Johnson-Hansen House

Johnson-Hansen House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Johnson-Hansen House
Location:	485 East 400 South Provo, Utah
Coordinates:	40°13′43″N 111°38′50″W / 40.22861°N 111.64722°W / 40.22861; -111.64722Coordinates: 40°13′43″N 111°38′50″W / 40.22861°N 111.64722°W / 40.22861; -111.64722
Built:	1870
Architect:	Neils Johnson/ Ray Hansen
Architectural style:	Gothic
NRHP Reference#:	94001346[1]
Added to NRHP:	December 1, 1994

The Johnson-Hansen House is a historic house located in Provo, Utah. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[2]

Johnson-Hansen House * 485 East 400 South * Provo, Utah

The Neils Johnson home is both architecturally and historically significant. "The log cabin, brick house, and garage, built between 1870-1938, describe settlement patterns and periods of development in Provo. Linking the brick historic home with a "modern" garage through the log cabin symbolizes the connection between past, present, and future. These structures are architecturally significant as excellent examples of local 1870s architecture and as a unique, late 1930s blend of nostalgic and modern influences on residential design (Historic Provo p. 25)."

Structure

"The Johnson/Hansen home consists of a log cabin, c.1870, a brick cross-wing type house, c.1876, and a garage, c.1938. The principal building is a Victorian Eclectic and Gothic Revival style brick house with cross-wing plan positioned to display two front elevations, one that faces 400 South and a secondary facade facing 500 East. The log cabin is positioned directly west of the house and is connected by an awning that extends approximately 10' from the northwest portion of the house. After the log cabin was moved to this location in 1937, the garage was built onto the west end of the log cabin. These buildings are located on a corner lot within an older tree-lined residential neighborhood in Provo. The principal building is constructed mostly of "pink" Provo brick. The brick changes character in three locations, just above the sandstone, just above the first floor ceiling level, and at the abutment of the cross-wing walls. A few courses of a lighter, yellow brick are adjacent to the sandstone foundation and it may be that this portion was refaced at some point to repair damage. Above the first floor level of the main section of the cross-wing the brick changes in character indicating that the second floor may have been added a few years later. The rear ell appears to have been an early addition because the bricks of the rear ell have not been interlocked with the larger wing and the brick coursing pattern changes to common bond with a header course every sixth row. This physical evidence suggests that this could have originally been a one-story hall-parlor house that was expanded at an early date to a one-and-one-half story cross-wing house type (National Park Service p. 1)."

"The larger wing incorporates a small porch with a gable roof and arched ceiling that appears to be an early addition. Two, double-hung, six-over-six, windows with pedimented lentils flank the centrally placed front door. This primary wing opens onto 400 South and incorporates a gable roof positioned parallel to the street. The roof contains two wall dormers, symmetrically placed, with six-over-six double hung windows. The roof lines of the cross-wing are perpendicular to one another and the eaves are deep enough that they may have originally contained bargeboards. The east elevation has a slightly lower roof line with its ridge parallel to 500 East and it incorporates an east facing dormer with a door that opens onto a balcony. The porch below the balcony contains a door with a divided light transom and a large fixed sash window with divided lights above. The gable end of the larger ell in this east elevation includes a second level six-over-six double hung window and a larger window with a nine-over-nine central panel flanked by six-over-six panels of divided lights. It appears that the large window in this south gable end is a later modification and may have replaced a bay window that is characteristic of the Gothic Revival style. Other Gothic Revival features in this Victorian Eclectic house include the pedimented window heads (National Park Service pp. 1-2)."

"The interior of the home retains many of the original features and the changes that have occurred have not decreased its historic integrity. Mr. Lester Jones, who still lives next door, dug out the basement in 1938 to make room for a furnace and food storage. Ray Hansen introduced plumbing into the house and partitioned off part of the upstairs hall for a bathrrom (c.1940s). The kitchen was updated, probably in the mid 1940s, with new cabinets and plumbing fixtures and the kitchen window on the west side was reworked when the sink was installed below it. Closets were constructed in the bedrooms and several built-in drawers and cupboards were added. An open archway connects the dining room and living room areas. The log cabin, constructed c.1870, currently adjacent to the brick house, was originally sited on the lot immediately to the north of the house and was moved to its current location in 1937 by Ray Hansen when he sold that lot. The logs are joined with full dovetail notching. The south elevation includes a six-over-six double hung window with a cornice window head. The cabin's paneled door is located centrally within the south elevation and is decorated with the same kind of wood carved head. There is a six-over-six double hung window in the north, rear elevation and a smaller window in the east gable end over the interior loft. A sleeping loft is located in the one room building and is accessed through a rectangular opening in the ceiling planking. The interior walls are covered with a limestone mortar. The log cabin is not linked to the garage with a connecting door, however, the ridge line of its wood shingle roof intersects the garage roof and is connected with a decorative ridge cap. Under the ornamental hood of the ridge cap of the garage, the front gable incorporates drop siding over a nine panel wood garage door with a decorative "transom". The inset of lights above the garage door includes a central two-light rectangular panel flanked by two-light panels that are curved on the outer edges. The walls are board and batten siding (National Park Service p. 2)."

