Tempe Historic Property Survey

The primary significance of the Farmer/Goodwin House is its association with two prominent figures in the history of Tempe: Hiram Bradford Farmer and James Cooper Goodwin. The house is also one of the best-preserved and unique adobe structures in the state. Pierce Carrick Shannon, a local saloonkeeper, purchased the land in 1880. He completed construction of the house in March of 1883. At that time, it was one of the largest residences in the small community then growing upon the south side of the Salt River. Shannon encountered a number of financial difficulties, and when he was sent to Yuma Territorial Prison for selling liquor to Indians, the property passed out of his hands. In January of 1886, the property was sold to Hiram Bradford Farmer for $3,000. Farmer became the first professor and principal at the Territorial Normal School, which opened in Tempe in February of 1886 (it is now known as ASU). In addition to serving as a residence for its first administrator, the house also served as a dormitory for young women students who came to the school from out of town. When the railroad arrived in 1887, Farmer was inspired to develop his 160 acres into one of the town’s early subdivisions, known as Farmer’s Addition. After Farmer left the Salt River Valley in 1890, the house passed through a number of owners until it was acquired in 1897 by James Wilson. When Wilson’s daughter, Libbie, married James C. Goodwin in 1902, the house was deeded to her. James Goodwin was a prominent Tempe rancher and businessman, who first came to the community in the 1880s. He was a member of Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War, and he was elected to the Arizona Territorial Legislature in 1897, and served in the Arizona State Legislature from 1915 to 1918. The house continued to be owned by the Goodwin family until the death of James and Libbie's son, Woodrow Wilson Goodwin, in 1992.

The Farmer/Goodwin House is a good example of a Folk expression of Victorian-era architecture. Its massing is similar to other Victorian-era styles, but this building lacks the "gingerbread" detailing often found in Victorian-era buildings. It is a one-and-a-half story adobe structure, rectangular in plan, surmounted by a hipped roof punctuated by ten flush wall dormers. It is symmetrical both in plan and elevation; the east and west facades are divided into three equal bays. The exterior adobe walls are finished with plaster, which has been scored with lines to simulate cut stone construction. The corners are detailed with quoins of built-up plaster. In plan the house is composed of a central hall or zaguan with approximately equal-sized rooms disposed symmetrically on either side of it. The room arrangement is identical on the upper story, and access is by a stairway in the central hall. The wall dormers are a character-defining element, as well as the front veranda porch, which was recently rebuilt.

Go to the Tempe Historic Property Survey