Spence, William, House
308 S. Thompson St., Carson City (Independent City), NVThe William Spence House is an architecturally significant dwelling representative of transitional designs common to Carson City, Nevada, in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The building is also significant for its association with the early residential development of Carson City.
The Spence House was constructed in 1875 by William Mortimer Spence, a cabinetmaker and piano wright who was born in London in 1822. Spence and his wife, Penelope, emigrated to the United States in 1860. Initally settling in Wisconsin, the Spences moved west to Carson City in 1873. William Spence secured employment with the Virginia & Truckee Railroad at their round house in Carson where he rose to the position of car builder.
Although Spence deeded the Thompson Street dwelling to his four children in 1920, he retained residence in the structure until his death in 1924. Bertha Spence Collins gained control of the property and its furnishings from the remaining Spence heirs in 1925. The dwelling remained in the Collins family until 1955, at which time the house and furnishings passed to John Meegen and his wife, Harriet. Under the Meegan ownership improvements were made to the building's mechanical systems. The Spence House remains a single-family residence as of 1984.
The William Spence House is an intact example of local transitional design incorporating a simplified Greek Revival form with Italianate detailing. This integration of earlier stylistic forms with later, elaborate ornamentation is indicative of Carson City architectural development in the late nineteenth century and is most commonly found in residential structures whose designs reflect a survivalist architectural vocabulary in terms of massing, scale, proportion and plan. These forms are commonly embellished by elaborate, often standardized, architectural and ornamental components. The Spence House exhibits this later phenomenon in its elaborate entrance treatment and the application of the slightly over scaled, east elevation bay.
The Spence House is also associated with the residential development of southwest Carson City in period of construction, building orientation and division of site into primary residential area and rear service area. Evidence of this primary and secondary lot division can be seen in the location of dwelling and barn.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.