Rinckel Mansion

The Rinckel Mansion is of state historical significance because of its connection with Mathias Rinckel, a pioneer Carson City merchant, and because it is one of the finest and best-preserved examples of French Victorian architecture remaining in the American West. Its designer and builder, Charles H. Jones, was a graduate of the Beaux Arts School of Paris and its exceptionally sturdy construction stands as a monument to early-day craftsmen whose work is today unrivaled

In addition to serving as the home of Mathias Rinckel and his family the mansion was the scone of numerous social gatherings over the years, It became widely known as one on the area's most beautiful homes and no visit to Carson City was considered complete without a side-trip to the mansion.

Mathias Rinckel died in 1879, but his widow and her family continued to live in the mansion until her death in 1933. The Rinckel's daughter, Louise, and her husband, George F. Blakeslee, continued to reside there until her death in 1960. In addition to living in the mansion, the Blakeslees operated it as a private museum. They were induced to do so in 1941 at the urging of the members of the cast of The Remarkable Andrew, a Paramount Pictures film which used the mansion as a backdrop in one of its scenes. Following Louise Rinckel Blakeslee's death, the mansion continued in operation as a museum until 1968 under the curatorship of Ronald Machado of Carson City.

At one time the mansion was offered to the state of Nevada for use as a museum and cultural facility, but the money was never appropriated. In recent years a break-in resulted in the loss of the family silverware some furnishings and portraits of Mathias Rinckel and his wife, but the exterior of the building has not been vandalized. Many of the furnishings have been removed and sold by the Rinckel heirs in recent years, but the original carpets, draperies, lighting fixtures and paintings remain.