The weather’s been cold and nasty, so we’ve been staying in. Finally, cabin fever got the best of us and we wanted out. We decided to take a ride to Sparks. See, we had heard rumors of a large, pink stone house in Sparks. And then we found pictures of the house on a realty Web site, the site even had the address. So, we were off!
The house is on Wedekind Road located between cookie-cutter apartments and, shall we say the “grittier” stretch of Wedekind.
We rounded a corner and there was the house – only, it wasn’t just one building, it was three. The lot size is enormous providing sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of city life.
The house and outlying buildings were constructed in 1939, the year the building program at the Stewart Indian School (SIS) began to take off. At this time, more and more people in Northern Nevada were using the students from masonry, electricial, carpentry, blacksmithing, and plumbing programs at Stewart.
We believe that this compound was completed by the master and student stonemasons from the school. Until the school closed, the students in the building trades often built stone houses in Nevada and California.
Another indication that this was built by the stonemasons from Stewart is the fact that there is turquoise and onyx among the stones. The Wungnema Family (master stonemasons at the SIS) is known to have used those stones as their trademarks in their work.
There is a house, a garage (we think) and what is called a studio. Plus, a wishing well – this feature has been found in at least two other residences in Northern Nevada built by the stonemasons at the SIS: One being the Hershey house in Carson City and the other was located at a private residence in Carson City. We know the well at the private residence was built by Randall Wungnema.
This stone beauty is approximately 3,700 square feet and sits on 1.4 acres. The house sold in November of 2021 and from the real estate listing on the Internet at that time, we discovered that this single-family property could be either refreshed or the property could be demolished and up to nine individual, cookie-cutters type apartments constructed on the property.
To us, it is problematic when a real estate listing includes wording indicating that the property can be redeveloped for an increased revenue stream. The property is described as an “exciting investment opportunity,” To us, that is the kiss of death for these wonderful buildings.
This property is a piece of Nevada history and deserves to be respected for its role in providing shelter and helping to bolster the local economy in the post-depression years. Sure, the buildings could do with some touch up masonry work. Fortunately, there are some Stewart-trained Native American stonemasons in the area who could to that work!
Perhaps, the new owner would be willing to work with local and state historical offices to have the property designated as a historical building. The property could be rehabbed and either used for a family – wouldn’t this be a great place to raise a family? Or it could be used as a community resource (an art gallery such as the Brewery Arts Center in Carson City comes to mind.)
See https://shpo.nv.gov/ for the Nevada State Preservation Office and https://www.historicreno.org/index.php for the Historic Reno Preservation Society. We think that there are financial benefits to having these structures designated as historic buildings. Financial benefits such as tax breaks and grants.
We hope that this house and the outbuildings are preserved for future generations.