Constructed during Carson City’s heyday by state assemblyman Henry Hudson Beck in 1875, the Belknap House remains a well-preserved instance of the Second Empire style. Its distinguishing mansard roof, which curves downward from its flat top on four sides, includes two arched windows on each side, creating a more refined appearance, while also yielding additional light and living space in the second story. The exterior embraces decoration, particularly on the porch with ornamentation above the posts, alongside the motifs running above its first-story windows, called gingerbread. The bay windows facing John Street give the house greater dimension and character and provide more natural light. Most Second Empire homes are built with brick, but Beck went for the more economical wooden siding, giving the building a distinctive appearance in comparison to other residences of the same era. In 1876, only a year after finishing the house, Beck moved to Reno, looking to fund the creation of a new sawmill, and he lived there until his death. Oscar Barber purchased the property, lived there until 1881, and sold it to Charles Belknap, a five-term Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court and former Mayor of Virginia City. Around 1890, Belknap opted to construct a single-story addition onto the western façade, adding an extra dining and living room. He also matched Beck’s exterior designs, particularly the inclusion of a look-alike porch for the second entryway. However, Belknap decided to top the add-on with a gable roof, which slops on two sides leaving a gable (the wall) in between the roof’s sides. This design decision indicates the fashionable shift towards other architectural styles in the 1890s, as Second Empire gradually became outdated. Belknap retired from the Supreme Court in 1905 and subsequently moved to the California coast, where he died in 1926. The residence is substantial at 2,600 square feet, containing three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It went through other expansions after Belknap’s ownership, including two garages built around 1920 and 1954. Interestingly, the house also contains a 1960s-era nuclear fallout shelter, now used as a guest house. It is the only privately-held fallout shelter in Carson City. None of these additions, however, contribute to the historical significance of the site, according to the National Register of Historic Places, as they fall outside the boundaries of the original home and additions. As one of the few examples of Second Empire architecture in Carson City, the Belknap House holds a special place in Carson City’s local history and western American Architecture. Its owners successfully added it to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. At the time of writing, it is not open to the public for visitors.

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The original owner of the St. Charles was French-born Albert J. Muller. Muller started his career in Carson City as a professional baker until he realized that a hotel business was more promising. Although most of his patrons were French-Canadian wood choppers, the hotel became a frequent host to social gatherings in town. The hotel is the second oldest in Nevada, and it is one of the oldest extant commercial buildings in Carson City. It was typical for commercial buildings in the late-nineteenth century to have a low-pitched roof, decorative brackets under a cornice, and tall narrow windows. Initially, the hotel existed as two separate buildings. Construction on the northern section, the St. Charles, started April 1, 1862, and the southern section, the Muller Hotel, began the following month. Numerous alterations to the hotel over the years result in its unique look, not belonging to any particular architectural period. The architectural style is closest to Italianate, a style that was most common for many American main-street commercial buildings.  The hotel remained a successful business as it went through several name and ownership changes until the 1980s. Before its period of decline, the hotel went through many transformations. In 1895, Gilbert and Dorcas Briggs changed its name to the Briggs’ House. In 1910, it became the Golden West Hotel. Over the years, the hotel changed again and was known as the Travelers Hotel, Hotel Page, the Pony Express Hotel when it was at its largest room count, and finally back to St. Charles Muller’s Hotel. Overall, the hotel’s ownership changed sixteen times over a 142-year period. On top of its many name changes, the hotel building has also several different businesses occupy its grounds. Some of these were a stagecoach office, a saloon, a restaurant, retail shops, and a grammar school classroom. Not much of the building remains in its original form, yet it shows signs of the changes it has gone through in its purposes, names, and owners. Today, the hotel is beautifully painted red and gold. Rooms with modern décor and comforts are available through Airbnb, making it easy to book online. In the hotel’s history, there were periods of time where the hotel was inaccessible, but today it is open and catering to current methods of booking a place to stay.

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