Stoddard Mansion

Continue up Morning Star Street. On your right high on the hill is the Stoddard Mansion. One of Silver City’s most beautiful homes, the Stoddard Masion was built in the early 1870s by John Stoddard, a young man from Iowa who came to the area to seek his fortune after serving in the Civil War. While prospecting in the area, he accidently kicked some rocks and discovered a rich lode of gold near DeLamar. He met his wife Mary McMahon on one of his trips to the area, and they were married in the house on September 18, 1870. Stoddard and William Townsend owned a lumber mill near town and used the wood to build the large home. Trim work and “gingerbread” finishes were the handywork of German-born carpenter Otto Patschek, a skilled cabinetmaker of Silver City who also did work on the Lippincott Building and built the cabinet for Colonel W. H. Dewey now displayed in the Owyhee County Historical Museum in Murphy.

Beautiful furnishings including a chandelier from Paris and wall-to-wall carpet from Salt Lake City was featured in the home. The Stoddard’s had two boys and lived in the home until at least 1930. In the 1940s the home was sold by their son and many of the furnishings and original art were removed. The home sat vacant for many years before being restored to its current state.