SUMMARY – Constructed 1909
Historic Use: Residence
Present Use: Residence
Style: National Folk
National Register Status: Not Listed

SIGNIFICANCE
The 1909 Cummins 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
Aaron and Margaret Cummins acquired undeveloped Lot 10, Block 1 of Farmer’s Addition in May 1908, mortgaged the property in March 1909, and built the house at 839 South Farmer Avenue soon thereafter as a retirement residence. The Cummins family had previously farmed a ranch three miles outside of town. Margaret Cummins and her son Chester remained at the address through the 1930s.
 
C. DESIGN/CONSTRUCTION
The Cummins House is a one-story, wood frame, National Folk-style house. Irregular in plan, the house sits on a crawlspace foundation with stuccoed walls topped by a medium-pitched, side-gabled roof. A shed-roofed front porch supported by four square posts extends the length of the house’s front façade and shades its single-leaf entryway. Windows are replacements. 
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