Arendt Jensen built this vernacular building with neoclassical elements as a general merchandise store in the early 1900's. Its shelves offered a wide variety of everyday necessities and supplies, from clothing to agricultural tools and seeds. Jensen also founded the Douglas County Farmer's Bank in Gardnerville, the first bank in Carson Valley. He sold the adjoining property to the Masonic Lodge in 1919. Although the site appears to contain one building, it is actually two separate buildings on two parcels.