Located at 287 East 100 North in Provo, the John R. Twelves House is a historic house listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
This home was built in 1906 by John R. Twelves. John R. Twelves was a central figure in Utah’s history, being involved in the Grand Central Mining Company and serving as Utah County’s treasurer and recorder. The John R. Twelves House was designated to the Provo City Historic Landmarks Registry on April 26, 1996.
Since 2005 the Twelves House was the home of independent filmmaker Richard Dutcher’s Main Street Movie Company, a motion picture production and distribution company. I remember there was a 9 foot marble sculpture of Jesus, which dominated the front lawn, it was a prop which plays prominently in Dutcher’s film FALLING.
Constructed C. 1902 by the owner, Angus G. Beebe, this one-story brick house is a well-preserved example of an early twentieth century house pattern book design.
The Beebe House is a restrained example of the small, pattern-book house of the Victorian era. A comprehensive survey of the city of Provo concluded that it is one of the best of only a few remaining examples of this type. With its arrangement of square corner tower, gables and corner porches, it is the more sophisticated of only two pattern book houses in the city with an entry vestibule in the corner tower. While few houses in Utah are exact copies of the most widely published pattern books, the influence of suck books is shown in the sparse ornamentation and irregular plan of residences like the Beebe House.
The house was built for Angus G. Beebe, son of a flour-milling family, who was himself employed as bookkeeper of the Provo Roller Mills managed by his brother David R. Miller. Angus later became a found of the Beebe Lumber Company. The style and substance of the home, probably loosely copied from a pattern book bought by mail by the owner or builder, suggests the aspirations to fashion of many second-generation Provo residents. Of interest in the interior is the interior woodwork. The oak hardwood flooring is also intact.
The William D. Alexander House is a historic house located at 91 West 200 South in Provo, Utah. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is asserted to be the only period example of Stick Style architecture in the state of Utah.
The William D. Alexander House was built in 1891 by William Denton Alexander. This home is perhaps the only example of Stick Style architecture in Utah. “The overall design of the house integrates Eastlake porch details and Queen Anne wall shingling on the upper story with the dominant ground level Stick Style to form a complete, cohesive, architectural composition… The visual complexity of the house is further accentuated by the mixing of hip and gable roof forms, the use of projecting wall dormers, and the presence of clipped corners on the house body and wing (National Park Service p. 1).” The William D. Alexander House was designated to the Provo Historic Landmark registry on March 7, 1996.
The John E. Booth House house is a historic house located in Provo, Utah. John E. Booth was a significant Provoan, and was extensively involved in Provo’s community and religious affairs. Located at 59 West and 500 North and less than one acre in size, the John E. Booth House was built in 1900, and happens to be the only two-and-a-half story Victorian Mansion in Provo, Utah. This house is significant not only as a Victorian mansion, but due to the fact that its “Bricks were individually painted to create a variegrated design effect” (Historic Provo p. 10). The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The house was designated to the Provo City Historic Landmark Register on May 26, 1995.
Â
“The plan of this two and one half story brick house derives from the vernacular L-plan and has a T extension in the rear. A hip roof and a gable roof section intersect to form the L. The extension has a hip roof. From each end of the hip roof are gable projections with pent roofs like the pent roof of the gable on the facade. Two tall chimneys with elaborate corbelling project from the hip roof section. Divisions between stories are subtley emphasized. Pairs of stringcourses divide the basement, first, second and third stories from one another. The division between the basement and first floor is further emphasized by color differentiation in the brick. The red brick of the basement was left unpainted, whereas the brick and mortar joints of the rest of the house except that on the T extension, have been painted various shades of brown and tan to that on the T extension, have been painted various shades of brown and tan to create a varigated effect. The division between the second and third floors has, in addition to the stringcourses, a line of obliquely set bricks that runs beneath the stringcourses at the height of the second story lintels. The fenestration of the facade is simple and carefully balanced. On the east half, the gable end, a simple Palladian window is centered on the top half story and a broad single sash window with a stained glass transom and stone lintel and lugsill is centered on each of the two lower stories. A single story square hip roof brick entrance chamber fills the angle of intersection of the hip and gable roof sections. Above it is a simple double hung sash window. On each story of the west half of the hip roof section is centered a single window similar to those on the gable end. Windows on the east, west and south sides of the building are long, narrow, have jigsaw cut detailing in the decorative arch above them, and are topped with a segmented reliving arch. Classical detailing includes: a boxed cornice on the main roofline and on that of the brick entry which is completely supported by brackets except on the T addition; the pediment over the entrance supported by a Classical pier and pilaster which has a fan type of decoration on the tympanum; and dentils which line the lower edge of the transom of each single sash window. Major alterations include a change in the size of the opening of a window on the east wall and the addition of two frame extensions to the east and west sides of the T extension.” The changes to the building do not affect the historical meaning of the house.
