The Twaddle Mansion was built for rancher Ebenezer "Eben" Twaddle in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

. The two-story frame house was built in 1905 by contractor Benjamin Leon in the

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...

style, an unusual choice for

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, and executed with particular opulence. The house features a richly ornamented first floor. The entry porch features clusters of Ionic columns supporting a frieze and pediment. The curving porch extends around the house to the west, echoing the house's corner lot placement. The east side features an extensively decorated hooded window. The porch columns are linked by turned balusters. Corners are marked with two-story Ionic pilasters. The second floor is more restrained in its detailing, almost to the point of relative austerity compared with the first. The house's windows are fitted with beveled glass. Eaves are supported by brackets interspersed with decorative relief over the second floor windows. The hipped roof is outfitted with small dormers with diamond-pane windows. Eben Twaddle was a Reno-area rancher and was a six-term Reno city councilman, hospital administrator, school board representative and fire marshal. After the passage of liberalized

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

laws in Reno, it became a temporary residence for applicants observing the mandatory local residence time for divorce. In 1927 the local six-month waiting period for a divorce was reduced to three months, and in 1931 it was further reduced to six weeks, greatly increasing the divorce trade in Reno. The house later became a religious center for the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

, and then was converted to commercial use. The Twaddle Mansion was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1983. Laurence Peter Digesti, a local Reno attorney, purchased the mansion in the 1990s and renovated the inside so that it now is The Digesti Law Firm LLP.

References

External links

* at the National Park Service's NRHP database
www.digestilaw.com
to view The Digesti Law Firm's web site {{Nevada State Historic Places/Washoe County Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Nevada National Register of Historic Places in Reno, Nevada Colonial Revival architecture in Nevada Houses completed in 1905 Houses in Reno, Nevada 1905 establishments in Nevada

See also

References

External links