Arnold Stevens House

History

Lava rock is a regional term for structures built using basalt. Building with lava rock in Jerome and Lincoln Counties of South Central Idaho was done by skilled immigrant stone masons from the 1880s until about the 1940s when the last large scale structures were built under the Works Progress Administration.

Built in 1917 and 1918 for Arnold Stevens a farmer the house is significant historically for its architecture and craftsmanship. The Otis family of stone masons from Hagerman, Idaho built the home with the carpenter Charles Geer who was assisted by Stevens. It is an exceptionally aesthetic rural exemplar of the American Craftsman Bungalow style. The contrast of dark stone with white joints, porch columns and gables are employed to create lightness and pattern while the broad wings of the gable roof suggest the building is hovering low to the ground.

Building

The house is one and half stories tall and approximately 34 ft by 44 ft. The gable roof has wide eaves and is built with decorative shingles. The front exposure has a shallow shed roofed dormer with three pairs of square single pane lights. Above the one story stone and on the dormer siding is clapboard.

There are brackets on the gables and the sides of the dormer. On the front a full inset 10 foot wide porch has stone piers and concrete coping which is painted white on the corners and flanking the entrance in the center. Each corner of the porch has a square wooden column with stylized capitals and a concrete stoop extends forward. A 6 foot bay, offset to the right, with a pent roof, extends about 2 ft from the left wall. Most lintels are flush and of long stones except the windows flanking the entry have sloping outset concrete sills. The ten pane door is centered on the facade and flanked by two double hung sashes with six over six panes of glass. The mortar has been treated and painted white. The wooden parts are also painted white. The original interior is intact and includes oak paneling.

References

References

1. {{NRISref
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3. Posey–Ploss, Marian. (8 Sep 1983). ["National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Lava Rock Structures in South Central Idaho TR"]({{NRHP url). National Park Service.
4. Posey-Ploss, Marian. (8 Sep 1983). ["National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Arnold Stevens House"]({{NRHP url). National Park Service.