Â
John E. Booth: Born in England in 1847, John E. Booth traveled to Utah with his parents in 1857 as a result of his family converting to the L.D.S. faith. Attaining his early education in England and his latter in the United States, studying at the University of Deseret and teaching in various towns throughout Utah, Booth eventually began to study law under the direction of John B. Milner. Booth began practicing law in 1875, the same year that he became the city attorney for the city of Provo. While serving in Provo, Booth was also a district judge. Active in politics as well as law, Booth served in the Utah Territorial Senate from 1890 to 1891, Mayor of Provo, and president of the local schoolboard. Booth was also a businessman, serving as director of several businesses and banks in the city of Provo, and heading the Utah Valley Iron Mining and Manufacturing Company.
Very stalwart in his faith, John E. Booth served in many capacities in the Mormon religion throughout his life. He served in the position of a bishop (the man who presides over the local congregation), for the Provo Fourth Ward for over twenty years. Although he was a polygamist, having taken two wives in the early 1870s, both died approximately ten years later. He married again, but only one wife. John E. Booth died in 1920, and left the house to his widow. Selling it to her daughter and spouse, Elsie and Isaac E. Brockbank in 1923, the house still remains in the Brockbank family today.
The Ira W. Gardner Home was built in Queen Anne Victorian style over several years during the 1890’s for one of Utah County’s prominent ranchers. In Salem, Utah, (population 920) the Gardner Home is considered the town’s landmark residence.
The Ira W. Gardner House was built in 1895 and is located at 15 East Center Street in Salem, Utah. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places (#77001323) on July 28, 1977 and the text on this page is from the nomination form when it was added.
The Ira W. Gardner Home is a two-story Queen Anne style building constructed of light tan colored brick and dark red-brown colored sandstone. The asymmetrical facades, irregular plan, and massing combination roof, variety of textures and colors, and corner turret are among the Queen Anne elements.
The main floor has three entries from the outside and contains living and dining rooms, parlor, kitchen and one bedroom. There are several bedrooms upstairs. The original spacial arrangements of the plan are basically intact. Interior walls, ceilings, stairways, mouldings, fireplaces, and floors are in good condition. The kitchen and bathrooms have been remodeled, but the main living areas have been respectfully treated and are well preserved.
The exterior retains its original appearance with the exception of the porches on the west and south which have been modified. The western porch is particularly out of character.
The Gardner Home is roughly square shaped but is given variety by projecting gabled wings, porches and the corner turret. The vertical effect of the exterior composition is balanced by numerous horizontal belt courses of dark red-brown sandstone. All window bays are square and 1/1 double-hung wood sash windows dominate, although fixed sash picture windows also exist on the first level. The wall surface is given relief by small panels in the brick and corbeled brick patterns in the gable. The gables and tower also have coffered wood panels. Rusticated stone lintels, sills and pilasters and foundation wall add to the textural mix. The cornice is boxed, moulded and has a dentiled frieze. The overall effect of the exterior is one of massiveness and variety with appropriate but not overwhelming detailing.
Ira W. Gardner was born January 9, 1848, at Sweetwater, Wyoming, while his parents were en-route to Salt Lake City after joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) in Massachusetts. The Gardners were among the earliest settlers of Salem, Utah. Following his education in Salem, Ira became a barber, though his major accomplishments were won later in the occupation of agriculture and livestock raising. He became the owner of a large ranch estate and was considered one of the most successful breeders and growers in Utah County.
