Principal production funding for House with a History has been provided by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Nevada State Historic Preservation Office, through a Department of Interior grant.

Major funding was provided by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

Wells Fargo is proud to be part of the northern Nevada community for over 150 years.

Wells Fargo, The Next Stage.

Additional funding has been granted by the City of Reno Arts and Culture Commission.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Hi, I'm Marla Carr.

And this is House with a History.

Who would have thought that an emerging architect and a casino piano man would conspire to build a house that was reminiscent of an Oriental pagoda on the edge of the Sierra Nevada?

But that's precisely what happened.

And the result is The Hart House.

Today we'll explore this one-of-a-kind treasure with owner Elsie Newman.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Hello.

Hi Elsie.

So nice to see you.

What an absolutely unique house.

It's beautiful.

Thank you.

Shall we?

Certainly.

So when was it built?

It was built in the 1930's.

Oh Elsie, this is just gorgeous.

An octagonal living room.

I love it!

Through 60 years and a series of owners, the Hart House has maintained many of the original features that make it unique and define the style.

♪♪ In the octagonal living room, the doorways have arched frames.

Heavy pocket doors slide into the walls.

The unusual widow that sits between the living room and hallway was built to sink into wall to transform the place into a perfect area for serving guests the occasional martini.

The interior siding of the house is ridged and designed to echo the exterior bamboo motif.

♪♪ The woodwork seems to have a distinctive grain.

In reality, it has been painted to appear that way.

It's an art form called "graining" and it was quite prevalent in Europe and an art form that came to this country also probably in the 30's.

And, is coming back.

And, the story is that Camille Solari, from Solari Paints, those of you that are old-timers to Reno will recognize that, did that art, art form and the walls in the dining room and the living room.

♪♪ The Hart House was built in the freewheeling Reno of the 1930's.

The city was dodging the effects of the depression by capitalizing on the lucrative divorce trade.

Between 1929 and 1939 more than 30,000 divorces were granted in Washoe County alone.

Men and women flocked to Reno.

And the Biggest Little City housed, fed, and entertained them.

Dude ranches, casinos, cowboys and musicians.

They offered a good time and a chance for the newly single to mingle.

There was a great social life going on here.

A lot of buildings being built, even despite the depression.

The gambling had become legal in 1931 as well, so there was a change from what had been illegal gambling prior to that, to legalized gambling.

There was a fairly active mob group in town that functioned.

There was, some of their members, the mob members from the East to Nevada particularly Reno to sort of hide out or to be, you know, in a safe place.

There are recurrent rumors of Baby Face Nelson being in Reno.

And, like in the East where old houses claim to, that 'George Washington slept here', in Reno the claim is that 'Baby Face Nelson slept here'.

And we haven't figured out which story is true and which isn't.

But some are probably true.

♪♪ Marcia Farrell Keresey arrived in Reno in 1931, a part of the influx of discontented spouses.

She was the granddaughter of Anthony J. Brady, a streetcar entrepreneur.

As a divorcee she had the additional appeal of being an heiress.

She hardly made a dent in her $15,000,000 inheritance when she bought 11 acres of real estate at the southern most edge of the Reno City limits.

It was on this property that the Hart house would ultimately be built.

♪♪ The story is she came in on the train with her son Nicky, he was 13, and I found them over in the City Directory living over at 721 California Avenue.

So that verified it to me that she was here in 1934.

There was a program in Nevada during the mid-'30's called "The One Sound State Program", that was enticing wealthy people from other states to come to Nevada to escape some of the high taxes.

So, Nevada garnered a number of very rich folk who built lavish homes.

♪♪ George Hart had migrated to Reno from California.

He was a middle-aged man, unromantic in looks, a bit portly, and doing his best to disguise his baldness.

But he had a way with a song and commanded a substantial salary entertaining at such hot spots as the Willows, the Country Club and the Riverside.

His popularity was such that former patrons would call from all over the world and request their favorite tunes.

George would prop the phone on the piano and play whatever ditty they fancied.

Newspapers of the forties can be quoted as saying, "One of Reno's most prominent citizens in every sense of that phrase is George Hart, the swoon crooner supreme a 24-carat Reno Institution.

