The following verbiage is taken from the NRHP Nomination Form to highlight the significance of this home:
The Mountain House, built on the nominated property site in 1852 and long used as a stage stop and traveler's station at the southern entrance to Oregon, is one of the first frame structures constructed in southern Oregon and is among the oldest standing buildings in Oregon south of the Willamette Valley. Turned ninety degrees and moved back into the site in 1887 to allow for construction of a two-story volume to the north, the Mountain House remains an important surviving example of one the very earliest examples of the vernacular style in the region. The building retains a clear individual structural identity that documents its original construction and subsequent development on this site. With plank walls, weatherboard siding, early wall and ceiling finishes, trim, and other features, the Mountain House exhibits an high degree of integrity to its original construction more than 150 years ago.
The 1887 two story addition to the Mountain House, built for Major Hugh Barren by noted Ashland builder C. W. Ayers, is almost entirely "as built" more than a century ago. Built in a later expression of the same vernacular tradition, the two story addition is a fine example of its type and serves as an entirely complimentary continuation of the older rear volume. The c.1890s brick outbuilding, while not specifically dated, retains high integrity n design and was clearly on the site during Hugh Barren's life, reflecting the original development period of the property.
The 1852 Mountain House was built and used for nearly three decades as an early emigrant's wayside and then as a stage station upon the major wagon route into Oregon prior to the completion of the railroad line. As enlarged with an architecturally significant, addition in 1887, the Mountain House remains an important local landmark in this portion of southern Oregon and is strongly connected with the history of the area's earliest settlement and development in the last half of the 19th century. The Mountain House meets eligibility Criterion "A" for its strong association with the early settlement of southern Oregon.
The Mountain House, built 1852-1887 with a significant outbuilding built circa 1890 and standing prior to 1904, accurately and effectively conveys its original design, history of development, and the associations for which it is significant under eligibility criterion "A" and "C" for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Situated at the base of the Siskiyou Mountains south of Ashland, Oregon, the Mountain House was built during the initial settlement period of the Rogue River Valley and long served as an important point in the region's transportation system. Constructed by settlers Hugh F. Barren, James H. Russell and John Gibbs in 1852, the builder first served overland travelers arriving in the valley on the South Emigrant or Applegate trail and the California Oregon Road. Later, designated as a stage station for the California-Oregon Stage
Company, the Mountain House, (known also as the Barren Stage Station) served without interruption between from 1860 and 1884 when the Oregon and California Railroad's progress forced the company to terminate their use of the station. Upon the joining of the railroad tracks at Ashland in 1887, stage travel over the Siskiyous came to an end.
The original 1852 Mountain House was relocated on the site and augmented in 1887 by the construction of the two-story front volume. A significant brick outbuilding was constructed to the rear of the house ci890. Combined, the two portions of the Mountain House embody the distinct characteristics of travelers' accommodations in southern Oregon between 1852 and 1887 and the vernacular architectural forms that were prevalent during that period. The c1890 brick outbuilding, an unusual rural example of that type, was built on the property during Hugh Barren's ownership and effectively relates the status of his agricultural development in this area of the valley.