Because he grazed his livestock in the meadows near Scofield, Carbon County, Ira Gardner worked on his house only during the winter. Though assisted by his son, Eben, it took several years to construct the impressive brick and stone residence. Plans for the home were prepared by Daniel M. Cummings and are still extant. Cummings was a draftsman for the Provo Lumber Manufacturing and Building Company in 1890 and was later listed in Provo directories as an architect. The two-story residence was designed during Utah’s “late” (though not “high”) Victorian period and is possibly more akin to Queen Anne than any other Victorian sub-type. The substantial home has undergone few significant changes and is currently being restored by the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Womble.
The Christopher F. Dixon, Jr., House, built in 1899 is located at at 248 North Main Street in Payson, Utah and was added to the National Register of Historic Places(#77001319) on November 7, 1977.
It was constructed as a home for Christopher Flintoff Dlxon, Jr. (b. 1861 in Ohio) whose family arrived in Payson in 1862 as pioneer Mormon settlers. He did well in cattle and wheat and eventually arranged to have this eclectic Victorian home built. It is a local landmark.
Christopher Flintoff Dlxon, Jr., was the youngest son of C. F. Dixon, Sr., and Jane Elizabeth Wightman Dixon. He was born October 20, 1861, in Kirtland, Ohio, and was one year old the day the family arrived in Payson, Utah, after crossing the plains as part of the Mormon pioneer immigration. Upon arriving in Utah, the Dixon family acquired a sixty-acre farm adjoining the city of Payson on the north. Here they built an adobe home, planted a ten-acre apple orchard, and irrigated the land with water from Peteetneet Creek. C. F. Dixon, Sr., also operated a freighting business, hauling farm products from Utah to Iowa and Missouri. He would return with fruit trees, shade trees and building materials which he traded or used to build up his own farm. C. F. Sr. also homesteaded and farmed the Salem Field and helped build the Salem Canal which brought water from the Spanish Fork River for irrigation purposes.
Like most boys of pioneer times, Jack assisted his father with his various projects. In his youth, Jack helped to clear land and prepare it for planting, herded cows and worked in the family’s cheese-making dairy. Jack Dixon married Jane Orton Richmond, a Payson native, in 1883 and by their union ten children were born, eight of which survived childhood.Â
After leaving the dairy business, Jack Dixon began a livestock business in Payson Canyon with his uncles, Ammon Nebeker and John Dixon. In 1890 the group purchased 1000 head of Merino sheep at Dixon, California (settled by C. F. Dixon, Sr.’s two brothers) and shipped them to Utah. The Dixons and Mr. Nebeker purchased the Jesse Knight ranch in Thistle Valley and also leased the Knight ranch on West Mountain. The partners also purchased 600 acres of winter pasturage west of Goshen Bay on Utah Lake. During these growth years in the partnership, each partner had his own brand on his livestock but all ran the animals together with Jack Dixon supervising the farms and cattle operation.
During the Panic of 1897, Jack Dixon made large profits on cattle sales in Chicago, Illinois. Dixon also was successful in raising wheat. He was instrumental in starting out many family members and neighbors in the cattle business, his influence extending as far north as Calgary, Canada, where he developed a ranch for two of his nephews. A generous man, Jack Dixon paid tithing (10 percent of his income) to the Mormon Church although he was never a member.
Dixon was educated in Payson schools and encouraged his children to seek all educational opportunities available. As a result, several of his children obtained college degrees. With his wealth, Dixon purchased one of Payson’s first automobiles, a Studebaker sedan, and also visited the Chicago World’s Fair with members of his family, By 1899 Dixon had the affluence to have built the impressive residence which is the object of this nomination.
The C. F. Dixon Home is a two-story residence constructed of brick, stone and native wood. The main structure is roughly square with major gabled wings extending west and south and a massive balconied portico located along the south side of the western or front facade. At the east or back of the home is a one-story brick kitchen wing with wood-framed porches along the east and south side. A full basement exists under the entire building. The brick superstructure of the Dixon home rests upon a dark red rusticated sandstone foundation. The same rusticated stone is used for the lintels, sills, chimney trim and for the pedestals, columns, archways and quoins of the portico. Providing a lighter colored and less textured contrast to the rustic stone are the tan-cream brick. walls. Brick detailing is restrained, consisting only of three belt courses, corbeled chimneys, recessed panels on the north wall, and dentils under the stone sills of the front picture windows. The front gabled extension has rounded corners and the windows in these cornices have curved glass. All window and door bays are square, excepting the round-arched stairway window bay in the south facade.
