Gold Rush Era Victorian · 3BR · National Register

Sleep Inside Nome`s Most Storied Victorian — Built 1904
Step into a living piece of Alaska history. The Orton House is one of Nome`s best-preserved Victorian homes, built in May and June of 1904 by attorney Ira D. Orton, one of the most prominent lawyers in Northwestern Alaska during the gold rush era. Over 120 years later, it still stands largely unchanged — the original dormer window still keeping watch from the roofline, the same dark wood wainscoting and built-in drawers under the staircase that Ira and Viola Orton would recognise today.
The Space
This 1½-storey Victorian features three bedrooms, classic weatherboard siding, and the original finial still crowning the gable peak. Inside, the dark wood-paneled ground floor has a ship-like character, with squared-off detailing under the stairs and original built-in storage throughout. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The home survived Nome`s devastating 1934 fire and has outlasted nearly every building of its era on West First Avenue. Its owners have included a Pioneer Mining Company manager, Nome`s postmaster, and a dog musher who drove the first-place team in the All-Alaska Sweepstakes.


605 Lomen Avenue, Nome — steps from the Bering Sea coast, in the heart of the city that gold built.