City of Tempe, AZ
Home MenuSpear House
Categories:- Historic Eligible Properties
SUMMARY – Constructed 1893
Historic Use: Residence
Present Use: Residence
Style: National Folk
National Register Status: Not Listed
SIGNIFICANCE
The 1893 Spear House is significant for its association with Tempe’s 1887 Farmer’s Addition. It is also significant as a local variant of National Folk-style residential architecture.
A. EVENT/HISTORY
Farmer’s Addition, located a quarter-mile west of the ASU campus, fronts South Farmer Avenue between University Avenue and West 13th Street. Platted in 1887, Farmer’s Addition was one of two late-nineteenth-century residential subdivisions in Tempe that corresponded with the development of Tempe Normal School.
B. PERSON
Myron and Sylvia Spear built the house at 1015 in 1893. Myron, a Civil War veteran, worked as a baker and a drayman, and for a time had his own express business; Sylvia worked as a nurse. After her husband’s death in 1913, Sylvia Spear remained at the address until 1920, when the family sold the property to John Pine, a retired farmer. Thereafter the house became known as the “Old Spear Place.” The Old Settlers sometimes held there annual picnic on the front lawn.
C. DESIGN/CONSTRUCTION
The Spear House is a one-story wood frame National Folk-style house. Rectangular in plan, the house sits on a crawlspace foundation with clapboard walls topped by a medium-pitched, front-gabled roof with open eaves, gable vent, and wood gable siding. A front porch addition is enclosed with wood siding, obscuring the house’s original single-leaf entryway. Windows are wood, double hung with aluminum sliders on the enclosed front porch addition.
Return to full list >>Historic Use: Residence
Present Use: Residence
Style: National Folk
National Register Status: Not Listed
SIGNIFICANCE
The 1893 Spear House is significant for its association with Tempe’s 1887 Farmer’s Addition. It is also significant as a local variant of National Folk-style residential architecture.
A. EVENT/HISTORY
Farmer’s Addition, located a quarter-mile west of the ASU campus, fronts South Farmer Avenue between University Avenue and West 13th Street. Platted in 1887, Farmer’s Addition was one of two late-nineteenth-century residential subdivisions in Tempe that corresponded with the development of Tempe Normal School.
B. PERSON
Myron and Sylvia Spear built the house at 1015 in 1893. Myron, a Civil War veteran, worked as a baker and a drayman, and for a time had his own express business; Sylvia worked as a nurse. After her husband’s death in 1913, Sylvia Spear remained at the address until 1920, when the family sold the property to John Pine, a retired farmer. Thereafter the house became known as the “Old Spear Place.” The Old Settlers sometimes held there annual picnic on the front lawn.
C. DESIGN/CONSTRUCTION
The Spear House is a one-story wood frame National Folk-style house. Rectangular in plan, the house sits on a crawlspace foundation with clapboard walls topped by a medium-pitched, front-gabled roof with open eaves, gable vent, and wood gable siding. A front porch addition is enclosed with wood siding, obscuring the house’s original single-leaf entryway. Windows are wood, double hung with aluminum sliders on the enclosed front porch addition.