The developer, Charles H. Burke (1865-1944), immigrated from Liverpool, England, to Reno via Los Angeles around 1890. Initially, he worked as a horseshoer and blacksmith in downtown Reno,

At the beginning of the 20th century, most development in Reno was located north of the Truckee River. Burke expanded development by opening up Burke's Survey and Burke's Addition in southeast Reno. In 1908, he purchased the lot at 418 Cheney Street in Burke's Addition and built a modest one story rental house. In 1919, Burke sold the house to James J. Berryman.

The Burke-Berryman House is representative of the shift in taste from the opulent Victorian Age to a less flamboyant sensibility. The house is an excellent example of a simplified Queen Anne/Colonial Revival architectural style.

Within a one block radius, this house stands as the only example of the early days of Burke's Addition. The neighborhood would eventually be filled in with modest brick bungalows built between the mid-1920s and the mid-1940s.

Source: Adapted from the NRHP nomination form submitted in 1984.