Woodworking on the C. F. Dixon Home is often decorative, as evidenced by the Eastlake window mullions, bargeboards and interior trim. The gables are particularly ornamental, featuring shingled walls which curve inward toward the recessed windows and lathe-turned finials mimicking a collar brace and hammer brace motif. Although the boxed cornice has a simple frieze, the portico cornice has a dentil band, as the special cornice pieces over the second story lintels of the windows in the gabled wings. The roof of the Dixon Home is both hipped and gabled and has a steep pitch.
The interior of the home has experienced little alteration and is owned by the daughter of the original owner. The bottom floor contains an entry, stairwell, parlor, living and dining room and a kitchen with porches, upstairs are several bedrooms. Fireplaces, mouldings, doors and other original architectural elements are intact throughout the home. The landscaping has been carefully maintained as well.
Built in 1899 on a prominent site along Payson’s Main Street, the C. F. (Jack) Dixon, Jr. Home is an eclectic Victorian creation having the appearance of an oversized house–pattern book design embellished by a Richardsonian Romanesque treatment of the front portico, sills and lintels, and a Queen Anne or perhaps Eastlake treatment of the gables. The picturesque home has experienced no significant alterations since its initial construction and is considered a city landmark locally.
The John Dixon House, constructed in 1893-1894 is an excellent Utah example of the Richardsonian Romanesque design on a residential building. The house was constructed for John Dixon, a native of Payson and important figure in the state’s livestock industry. John Dixon served as mayor of Payson from 1900 through 1904.
According to its 1977 NRHP nomination, the house “is architecturally significant as a rare example of the influence of the Richardsonian Romanesque mode of design on residential architecture of the state. The high quality of craftsmanship represented in the building is also significant.”
The John Dixon House at 218 North Main Street in Payson, Utah was built in 1893. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (#78002701) on February 17, 1978.
The John Dixon Home, a substantial two-story stone building, helps document the life and accomplishments of one of the more prominent citizens of Payson, Utah. Dixon served as the town’s mayor, was a leader in developing the livestock industry in Payson and served in other capacities in local commercial and religious circles.
John Dixon came to Utah as a child following his family’s conversion to the Mormon Church in Ohio. The Dixon family came to Payson in 1862 to help permanently establish the young community. John’s father, Christopher Flintoff Dixon, engaged in the freighting business using the two teams of mules he had crossed the plainswith to haul local farm products to Iowa and Missouri. Upon his return he brought fruit and shade trees and building materials for his own use or for trading purposes. When the Dixons arrived in Payson, they acquired a farm of sixty acres adjoining the city on the north. There they built a house of adobe, planted a ten-acre apple orchard and irrigated the land with water out of Peteetneet Creek.
John Dixon grew to manhood experiencing the agricultural environment common to his family and the vast body of Mormon pioneers in general. With his father and brothers, he shared in dairy operations and in raising beef cattle. In 1890 he traveled to Dixon, California, where his father’s two brothers were living, and while there purchased one thousand head of Merino sheep which he shipped to Utah. He ran the sheep on Loafer Mountain southeast of Salem, Utah and thereby began his career in livestock raising.
Dixon and his family partners capitalized on the inability of Jesse Knight and his sons to buy from the government all of Payson Canyon. Knight, a developer of mines and other Utah industries, elected to raise his livestock in Canada and therefore sold his Thistle Valley ranch, and leased his 2,900 acres West Mountain Ranch to the Dixons. With this range and additional acreage purchased west of Goshen Bay on Utah Lake, John Dixon and partners assembled sufficient land to develop a large sheep and cattle raising business. In this enterprise they continued to associate with the Knight family through Raymond Knight, Jesse’s son. Together the two families weathered the panics of 1893 and 1897 and eventually assumed a role as regional cattle barons.
