The registration building for the Carson Valley Motor Lodge is not only a cheerful and comfortable check in point, but also a piece of Carson Valley history.
The Wennhold house was originally situated on 21 acres known as the Valley Farm. It was a working chicken ranch when the Wennhold's bought the property in the early 1920's. An apple orchard filled much of the one acre on which the house is located. The 20 acre parcel was leased to Henry Dreyer who used it to grow grain or alfalfa.
William H. Wennhold was a longtime Minden banker with the Farmers Bank of Carson Valley in downtown Minden. He built the brick home in the summer of 1926 - one of the loveliest homes in town at the time. Three years later, Bill Wennhold was born in the master bedroom on June 2, 1929.
Bill visited with us in the mid nineties and enthusiastically shared many of his childhood memories about the house.
The sun room on the west side of the house originally served as the sewing room for Bill's mother, Frieda Wennhold. The living room included a desk area where his father ran his insurance business. The current "registration area" was the original dining room, scene of many gatherings of folks from around Carson Valley. The original kitchen contained all the same cabinets that are there today.
In the basement, the laundry area originally contained a laundry chute from the second floor and a small wood stove was used to heat the laundry water. One corner of the basement served as Frieda's canning section where she "put up" apples, jams, and jellies. A large furnace was originally fed by coal which entered from an outside bin. The furnace was later converted to wood and then to oil. To this day, a post in the basement remains with the dated markings for the heights of Bill and his sister Margaret as they grew.
The home has changed hands several times over the years and many of the area's longtime residents have good time memories of this sturdy residence. In 1959, the Wennhold estate sold the house to Theodore Webster. Six years later, in 1965, Mr. Webster sold to Dr. Richard Blanchard, a local dentist. John and Mary Jane Hillenbrand bought the home from Dr. Blanchard in 1972, and the Carson Valley Inn acquired the property in 1986.
Extensive renovation was done to convert the home to the registration building for the Carson Valley Motor Lodge in 1993. Much of the original building was preserved including the hardwood floors, walls, ceilings, kitchen cabinets, and fireplace. Since insulation wasn't used back in the twenties, new heavy duty heating and air conditioning equipment was necessary. All of the plumbing, electrical, and windows had to be replaced and the new roof ties to the decor of the Motor Lodge.
Outside of the house, next to the Carson Valley Market parking lot, a tall blue spruce tree holds a special place for Bill Wennhold it was planted in 1929 in honor of his birth.
Bill and his wife Saundra now live in the San Diego area where he is enjoying retirement after more than 30 years with General Dynamics.
(Special Thanks to Marlena Hellwinkel who graciously helped us assemble this data)