Lewis P. Larson, who was born in 1876 in Denmark, became a notable prospector, miner, metallurgist, promoter, financier and industrialist. After coming to the United States in 1895, he worked at various jobs in the West. As early as 1904 he explored the Metaline area around the Pend Oreille River...
...By 1911 he had already accomplished a great deal. Because of his encouragement, the Idaho and Washington Northern Railroad, now the CMSP&P, was extended at great expense to Metaline Falls. He organized the Pend Oreille Mines and Metals Company, which is now a division of the Bunker Hill Company. He promoted the development of a cement plant for the area and succeeded in persuading the Inland Portland Cement Company, now Lehigh Portland Cement Company, to build a plant in Metaline Falls. He incorporated the Metaline Falls Light and Water Company to insure adequate supplies of electricity and water for the new town. He founded the Larson Realty Company, which platted the town of Metaline Falls and built a hotel. Finally, he built a home suitable for his town's most important citizen.
Larson's ownership of the house did not last long. Because of his debts, he was forced to give up title to the local cement plant, which used the house as the home of its resident manager. In 1941 it passed into the hands of C.A.R. Lambly and, in 1952, to Erwin P. Jones.
Located on a partially wooded site, the Larson House is rectangular, with its longitudinal axis running east and west. The house, which has four levels, is built on the side of a cliff, and the principal entrances, both of which are in the south façade, are at the third level.
The house has a gable roof, with the gable ends being on the east and west elevations. There are wings on both ends, which also have gable roofs. Roofing is composition shingle. The south slope of the roof is broken by a pair of large dormers capped with a sweeping eyebrow roof line that joins the main roof near the gable ends. This feature is the dominant element of the south façade. Each of the large dormer windows
is arched in close conformity to the roofline, and each consists of three vertical segments with many small panes. There is stucco facing on that part of the dormer façade not occupied by the windows.
The foundation of the house and part of the walls on all sides are built of smooth, river-washed stones joined by mortar. The interstices are attractively decorated with mortar tooled to appear as if it were extruding uniformly from between the stones. These stone walls, which are three feet thick in places, extend from the ground to the top of the window openings of the third level. There are impressive stone chimneys on both the east and west ends of the house, and the long south facade, where all four levels are fully exposed, is a remarkable expanse of meticulous stone craftsmanship. Above the stone walls, the house is sided with wood shingles.
The styling of the house is reminiscent of English cottage architecture. The dormer design simulates the light openings in a thatched roof, and the stone work has a rural English or Irish character.
From the NRHP