The Marzen House

Joseph Marzen was born in Germany in 1928 and immigrated to New York City in 1846. He learned the butcher’s trade there before going west to Sacramento, California, in 1851 and then to Virginia City, Nevada, in 1863. During a cattle run through Lovelock Valley in 1873, he decided he had found his destiny, and in late 1874 he returned to buy land and plan a ranch house. After serving three previous Nevada governors, Governor Jewett Adams granted him the rank of Colonel in the Nevada State National Guard, and he was also appointed to the first State Board of Agriculture because of his broad involvement in ranching and irrigation in Lovelock Valley. Built in 1875 on Big Meadows Ranch, the house was designed in an Italianete style inspired by 16” century Italian Renaissance architecture. It was the grandest ranch house in the valley and reflected the area’s richness as the ranch expanded to more than 3400 acres and became well known throughout the western states for its fertile alfalfa and grain fields, 300 dairy cows, and especially its award-winning cattle and horse breeds. Marzen died in 1916, but his legacy continued through many generations of grandchildren who lived in the area. The house was purchased in 1980 and donated to Pershing County, then moved to the western edge of the former ranch, where it stands today.

Lovelock, Nevada · United States