Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Decision made to tear down historic Whitehead Mansion

The 1929 Whitehead Mansion, built when Las Vegas was a small, dusty Western town about to go boom while the rest of the country went bust, will be torn down on Friday.

Louise Helton, who watched firefighters put out an early morning blaze at the historic home on Tuesday, came to that decision Wednesday after consulting with engineers.

"Life hands you lemons and you make lemonade. Right now I'm looking for a recipe," Helton said.

Helton's nonprofit organization, the Junior League of Las Vegas, spent the last three years pouring nearly $1.3 million into restoring the historic home. Approximately $475,000 of that came from state grants.

Helton said the group was just a few months and $50,000 away from moving into what was to be a working museum.

"It's the death of a dream and it's so sad for all of us," Helton said. "It was going to to be a place where schoolchildren could come by the busload and learn where Las Vegas was born."

Contractors had moved the Mission-Revival style home from its original site at Seventh Street and Mesquite Avenue to 10th Street and Carson Avenue a year ago to make way for a new parking garage.

The home was on blocks at the time of the fire, awaiting a new foundation at its future home on Ninth Street and Bridger Avenue.

Investigators said they suspect that homeless people squatting in the mansion started the blaze, but no official inquiry will be conducted. Tim Szymanski, spokesman for the Las Vegas Fire Department, said the building is too unstable to risk anyone going inside.

"We lose buildings daily, and whether it's an individual house or an entire casino, the rate of our loss is so profound in Southern Nevada," said Mark Ryzdynski, an administrator at the Clark County Museum. "I feel both for the loss of history and the loss of the Junior League. You can't go out and find another Whitehead House. It was one of one."

Helton said her group planned to meet today to discuss moving forward, but said, "We have nothing in the wings."

The Junior League, an international organization for developing women and community, has worked in Las Vegas for more than 55 years. The group established the first libraries in town, as well as Nevada Public Radio (KNPR). In 1979, the group sponsored the first restoration of a local residence, the 1912 Beckley House, a California bungalow-style home currently located at the county museum.

"Back at a time before any other organization thought about saving Las Vegas history, back in the late '70s and early '80s, (the Junior League was) already doing that," said Ryzdynski. "I hope they'll bounce right back."

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