[3] The house is notable for its relationship to the literary career of Molly Foote and the master architect, Morgan.

[5] 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.

While living in the house Mary Foote wrote her lifetime reminiscences which form her published memoirs, A Victorian Gentlewoman in the Far West.

Now operated as an event center by a non-profit organization, it is currently the home of the weekly Nevada County Growers Market.

[6] The North Star House was the setting for Wallace Stegner’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Angle of Repose.

During this time Penelope Curtis founded the Julia Morgan Conservancy which began restoration plans for the house.

[1] The style, dubbed the First Bay Tradition, included natural materials and site-sensitive design such as local waste rock from the mine, hand-peeled logs and redwood shingles.

[4] Exemplifying Morgan's style, the house features exposed beams, strong horizontal lines, the use of shingles, and earth-toned colors.

[4] The hybridized fruit trees that resulted from Foote's collaboration with Luther Burbank are evidenced in the surrounding heritage orchard.

There was a fern grove to the south and landscaping to the north included Japanese quince, peonies, cedar, and tulip trees.