A Legitimate Exhibit whose singing at the Riverside Bar keeps it jammed.

♪♪ It's unknown how or when Marcia and George met, but in 1937 they tied the knot, and began building on the 11-acre site she had purchased.

They chose Reno architect Russell Mills to design the house.

Of all the architects in town we seem to know the least about Mr. Mills.

He apparently was born in Chicago, was raised in Oakland, California, spent two years at the University of California at Berkeley, and then in 1927 or so he came to Reno, and I don't think any of us really know how or why he came here.

But, at the time he was with an electrical firm.

He was, in addition to being an architect, he was an electrical engineer.

And, then he took a job with Frederic Delongchamps architecture firm.

Frederic Delongchamps is one of the more preeminent architects in Reno.

Very prolific.

Mr. Mills was the head draftsman in Delongchamps' shop for several years and became vice-president of the firm.

And, in 1935 or '36 he left Delongchamps to open his own architectural firm.

So, when he designed this building in 1938 or '37 - '38, it was one of the earlier projects in his career.

It remains a mystery as to who came up with the unusual design of the house.

Whether it was the choice of the Harts, or the inspiration of Mills, we may never know.

There was a tradition going on at the time, actually several overlapping ones, in architecture.

And, one was 'exotic revivals', and the Oriental style would've fallen under that.

As would the Swiss chalet design that Russell Mills did for Dr. Sharp in the hills above Genoa.

These also came out of the Arts and Crafts Movement.

The Japanese and Chinese architecture was admired by the architects at the turn of the 20th century.

And, a couple of very well-known Arts and Crafts architects in Southern California known as the Green Brothers, the firm of Green and Green, did a lot of their designs using Japanese styles.

Mostly elements, not something that was quite as fully developed as this one in the pagoda style.

♪♪ It may have been these very details that ultimately convinced Elsie and Larry Newman to purchase the house in 1991.

At that time it looked as though Hart House had stood empty for about a year and it showed signs of deterioration.

But Elsie still remembers her introduction to it and her reaction is typical of most everyone entering the house.

When we walked in and saw the living room with the big high ceiling and the 8-sided walls it was just, it was just like we needed to rescue it.

We needed to save it.

And, if we'd have realized how much work it was we'd have probably been scared to death.

But, thank goodness we didn't.

But the living room wasn't the only selling point.

The dining room held it's own charm.

The room is compact, but filled with built-ins, a further indication of the Arts and Crafts bungalow influence.

There would be features in this house that come from that style and obviously we all know that bungalows are known for their wonderful woodwork and built-in elements, particularly in the dining room.

So, to have a built-in cabinet in the dining room would be very much in keeping with the idea that Russell Mills influence in building this house came from several avenues, as we talked about his experience in the Philippines, but also those motifs of the Arts and Crafts Movement and the Bungalow period.

We enlarged this kitchen when we got here.

It just needed more.

Yes the house is really much larger than I would have thought from viewing it from the front.

Though the small dining room was charming, it didn't necessarily fit in with the Newmans desire to entertain.

In order to make the house more amenable to modern lifestyles, the original kitchen was expanded over what had been a porch.

Today the kitchen is open and integrates a larger dining room and a family room area.

So you've got this historical house and then also this very modern area that must be very convenient to work in.

That was our plan to make the kitchens and the bathrooms modern so that they'd be comfortable to live in.

It's very nice.

Very nice.

But I also notice that over the fireplace you've stayed with the oriental curve of the wood.

So that's nice.

And the same wall texture.

The addition of modern elements to an older home doesn't necessarily make it ineligible for inclusion in the City or National Registry of Historical Places.

The Hart House was still considered to hold its original architectural integrity.

It's remarkably intact.

Obviously, there needed to be some changes made to make it comfortable for modern tenants.

So, the kitchen was added.

I think some of the windows were changed, but the shapes were retained.

So, you really do get the essence.

In terms of the City Register of Historic Places or the National Register of Historic Places, the issue of integrity comes in where a building has to retain or has to be able to convey its significance.

So in other words it has to somehow visually represent its significance.