As his career grew, John Dixon entered commercial and public circles in his community. He was owner, with Hyrum Lemons, of the First Bank of Payson. Dixon also served as Payson’s mayor from 1900 through 1904. He was also an active member of the Mormon faith and was a High Priest and High Counselor, positions of leadership in the Nebo Stake, the major ecclesiastical unit of the Mormon Church in that area. Dixon erected his impressive hone on Payson’s Main Street. Later the Nebo Stake Tabernacle was built directly South of his home while the C.F. (Jack) Dixon residence was built to the north. The home is therefore not only individually distinctive, but is a key structure in the street-scope of Payson’s historic Main Street
The John Dixon Home is architecturally significant as a rare example of the influence of the Richardsonian Romanesque mode of design on residential architecture of the state. The high quality of craftsmanship represented in the building is also significant.
Built during the Victorian era, the Dixon Home is one of the few residences in the state to employ aspects of Richardsonian Romanesque styling, a design trend which was confined almost entirely to commercial and public structures in Utah. The Dixon Home, however, with its simple but heavy massing, rock-faced masonry, hip roof and decorative carved stone, makes definite reference to Richardsonian Romanesque. The two-story home is constructed of dark red sandstone and features fine workmanship in its masonry, both structural and ornamental, and in its art glass windows and woodworking. The well preserved residence has experienced no important changes with respect to original appearance and is considered one of Payson’s most distinctive cultural assets.
The John Dixon Home is a 2 story structure built in 1893-4 of dark red sandstone. The building has an irregular plan but is straightforward in its form and massing. Due to its dark color and rock-faced masonry exterior, the building possesses qualities of heaviness and strength. The home has most in common with the Richardsonian Romanesque mode in style.
The facades of the Dixon Home are asymmetrical and feature large square bays on both floors. The windows, several of which feature art glass, are recessed, giving the walls an effect of depth. Entry to the home is made through vestibule which has two Roman-arched openings. All exterior walls surfaces feature rock-faced stone, excepting the two belt courses at the sill lines which are of smooth stone. The home has a hip roof and features small eyebrow windows. The cornice is shallow, molded and has a dentiled frieze. Of particular interest to the exterior design is a variety of ornamental carved stone. The inscription plaque in the front façade reads, “John Dixon, 1894” and has small faces and arabesque foliation of carved stoned. The capitals of the second story mullion-columns, pedestals of the Roman arches and lentil brackets in the first floor window bays also display carved foliation. The interior of the Dixon Home is also rich in design and materials and retains most of its original character. The only important alteration of original appearance consists of a small frame addition which was made to the rear of the building.
The Samuel Douglass House at 215 N. Main St. in Payson, Utah was built in 1874 (making it one of the oldest in Utah) and later substantially altered. It was updated to include Bungalow/craftsman architecture in 1912, and won a high school civics class award.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. It is also a contributing building in the Payson Historic District, which was listed on the National Register in 2007.
Built in 1874 and expanded c. 1894 and 1912, the Samuel Douglass House is architecturally significant in Payson. It is an excellent local example of the vernacular interpretation of nineteenth-century Greek and Gothic Revival styles subsequently adapted to twentieth-century Bungalow and Arts and Crafts styles. The house is also significant for its unique, original floor plan, which remains easily discernible.
Samuel Douglass was born in 1850 in Salt Lake City, moving to the Peteetneet community in 1863. He followed his father in the general merchandise business and served in several civic positions. He married Emma Jane Dixon in 1874 and was recognized as a successful businessman and supporter of important civic projects such as the Strawberry Valley Project. His house was wired for electricity in 1897 and was also among the first in the community to have running water installed in 1902. The architectural changes made to the house in 1912 reflected growing optimism in the area and incorporated the latest Bungalow and Arts and Crafts styles.
The Patrick Ward House is a gorgeous example of the quality of historic homes in Springville.
The Patrick L. and Rose O. Ward House at 511 S Main St. in Springville, Utah, United States, was built in 1900. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998
It was home of Patrick L. Ward, station master and superintendent of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad in Springville.
