Lavere redfield biography of christopher

Many first-time visitors to Reno drive by the intersection of Mount Rose Street and Plumas Avenue and wonder what’s the story with the nearby big rock house.

Fortunately, a new book, “The Curious Life of Nevada’s LaVere Redfield: the Silver Dollar King,” by Jack Harpster, helps explain the fascinating and bizarre life of the man most associated with the stone mansion.

Redfield, who died in 1974, seemed to have been seriously interested in only a couple of things during his life — the acquisition of as much land as he could buy, purchasing and hoarding as many silver dollars as he could obtain, gambling and not paying taxes.

Born on Oct.

29, 1897 in Ogden, Utah, Redfield didn’t have much in his early life. His father died when he was young and his mother was forced to raise seven children alone.

He moved to Idaho as a young man and worked a variety of common jobs, including as a potato digger and in a department store, where married a co-worker (Nell).

In about 1921, the couple