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The Niels P. Hjort house is architecturally significant as an example of a modified temple-form, gable-facade cross-wing type, which was one of the basic residential building types implemented by early Utah settlers. The vernacular classical design of the house, with subtle Greek Revival influence and stone construction, is in many ways typical of early Sanpete Valley dwellings, where oolite limestone was a common building material. This particular type of limestone was used not only in swellings but in larger commercial, public, and religious buildings including there prominent Manti LDS Temple. It was even exported for out-of-state construction projects.
Sanpete Valley had an ethnically diverse population, drawing immigrants from all parts of northern Europe. Neils P. Hjort, as a Norwegian immigrant, was a member of the Scandinavian population in the valley. Although some Scandinavian immigrants constructed houses after the traditions of their homelands, Hjort, perhaps feeling the need to acculurate with other Mormon converts, chose to build his house in a traditional American form.
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