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Show 2. DESCRIBE THE BUILDING IN TERMS OF ITS ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE. INCLUDE A CHARACTERIZATION OF THE STYLE, A DESCRIPTION OF ANY UNIQUE FEATURES IT MIGHT POSSESS AS WELL AS THE CONTRIBUTION IT MAKES TO THE ENVIRONMENT. Architecturally, this house is significant for several reasons. First of all, it was built completely with the stones from the Price City Meeting House. That beautiful structure served the people of Price City and Bloomington for many years, but when Price City was abandoned, much of the rock was used to build structures in Bloomington. Today, there are no remains of Price City and the Blake House is the oldest of the two remaining structures of the now ghost town of old Bloomington. The house across the street, known as the George Larson House, was built later and in no way retains the charm and character of the Blake House. Secondly, the Blake House stands as a marker and as an example of the beauty that existed when Bloomington was the busy little town of 75 people it was in 1900. The rock work, though it has stood uncared for for 30 years, needs little repair. The 18" thick walls have stood up to wind, sun, heat, rainand all the hard elements of the desert. It is a tribute to Dode Worthen and to the work of Brigham Carpenter, who did the carpentry work, that the structure has stood so firmly. The wood floors are strong and broken only where curious children have recently played too hard. The lovely mantle that Brig Carpenter made for the house is intact and exempl ifies the simple beauty and taste of these hard working Bloomington residents. The huge timbers used throughout the construction which were hewn in Mt. Trumbull, Arizona, are sturdy and need only loving care to restore them to their original beauty. Even many of the original shingles remain on the roof, and for a roof that at the time it was constructed cost only $10, that is not bad! The plastered walls have had several coats of paint and in some rooms had wallpaper. The windows are gone, the doors have been taken, and a screen door recalls the hot summer days when Rhoda McCain did her best to keep pesty files out of her clean home. Thirdly, the home is a good example of how the people in Bloomington used local goods and suppl ies to construct their homes. Dode Worthen, the rock cutter who also worked on the St. George Tabernacle, used limestone and sandstone rocks cut from the area. His grout was made from adobe mud and even today this has held the structure together incredibly well. He built it 18" thick which kept it cool during the hot summers and warm during the winters. There was a fireplace in the I ivinq room (later closed and replaced by a stove) and stoves in each of the other three rooms. Brigham Carpenter put a simple facia around the I iving room and kitchen but left it off the two bedrooms thus keeping lower ceilings more in proportion to their smaller size. The I ines of the home are well proportioned, the roof slopes adding geometric patterns against the sky. |