Hawkins House--Three Historic Nevada Cities: Carson City, Reno and Virginia City--A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary

[graphic] Three Historic Nevada Cities Carson City, Reno, Virginia City A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary

Hawkins House
Photo by Charles Miller, Courtesy of Nevada State Historic Preservation Office

Prince A. Hawkins commissioned prominent Los Angeles architect, Elmer Grey, to build his Colonial Revival home in 1911. Grey also designed the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Huntington Library and other notable buildings in the far West. Grey's plan for the Hawkins House evoked traditional forms, with a brick exterior and a commodious, central floor plan. The house had modern heating and plumbing systems, a vast kitchen complex and a third floor servants' area. The Hawkins House is situated on the bluff above the Truckee River, next to the home of Senator Francis G. Newlands. It was one of the first homes built in the fashionable Newlands Heights area. The diversity of architectural styles in the Newlands neighborhood makes it a record of early 20th-century architectural history, with styles ranging from large Colonial Revival residences, such as the Hawkins House, and French Chateau mansions, to more modest Spanish Colonial and Craftsman bungalows.

The Hawkins family has long been one of the first families of Nevada, prominent in Nevada business and banking circles for more than a century, and the house was passed down to later generations. Attorney and Prince A. Hawkins eldest son Robert Z. Hawkins and his family owned the property until 1978. As part of official recognition of the newly-created Sierra Nevada Museum of Art (now the Nevada Museum of Art) that occupied the building in the 1980s, the City of Reno designated the property as the City's first historic landmark. No major alterations have been made to the Hawkins House.

The Hawkins House is located at 549 Court St. in Reno. It is privately owned and currently houses a public relations firm.

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