this finish is typical of the other rooms on the first floor of the original portion. The ceiling contains an ornamental plaster centerpiece. 2. Double parlor. The front and rear halves of this room are divided by a very wide rectangular opening. At the center of the ceiling in each half there is an ornamental plaster centerpiece. 3. On the west wall of the southeast room, a major bedroom, there is a fireplace with a white marble chimneypiece of \3-CAftt\ 14, ALFRED CHABTZ HOUSE HABS No. WEV-13-15 Page 7 conventional design.

Its opening is arched below a cartouche; the mantel shelf is thin. There do not appear to have been any other fireplaces on the first floor. k* Miscellaneous. Flooring is of five-inch hoards, which have been covered by carpeting for the most part. Walls and ceilings are plastered and papered. The woodwork is painted with imitation graining. First-floor rooms are well-proportioned and large in scale, but contain few ornamental architectural features. D. Site and Surroundings: This house occupies a corner lot: the southwest corner of Nevada and Spear Streets. It faces east to Nevada Street. The terrain is level. There is a small shed at the west end of the lot. Prepared by: Harley J. McKee Supervisory Architect National Park Service Date of visit: August 18, PART III.

Project Information These records are part of the documentation made during the latter half of and the summer of in a project undertaken by the Historic American Buildings Survey in cooperation with the Nevada State Park System to record structures in Carson City and nearby areas. The project was under the general supervision of John Poppeliers, Chief, Historic American Buildings Survey. Eric R. Cronkhite, Administrator, Nevada State Park System, and Marshall Humphreys of the Nevada Land- marks Society assisted the HABS recorders in Nevada. Professor Harley J. McKee, Supervisory Architect, National Park Service, selected the subjects and provided architectural data for the sixteen Carson City structures which were recorded. Historical documentation for these buildings was pre- pared by S.

Allen Chambers, Architectural Historian, Historic American Buildings Survey. Project Supervisor for the Nevada Summer Team, which produced the measured drawings, was Robert L. Hartwig of Harvard University. Student assistant architects were John T. M. Creery (University of Utah), Robert P. Mizell (University of Florida), and Jack W. Schafer (University of Cincinatti). Photographs were made by Aaron A. Gallup of Sacramento, California.