Home of Lola Montez

Eliza Rosanna Gilbert of Limerick arrived here in 1853 already famous, already titled by a Bavarian king who lost his throne partly over her, and stayed roughly two years. The bronze credits her salon with founding the county's quartz mining industry and calls her a founder of the cosmetics trade — claims made by a drinking society, not a historian. The house is a reconstruction. The original was condemned and came down in the 1970s; what stands is built to an 1854 sketch.

What the plaque says

Lola Montez 1819-1861. Countess of Landsfeld. In her home which occupied this site, Lola's Social Salons 1853-55 attracted men of vision whose investments and technology founded Nevada County's gold quartz mining industry. She brought culture and refinement to this rude mining camp. A mistress of international intrigue and a feminist before her time she is one of history's most recognizable women and a founder of today's cosmetic industry.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Empire Mine State Historic Park — 1.3 mi
  The oldest, deepest, richest hard-rock gold mine in California, with 367 miles of flooded tunnels underneath.
• Nevada City — 4.1 mi
  Gaslamps, brick storefronts, and the Nisenan who are still fighting to be recognized on their own ground.
• Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park — 14 mi
  A canyon washed out of a mountain by water cannon, and the lawsuit that ended hydraulic mining.

More markers nearby

• Home of Lotta Crabtree — steps away
• Mount Saint Mary's Convent and Academy — steps away
• Holbrooke Hotel — 0.2 mi
• Site of One of the First Discoveries of Quartz Gold in California — 0.4 mi