And in the architecture area, this one clearly does because you look at it and you know that this is, this is just a pagoda.

You can't deny it.

♪♪ The master bedroom is spacious with wallpapered panels set into the painted surface.

Twelve original lights hang from the coffered ceiling.

As in each room of the house, there is an abundance of windows with picturesque views of the surrounding gardens.

♪♪ What had been an adjoining dressing room and hallway had been converted into a master bath.

♪♪ Kitchen and baths are often the areas that must be upgraded in order to make a house livable.

In a second main floor bathroom the Newmans managed to keep some original elements like the tile work and bathtub.

♪♪ This bathroom sits between the master bedroom and another room that had been used as a bedroom and perhaps originally, a library.

When the fireplace was added in the living room, a connecting door was removed, as was shelving.

The windows and built-in bookcases remain focal points.

♪♪ At the top of the narrow staircase are a bedroom and a bath.

The room is called the Gold room for obvious reasons.

♪♪ Well, it was the gold colors that you see when we moved here and all the brass fittings were here.

I understand that when the Springers, a family that owned it, did all of that trim and all of the switch plates and the various things that are awesome.

The round window behind us has electrical service to it, so there's been an aquarium in there.

I've heard that people had a TV set in there in the recent years.

It has a lot of built-in cabinets, two desks built-in and built-in cupboards that cover the stairs, some of them are like 3 inches deep and some of them 4 feet deep.

So this is the famous cabinet then.

Yes it is.

It's so small!

The story has been told that these cabinets were a favorite hiding place of the Springer's daughters.

When the mischievous twins wanted to hide from their mother, they would crawl into the three-foot opening, squeeze inside and pull the door closed behind them.

Their mother, poor woman, would frantically search the house for her missing children.

Well kids will be kids I guess.

Yes I think so.

The gold room also contains the alcove housing the bed that sits on a motorized turntable.

It's been said that, because George Hart worked nights, he wanted to sleep in the morning.

The rotating bed allowed him to move out of the sunlight with the mere push of a button.

Initially the mattress sat on a set of low drawers that acted as storage and support.

Music purchasing the property Elsie and Larry unexpectedly found a family tie with the Hart House.

My aunt told me that in the late 50's and early 60's she lived here for about ten years.

She was able to tell me about the kitchen cabinets, the green with the chrome and red pulls, the floor that turned, the library, the many things that she remembers from when the house was here.

It was, when my mother told her that Larry and Elsie are buying this very weird Oriental house my aunt said, "Oh, my God," it must be the house, you know, that she lived in for those years.

♪♪ As distinct as the interior of the house is, the exterior may be even more unusual.

There can be no doubt that the house is a unique addition to the Reno landscape.

♪♪ Extremely unusual for Reno.

This is the only one that I know of, I would venture to say, in all of Nevada.

There are some buildings that have some of the roof details, you know, where the roof, the eaves curve up.

But, nothing like this one that has all of the aspects of a pagoda with the moon-shaped doors and the round windows and the imitation bamboo siding that I understand was milled right here on the site.

♪♪ Over the years the integrity of the design has remained.

♪♪ The front entrance is an enclosed porch with a high-pitch and widely flaring front gable roof.

A full-size moon gate allows entrance to the porch, and a massive wooden front door that is arched gives way to the living room.

♪♪ Originally, the rafter tails extended beyond the eaves of the roof and were curved at the end in order to accentuate the Asian style.

But deterioration caused them to be cut down.

♪♪ The exterior is sheathed in a unique flush-mounted board siding custom milled to look like stacked bamboo.

♪♪ I'm fascinated with the idea of milling that bamboo siding so that from a distance you really, you get the sense that it's bamboo or it's meant to copy bamboo.

And I really can't figure out how they did that.

I've spoken to a couple of people to find out how they technically would have milled that, the bamboo, in the manner that they did.

And, nobody really can quite come up with that.

And I'd love to know more about that.

Obviously, the interior siding is also, was done to replicate the pagoda style, and the arched doorways and the curved eaves.

I mean there are just so many elements that represent this architectural style.

♪♪ The windows in the house are new.

