The Lake House provided plenty of drink yet modest accommodations to the prospectors, settlers, and others who traveled through the valley. Lake had purchased the land and adjacent bridge crossing from Charles W. Lake built the lodging and resting place in 1870. The Lake House was the first structure on this spot along Virginia Street just south of the Truckee River.
The Riverside Hotel has been a fixture of the Reno community and skyline for 130 years.