The Plat of the City of Zion

Provo was first occupied in 1849 when the first fort was built. People began moving outside the fort in 1850-51, and when two canals were dug to irrigate the fields in the 1850s, agriculture was the primary industry. "Utah settlement patterns were based on the Plat of the City of Zion that was outlined by the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith. The plan, though not fully implemented, served as a model for Mormon settlements across the west under the direction of Brigham Young. The plats were one mile square, the blocks were ten acres each and forty rods square, and the lots were laid off alternately within the squares, setting up what were considered to be garden views from the houses. The houses were to be set 25 feet back from the street to leave a small yard in front for planting, and were to be constructed of brick and stone. The towns were set out in a grid pattern with the public buildings and church located in the center of town, surrounded by residences, with the outlying areas being used as farmlands. Mormon settlements became characterized by in-town family farmsteads with a daily trek to the outlying fields. Out-migration became inevitable as populations grew, but much of the old pattern originating in the Plat of the City of Zion has persisted to the present (National Park Service p. 5). The Plat of Zion's design is described in the following:

"As soon as it was considered safe to move out of the fort, instead of making a home on his piece of land as the ordinary pioneer farmer would have done, the Provo settler, following the advice of President Young and the example of the older colony, selected a site and made his home in the platted part of the city. Each family had a quarter of a block -- perhaps more -- on which was the dwelling house... Each morning the farmer and his sons went to their work on the farm, returning to their town home in the evening (National Park Service p. 5)."

The purpose of combing town and farm life was to provide better protection against the Indians and to provide a greater opportunity for a religious and social life.

Niels Johnson and Ray Hansen

Born on August 5, 1948, in the country of Denmark, Neils Johnson was both a farmer and a sexton for the city cemetery. He was married to Josephine C.M. who was born in Norway on December 17, 1846. Together they had five children, although three of them died before 1898. Johnson lived in this home between 1871 and 1923, and was listed as residing at 356 South 500 East for four years afterward. Albert L. and Beatrice Hulick resided at the Neils Johnson home between 1926 and 1929, and J. Lanning Hall in 1930-31, but throughout their tenancies Neils Johnson still owned the home. Johnson passed away in 1937, bestowing the property to his daughter (two-thirds to Caroline Hinckley and one-third to Christine Hinckley Robinson. Mr. Ray Hansen then purchased the home.

Born in Benjamin Utah, Ray Hansen was born on February 22, 1902. He was married on July 2, 1927 to Blanche Mcbeth, and they lived at 356 South 500 East in Provo before purchasing the Johnson/Hansen property. Ray Hansen was employed under Pacific States CI and P Co., a pipeline manufacturer. In the year 1939 Mr. Hansen became a foreman, and in 1959 a pattern-maker for the same company. He married a second time to Helen Hansen, and he passed away on June 3, 1989.

The House Today

The Johnson/Hansen home is one of four c.1870s houses remaining within this older, tree-lined residential neighborhood that demonstrate the town grid settlement pattern. These older homes are situated on corner lots and appear to have been laid off alternately within quarter sections of the square blocks. The log building remains as physical evidence of the kinds of structures that were built when Provo was originally settled. Ray Hansen used the log cabin as his gunsmith shop for over 50 years. The reasons he moved the log structure to its current location and connected it to his house and a "modern" garage are not known.

The present owners, Dr. and Mrs. M. Gary Hadfield, have carefully rehabilitated the brick house and log cabin since they purchased the home in 1990. The restoration work included the chemical removal of many layers of paint on both buildings. The home is being maintained as a single family residence. The Neils Johnson Home was designated a Provo City Historic Landmark on April 28, 1995. hese structures have been well-maintained and retain their historic integrity and association.

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2010-07-09. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ Utah County listings at the National Register of Historic Places

• 2002. "Historic Provo" Provo City Landmarks Commission.
• Cannon, Kenneth/ Haws, Merikay/ Temme Deborah R. "Structure/ Site Information Form." Historic Preservation Research office. July 1980.
• National Park Service. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory -- Nomination Form." April 1995.

External links

• NRHP Listings in Provo Utah