Cathie Bryant, a local history buff, who looks for old photos and displays them on a Facebook group she runs, occasionally researches the history of homes for people who have bought them.
Recently, she was hired by the new owners of the Aitken House at 781 Mill Street, the Weeds, and was thrilled at finding new information on one of the oldest known homes in Reno, used in recent decades as a medical office.
“It’s been so much fun. I’ve found the only known photo of [John] Aitken [the bearded man with crossed arms in photo montage], and just so much interesting history in regard to the home. One not so old, but interesting and significant article was in the mid 1980s when Sam Francovich purchased the home. Sam was responsible for restoring the exterior and turned the interior into medical offices,” Bryant wrote on a recent Facebook post she shared with us.
She then tracked down Francovich, and the new owner was able to meet him at the house a few days ago, where they also recreated a newspaper photo of Francovich in front of the house from 40 years ago [also in photo montage]. Francovich and the new owners happen to live close to each other in old southwest Reno.
Bryant told Our Town Reno the house was once used as what was known as a Florence Crittenton House.
These were safe places for unmarried mothers and designed to encourage “destitute, homeless and wayward women to seek reformation of character and responsibility of life through the religion of Jesus Christ,” according to wording from about 100 years ago.
At its origin, Aitken, a drayman, who hauled goods by horse and wagon, built the Victorian home during the same era as the early 20th century Wingfield Mansion which was lost in an arson fire in 2001.
In a Reno Gazette-Journal article, Francovich was quoted as saying it was important to save part of Reno’s history, rather than tear it down.
The current owners who bought the house for $1.2 million in December 2023 plan to do renovations starting in May, at which point the current tenants, the Geriatric Specialty Care of Nevada, will have left.
“She would send me newspaper articles and clippings and oh, it was just awesome,” Whitney Weed said of hiring Bryant.
Her husband, Scott Weed, a dental specialist who does root canals, will be using the historical Mill Street house for his practice.
They are planning to update bathrooms, knock out a few walls, paint the exterior and interior, and “just try and liven it up,” Weed said.
“We’re in a position where we can show the care that is needed because for whatever reason, that house has had a lot of luck,” Weed said during a phone interview with Our Town Reno earlier today. “And so I want to be able to cherish that. I’m excited that we have the opportunity to kind of brighten up the area and do what we can to just show some love there.”
As for what Bryant is doing, Weed had lots of praise.
“I just think she's one of those real treasures. I think just such a very smart, beautiful person that she's able to see history and see the people that first started in Reno and appreciate them for what they did, and the hard work that they put into making this town awesome,” she said.
Bryant invites people to check out the Facebook group she runs where she posts the histories of the old homes she researches called: “Old House Lovers of Northern Nevada: If these walls could talk.”