Stokes Castle

Stokes Castle
Location Castle, US 50 W of Austin, Austin, Nevada
Coordinates 39°29′37.13″N 117°4′47.49″W / 39.4936472°N 117.0798583°W / 39.4936472; -117.0798583Coordinates: 39°29′37.13″N 117°4′47.49″W / 39.4936472°N 117.0798583°W / 39.4936472; -117.0798583
Built 1897
Architect Anson Phelps Stokes; Wholey, John C.
Architectural style Late Victorian
NRHP Reference # 03000757 [1]
Added to NRHP August 14, 2003

Stokes Castle is a three-story stone tower located just outside Austin, Nevada. It was built by Anson Phelps Stokes, a mine developer, railroad magnate, and banker. Intending the building as a summer home, Stokes began building the castle in 1896, completing it in 1897.[2]

The castle is patterned after a tower that Stokes had seen and admired in the Roman Campagna in Italy. The castle is built of hand-hewn native granite, and the huge stones were hoisted into place with a hand winch and held in place with rock wedging and clay mortar.[3] The kitchen and dining room were on the first floor, while the second floor contained the living room and the third floor housed two bedrooms.[2] Each of the floors had a fireplace, and the second and third floors each had a balcony. The roof had a battlemented terrace.[3]

The family only occupied the Stokes Castle for a short time. The family traveled west in June 1897 with friends and spent about a month in the castle. They spent a few more days in October 1897. They returned in the summer of 1898, but they sold their mine, the milling equipment, and the castle, and never returned to the town.[2]

Eventually, the castle fell into disrepair until Molly Magee Knudsen, a cousin of Stokes, bought the castle in 1956.[2] The tower was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.[1] The "Castle" is currently owned by HW Trapnell of Austin, NV and Dunsmuir, CA.

References

  1. 1 2 Staff (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Quirky Nevada - Stokes Castle". Archived from the original on 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  3. 1 2 "Nevada State Historic Preservation - Nevada Historic Markers - Stokes Castle". Retrieved 2011-06-22.
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