North Star House

North Star House is a house located roughly a mile south of Grass Valley, Nevada County, northern California. The building served as the superintendent's house for the North Star Mine. Commissioned by Superintendent Arthur De Wint Foote and his wife, Mary Hallock Foote, an author and illustrator, it was designed in 1905 by the architect Julia Morgan. This was her first significant, large-scale, residential project. The house is notable for its relationship to the literary career of Molly Foote and the master architect, Morgan.GeographyThe house is located at 12075 Old Auburn Road, near the Nevada County Fairgrounds. Situated on a 14acres site, the property is on a hillside that overlooks foothills and a valley. To the south is Quail Valley Golf Club.HistoryThe North Star Mine was the second largest producer of gold during California’s Gold Rush. The Footes originally lived on the mine property for 10 years with their three children in a cottage. When Foote and his wife decided they needed a home to entertain the investors, dignitaries and celebrities that were coming to the Gold Country, they hired Morgan to design it. Built in 1905, it was one of her first projects. While living in the house Mary Foote wrote her lifetime reminiscences which form her published memoirs, A Victorian Gentlewoman in the Far West. From the time of construction to 1968, the residence was occupied by the Foote family.