Utah
Historic Site
Thompson/Hansen House
The Thompson/Hansen House is significant as one of Brigham City's last
remaining Gothic Revival-style residences. In the 1860s, blacksmith and farmer
George Gilbert and his wife Mary built the 1 1/2-story adobe house that forms the
center section of this building. Danish immigrant James Thompson, a master
carpenter, purchased the small structure in 1879 and added flanking brick wings and
elaborate Gothic detailing.
Williard S. Hansen, dairy manager of Brigham City's Mormon cooperative, who
later led a distinguished career in Utah politics and business, bought the house in
1881. He lived here with his wives, Maria and Annie, and six children. Emma
Crawford purchased the house in 1890. In 1923, Denmark and Ann Crawford Jensen
remodeled the house into a duplex and removed the Gothic trim. By the early 1980s,
the house was vacant and deteriorating.
Rodney H. and Carolyn Ann "Mitzi" Hansen Brady (a descendant of early
owners Willard and Annie Hansen) purchased the derelict structure in 1993 and
undertook a complete restoration based on 19th-century photographs provided by
June Rich and historical research by Robert E. Jensen and Scott Chirstensen.
Architect Wallace M. Cooper II recreated missing details including Gothic finials and
pendants, roof cresting, incised bargeboard trim, and an elaborate porch with incised
balusters. Work was completed in 1995.
Marker placed in 2001
