Evans, J. W., House

Built around 1895 at the corner of Clinton and North Third streets in Abilene, this two-story frame house shows how Victorian-era taste shaped local homebuilding. Its plan is complex and asymmetrical, with a steeply pitched pyramidal roof and gable extensions projecting from each side. The walls are weatherboard over a pier-and-beam foundation hidden by a stucco wall, and the roof, now composition shingle, was originally wood. A one-story porch has turned wood posts, a balustrade and jigsaw brackets, while the front gable carries ornate barge board. The south gable has angled corners often seen on houses of the 1890s. Although vernacular in form, the house reflects Queen Anne influences in its vertical emphasis, irregular massing and decorative woodwork. It was listed for architecture because it is among the oldest houses in a neighborhood of turn-of-the-century residences, remains virtually unaltered, and is one of the best preserved late nineteenth-century dwellings in the city. It remains a single-family home in good condition.