Hansen, Hans A., House ~ Ephraim, Utah
Posted by: 
brwhiz
N 39° 21.671 W 111° 35.316
12S E 449292 N 4357023
The Hansen-Sparks Home in Ephraim, Utah was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 22, 1980 (#80003943).
Waymark Code: WMGKYG
Location: Utah, United States
Date Posted: 03/17/2013
Views: 1
From the NRHP application:
The Hans A, Hansen house is a 1 1/2 story adobe central-passageway type folk/vernacular house. It faces north and has its gabled roof is broken by three facade wall dormers. Overall, the facade exhibits a intriguingly symmetrical three-over-five piercing arrangement. There are two corbelled brick gable chimneys and one internal stone flue. A one story rear "T" extension is found on the south which is also built of adobe. An early photo shows that the home, while built of adobe, was initially plastered and scored off to simulate evenly coursed ashlar stone masonry.
The plaster was a light brown and in the incised lines painted red to emphasize the geometric pattern of the applied veneer. A tax assessor's photo from the 1920s shows that this plaster veneer had deteriorated quite badly and the present owners had the home replastered, albeit without the incised stone lines, in the 1940s in order to stabilize the house. Though the house today is plastered it was so originally and thus retains much of its historic appearance.
The Hansen house falls into no particular stylistic category and is relatively plain in external appearance. Pedimented wooden windows heads are a feature of the facade openings. These pediments are supported by dentiled cornices.
On the inside the house contains a curved circular staircase similar to the one in the Canute Peterson house on Ephraim's Main Street (National Register site). The staircase is constructed of pine, and consists of three sections expertly joined by master carpenters and painted to resemble oak. The center-passageway and upstairs retain the original oak-grained woodwork. The front door has stained glass transoms and side lights.
The Hans Hansen house is located on a beautiful lot overlooking pine creek only yards from where Issac Behunin made the first attempt to settle Ephraim in 1852-53. The house is only slightly altered - the pedimented lower window heads and front porch were removed during the 1940s remodeling. The house is plastered adobe but the builder's initial intent was to sheath the rough mud bricks in a synthetic veneer and so the house remains true to its historic identity.