Hey! Didcha know that Frederick Snyder, Superintendent, Stewart Indian School (SIS), had a summer cottage at Lake Tahoe? And did you know that this house was built by the master and apprentice stonemasons from the trade programs at SIS? Well, he did and it was! We came across that fact while researching the Field Matron’s Cottage at the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony.
Mr. Snyder pioneered the Stewart-Vernacular style of architecture that was used extensively at SIS. He was such a fan of this style of architecture that he had his summer house built in the style. Take a look at it and you will see the similarity between this summer cottage and the buildings on the campus of the SIS.
You might say that Mr. Snyder was one of the first influencers as other people followed his lead and had their houses constructed in the same style. As you drive around Lake Tahoe, you will see a number of homes and churches built in the Stewart-Vernacular style of architecture
According to the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH), the house was built in 1927 by master stonemasons, James and John Christopher, and the apprentice stonemasons learning their trade at SIS. We believe that the apprentices from the other trade programs such as plumbing, electrical and carpentry, also assisted with the construction. (See https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/NV-01-NW008.2 for additional information.)
Mr. Snyder was apparently a private man making it difficult to find a picture of the house. However, we did! And, we’re sharing!
Biographical information on Mr. Snyder is scarce, so scarce that there are no known photographs of him!
Note: the T shape of the house in the plans was mentioned by the SAH
This is why the road is called Lakeview
The SAH Web site stated that there were two additional houses built at Zephyr Cove in 1927 by the Christopher Brothers and the SIS apprentices. Those houses were located at 723 Cedar Street and 716 Lincoln Highway. We found pictures of the 716 Lincoln Highway house. We could not find a picture of the 723 Cedar Street house, however, we did find a picture of a stone house at 721 Cedar Street. This house was built in 1927, so, we’re thinking this house might have been built by the SIS craftsmen.
Note the resemblance to the buildings on the campus of the Stewart Indian School
Note: the dark mud between the stones used for the house. The SIS stonemasons used either coal dust or brick dust to color the mud.
Note: there is a similar BBQ at a house in Carson City.
The Field Matron’s Cottage was placed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2003. In the application for the Field Matron’s Cottage to the NRHP, it noted that the SIS workman also built the “Harvey House” right next door to Frederick Snyder’s summer house. We discovered that 681 Lakeview Blvd is next to Mr. Snyder’s house and that it was built in 1927. So, it seems likely this property was built by the SIS craftsmen.
However. we were unable to locate a clear photograph of the property. We found a photograph online, which purported to be 681. Unfortunately, this property did not appear to be constructed of stone. However, almost a 100 years have passed since the house was built and it is possible that the house has undergone a major renovation over the the years. We then went to Google Earth hoping for a photograph of the property. Sadly, there are too many trees around the property, so there was not a Google Earth photo of the property.
Seems like a road trip may be in order! Yes, a road trip as we have heard that there are a number of homes at Lake Tahoe built by the Native American stonemasons at SIS. So, we could play tourist and explore the lake looking for these pink stoned beauties.