The Adams property as portrayed in Thompson & West’s “The History of Nevada 1881."
What is likely the oldest home in Nevada to remain in the same family since before statehood is up for sale.
Built by Rufus Adams in the mid-19th Century, the Adams family home has been listed for sale for $3 million through Re/Max Realtors. The property includes 7.75 acres of land, according to the listing.
According to homestead documents filed in 1869, Rufus Adams arrived in Carson Valley on March 30, 1856, and built a two-story brick house with 15 rooms, 20 doors, 30 windows a shingle roof, wood floor. He moved in on April 15, 1860, according to the documents.
The Douglas County Assessor’s Office lists its construction as 1852, but according to Thompson & West’s “The History of Nevada 1881,” John Quincy and Rufus Adams first came to Genoa in 1853, when it was still known as Mormon Station. John Quincy Adams also listed a two-story brick home on his property closer to the river that was built in March 1864, according to documents filed in 1870.
The house is located two miles north of Nevada’s oldest settlement.
Operating as one of the longest continuous ranches in the state, the house served as a hotel along the Carson River Route for five years in its early days, according to the history.
For most of its existence, the family lived in the house since it was constructed of bricks fired on the property.
“Those were the happiest days of my life,” J.Q. Adams reported to Thompson and West.
Bricks fired by the Adams were used in construction of the Genoa Bar and the Genoa Courthouse and the U.S. Mint in Carson City, which now serves as the Nevada State Museum.
