Building Description Henry Marvin Yerington House, Carson City Nevada
Overall dimensions: about 23 ft. by 39 ft., one-and-a-half stories, rectangular. Overall dimensions including early additions, about 86 ft. by 69 ft.; roughly T-shaped.
The original (central) portion appears to have had a stair hall along the south side and two rooms along the north side (front and rear). There may have been a service wing at the west end.
At present the stair hall is central, with two large rooms on the south and a single long room on the north. Toward the west end there are smaller rooms, and wings at the north and south sides.
On the second story, which extends only above the original building, there are front and rear rooms separated by a small hall. These appear to be original.
The major additions to the house seem to have been made early in the Yerington tenure. The north wing, now a separate apartment, was originally the wine cellar and service wing. It consists of several small rooms wrapped around a hollow core which is several feet below grade. This was the wine cellar, and may have served for cold storage as well. It is reached by a flight of several steps from the front Ceast) room of the north wing.
The ceiling of the wine cellar is lower than the ceiling height of the rooms which surround it. Storage shelves, closets, etc., are installed above it. These open into the several surrounding rooms with doors near the ceiling level.
This wing is shown in a photograph which is dated circa 1870. In all probability, it is a very early addition, if not in fact contemporaneous with the main block of the house.
The rear portion (SW) of the southern wing is also an early addition, and is seen in an 1872 photograph. By 1872, there was a sun parlor on the southeast of the house, this wrapped around the east front of the wing and the southern side of the main block.
From the notes and bills in the Yerington papers at The Bancroft Library of the University of California at Berkeley, it would seem that there was much construction activity on the house during the years 1873-1876. The work must have been essentially complete by May 31, 1876, when an item occurs concerning the laying of. carpets. It is more than probable that the present southeast room, which is not present in the 1872 photograph, was added at this time. The sun parlor, or porch, was removed from its original location and at least a portion of it placed to the east of the new room. It may well be that it was at this same time that the arch of Philippine mahogany was installed in the dining room. In the original scheme, the dining room would undoubtedly have been two rooms, perhaps connected by double doors, With the addition of the new formal parlor, (the SE room), the partition wall between the old parlor and the dining room could have been removed, and the arch installed as both support and decoration.
During the mid 20th century, under the ownership of Mr. Russell, the house was divided into three apartments; one on the south, one in the middle (comprising the original portion of the house), and one in the nortb wing. The first two divisions have been eliminated, and the former southern and middle apartments are now reunited. The northern wing, formerly the servants quarters, still functions as a separate rental unit.