Duplicates were cost prohibitive, but the Newman's worked hard to find replacements that kept a sense of the originals two of which they've retained as a piece of the past.

♪♪ The original 11-acre tract has been subdivided through the years and only 2/3 acre remains.

Little is left of the sumptuous gardens.

The swimming pool, pool house, and patio are gone, as is the barbecue.

Most of the 5,000 Iris bulbs planted by a past owner have disappeared.

The Koi pond remains, as does the delightful teahouse that mirrors the design of the main residence.

♪♪ This was the original garden.

It's been here the whole time.

And this is one of the original roses.

You've got to smell it.

It's wonderful.

Elsie and Larry have added plantings to the now intimate garden, as well as restored some of its original features.

♪♪ This is a lovely garden.

♪♪ This angel was here originally too Marla.

Oh that's a wonderful piece of statuary.

Some of the rose bushes in the garden are original to the house, as is the garden Foo dog, the angel and the statues standing in welcome at either side of the stairway to the house.

These are touches that George and Marcia must have planned for the exquisite garden that covered much of the 11-acre tract.

This was the original Koi pond and the Teahouse were here.

It didn't have the bridge when we got here, but it had the steel posts where it would go, and so we found a craftsman that could build that bridge, and then another one that built the waterfall.

We built it 'cause it was disintegrating.

And, we redid the whole pond itself so that it's just perfect now.

It's just awesome.

There's an eighth of a mile of walking trails around the property it's two thirds of an acre.

Wow.

The buildings are large artifacts, and they do convey certain aspects of our history.

And, when you look at architecture in particular, it's not just in a vacuum.

Architectural styles don't exist in a vacuum.

They represent a wide range of social issues from art trends to politics, just an entire range of things that are going on in society at any given time.

And, so to have them around and to understand them really contributes a lot to our understanding of our life today because we can appreciate and see what has gone on in the past.

When Elsie Newman recalls her childhood, she has memories of Hart house: I was kind of a curious child.

I liked alleys and the old part of town, so I had seen this when it was actually 2 acres, there was a sign out front that showed the 1150 Monroe Court.

And that was when it was the 2 acres.

It was quite a large Oriental-looking sign that really set it apart.

And so I was always fascinated and had driven down the street and seen it years before.

♪♪ The sign is still there stored away in the garage.

Elsie can't bear to part with this piece of the past.

She's become attached to the house as well as the people who created it.

And the flamboyant era that nurtured their imagination.

♪♪ As adults, she and Larry became the owners of the house that had fascinated her as a teenager.

The Newmans brought it back to life; they nurtured the dreams that were begun by George and Marcia Hart and Russell Mills.

They have been the caretakers of the house and its history and as such, have become a part of the history themselves.

♪♪ In 1939, Geoffrey Homes released a book entitled "No Hands On the Clock".

The mystery was set in Reno using the surrounding locale.

But a very familiar character was a professor of piano named Dave Paulson, who shared an uncanny resemblance to George Hart.

He lived in a hexagon house with a Koi pond and alligators.

When asked about his odd six-sided residence, Paulson answers, "That 's the only kind to build.

The others are all wrong.

I'll show you my house and my turntable bed and my fish and my alligators.

You'd like the bed.

It has rubber tires.

Because of the trains.

Twelve trans-continental trains come through here a day.

You can feel 'em if you don't have rubber tires.

One last note, local legend has it that "Baby Face" Nelson had dinner at The Hart House.

He and "Pretty Boy" Floyd were just two of the well-known "friends" of gangsters Bill Graham and Jim McKay.

However, this is one legend that will have to be laid to rest.

"Baby Face" Nelson was gunned down in 1934.

Dinner wasn't served at the Hart House until 1938.

If you would like more information on Hart House or any of the houses in our series go to our website knpb.org.

Until next time, enjoy the heritage and preserve the architecture of yourommunity.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Principal production funding for House with a History has been provided by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Nevada State Historic Preservation Office, through a Department of Interior grant.

Major funding was provided by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

Wells Fargo is proud to be part of the northern Nevada community for over 150 years.

Wells Fargo, The Next Stage.

Additional funding has been granted by the City of Reno Arts and Culture Commission.