When a Bookstore is More Than Just a Bookstore

UPDATE: Sadly, Sundance Books is no more. The Levy Mansion remains standing, but the beloved community bookstore has closed.   

Anyone who visits Reno’s popular and well-regarded local bookshop, Sundance Books, is immediately impressed by the building in which it is located.

   The structure is a three-story white mansion, graced by six, large columns and wide steps in front. Inside, the structure boasts hardwood floors, wood paneled walls and a large staircase leading to the second floor.

   Obviously, it was not always a bookstore.

   Fortunately, prolific local history writer and former Nevada Secretary of State Patricia Cafferata has compiled the whole story, which she shares in her latest book, “Reno’s Sundance Books and Music: Merchant Holds Sway in Historic Levy Mansion.”

   According to Cafferata’s research, the house was constructed in 1907 by successful Reno merchant, William Levy and his wife, Tillie. Along with partner Jacob Morris, Levy owned Palace Dry Goods in downtown Reno, was a founding trustee in the Farmers and Merchants Bank, and had investments in several profitable mines.

   In designing their home, the Levys, who had two daughters, wanted a showcase that would make a statement about their business success. The 4,800 square-foot house was built in the Classical Revival architectural style with fluted Ionic columns and a triangular porch pediment over the front portico.

   The house was furnished with what Cafferata described as handsome antiques, along with elegant brass-colored light fixtures and a Tiffany chandelier in the dining room.

   Following William Levy’s death in 1920, his wife and youngest daughter, Mildred (called Tinker) continued to live in the house. His older daughter, Fritzie (called Mimi) permanently moved to San Francisco, where she married an obstetrician named Zachariah Coblentz.

   Cafferata noted that Tillie and Tinker Levy continued to operate the Palace Dry Goods store for another 12 years after William’s death. During the Great Depression, however, the store fell on hard times and the family closed it in 1932.

   When Tillie Levy died in 1938, the daughters decided to subdivide the property. Tinker inherited the house while Mimi received the east section of the land along what is now South Sierra Street (called Granite Street at the time).

   It was at that time, that the house was relocated on the lot. Originally built to face Granite Street, it was moved 90 degrees so that it faced California Avenue and received a new address, 121 California Avenue.

   Mimi leased her portion of the property to an oil company, which erected a gas station on the site. The station was demolished in the 1970s, when the city of Reno condemned a piece of her property in order to widen Sierra Street.

   Tinker, who never married, lived in the house until her death in 1978. Cafferata noted that during her ownership, Tinker enjoyed entertaining others, especially neighborhood children.

   Following Tinker’s death, her sister, who inherited the house, decided to sell it to a group of Reno attorneys for their offices. The property had fallen into some disrepair and was badly in need of renovation.

   The work was completed in the early 1980s and for the next two decades, the house served as legal offices.

   In 2003, it was acquired by the Nevada Museum of Art, which began looking for an appropriate tenant.

   A few years later, in 2010, Christine Kelly, owner of Sundance Books and Music, was looking for a new home because the store had outgrown its strip mall space on West Fourth Street.

   The museum and the bookstore eventually connected and, in 2011, Sundance reopened at its new location in the historic Levy Mansion.

   To learn more about the Levy family and the history of the mansion, pick up a copy of Cafferata’s book, available at Sundance Books and Music, https://www.sundancebookstore.com/.