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Tbig text llleggage jg '1geg tQ keep tbe iDloage t\:Qlll t:Qtatrng ill. QIOt: ~t:QlOegg ~e g'lt:e tQ IOt:Q~ ~he tQ~ .:lS " Qff aftet: tbe QIOt: ~{QlOegg . - - --- UTAH PRESS ASSOCIA nON CLIPPING SERVICE '! Phone [phone] Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 WASHINGTON COUNTY NEWS st. George, Utah Circulation 3,200 JUl 8 1983 (~ , BLAKE HOUSE A SHOWPLACE Renovation of the Wallace Blake home in Blooinln9toit has turned It from a dilapidated rull1 into ·an attractive rural farm house and an attraction in Its setting in the Bloomington Gardens. RAVAGES OF TIME - Old early days home still stands across the street from the Blake home, a relic of the time when Bloom- Ington was a farming community settled by Dixie pioneers. Wallace Blake House , Restored In Bloomington I The Blake house in Bloom· ington at the bottom of the hill where The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Chapel stands may be one of the most significant struc, ,tures in Washington ICounty for it is a faithful record in stone of the lives of the settlers of the county . . Its other claim to importance is'that it was built from stones of the Price City church and schoolhouse, often called one of the finest rock buildings of the area. Today there is no traces of Price City, a community approximately two miles from .the Blake hbuse, on the east side 'of the Virgin River. price City was part of .the "United Order" experiment and had been abandoned in the later 1890's. The house was built in 1908; a four roomed home, by Wallace Blake for his wife, Isadora Larson, daughter of Lars James' Larson, Bloomington's first home builder. Blake h.ad bought theland for $200 frQm David H. Morris. Mrs. Blake had grown up in the Larson house, just east of the Blake house. While Blake raised cattle and sheep, Mrs. Blake raised her large family of sons and made the house into an attractive home. A lover of fine china, she displayed it over her living room mantle. Rag , rugs, stretched over straw, covered' the hardwood floors and lace curtains and pots of geraniums decorated the windows . Blake's father, a fur-' ni hire maker, provided several rocking chairs which added to the visual coziness as well as to the comfort of the family. Outside lilac bushes adorned the front lawn, shaded by cottonwood trees that lined the street. Rose bushes, peach, pear and other fruit trees added to the rural beauty of the pleasant ~arm hom·e. Several County residents who still recall the old place, gave this · charming description. Shortly after the Blake's sixth son was born, Mrs. Blake died. Herj husband only remained in the home for a year after this. In October, 1921, he sold his property to James S. Jones, who lived in the house with his family until 1928. During their stay they planted fig trees and added the screened porch at the east side of the house. ". . In 1928 they sold the house to Albert A. McCain who lived there until 1937. The McCains, as did the' Blakes and Jones before them, hauled water from St. George twice a week for drinking purposes and raised alfalfa,J grain, sugar cane, corn and broom corn. Washington County , took ' over the property in December 1937 and held it until March 1940 when D.H. Heaton took it over. While some people recall Heaton living in the house with his sons, he did not make it his home. He and his sons raised sheep and cattle, but the days of lace curtains imd geraniums on the sills were over. The house stood empty for . many years after Terracor acquired the land around it and in June, 1976 was bought by Mr. and Mrs . M.atthew R. Sim- ' mons of Boston, Massachusetts who saw its restoration possibilities. They found that the rock work needed little repair as the 18 inch' thick walls had withstood wina, sand, heat, rain, and sun and was in good condition. The wood floors were undamaged except for some places where children had played too rough in the , abandoned house. The lovely mantle piece was still intact 'and the timbers, hauled from Moun't Trumbull, were still sturdy and were in good condition. . The windows were gone as were the doors and the screened porch was in disrepair, but basically the house was not beyond restoration. Groat, made from abode mud, still held the stone structure together. It ?as been made by . Dode Worthen, the rock cutter who worked on the St. George LDS Temple and who built the Blake house. An assessment of the house concluded that the walls needed replastering, a new roof was need~ and new window sills would have to be installed. A new porch would replace the no longer useable . original one. ' Mr. and Mrs. Simmons restoration plans included shrubbery and trees of the pioneer period outside the home and furniture of the ear inside. Their sincere hope was. restoration of the home back to the time when lace curtain blew softly in a spring breeze around gayly. blooming geraniums and the lilac bushes outside scented the air of a Bloomington that lives only in the memory of a few pe0ple. The Washington County Historical Association Home ToUr of two_weeks ago, drew visitors from Provo, Salt Lake and Las Vegas, as well as many local residents who all thrilled to the success of Mr. and Mrs. Simmons careful reconstructiolP of the little rock home.