Property Type: Residential
Neighborhood: The Bench  |  County: Ada  |  Building Status: Private  |  Architectural Style: Storybook
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The Harrison and Hildegarde Crandall House represents the most articulate expression of the Storybook Style in Idaho. Designed by Crandall himself, his daughter recalls that the home was conceived with artistic reference to the books which she and her sister shared. A subset of the less rare Tudor Revival, the Storybook Style was always uncommon. The Crandall House features intentionally whimsical architectural elements which convey an impression of age and artistry more customary to a fairy tale then a 20th century home. The swayed, multi-gabled roofs of the Crandall House are complimented by elements of half-timbered and stucco walls which taper upward from a heavy, red, stone boulder foundation. Additional stone clusters picturesquely puncture the stucco and small-paned windows are paired with heavy, dark doors.

Born in Kansas, Hank Crandall was drawn to the rugged beauty of the Grand Teton Mountains. Trained as an artist and with his wife Hilda ? a native of American Falls, Idaho, Crandall homesteaded near Jenny Lake in the heart of the Tetons. There he designed and constructed a log cabin studio which still stands where he sold thousands of cards, paintings, and photographs to the tourists who flocked to Grand Teton National Park upon its establishment in 1929. His hand-tinted photos and brightly-painted landscapes provide an unparalleled historic record of the park from its conceptualization through formation and popularization.

Hank and Hilda bought 3 acres on the Boise Bench in October of 1932 as a seasonal home from which their two daughters could attend Boise schools while Hank produced the work that the family would sell upon their return to the Tetons each summer. A studio with apartment and dark room, which burned in the 1950s, was constructed first followed quickly by the house itself. In 1948 Crandall sold the Boise house and returned permanently to Wyoming where he continued to work until his death in 1970.

Although Crandall received no architectural education, his father was a nurseryman, and the deep lot was carefully landscaped by Crandall with plantings from a nursery he had purchased for expressly that purpose. The original pond visible in historic photos has since been filled in, but subsequent owners have maintained and improved upon the scenic natural surroundings of the house and its original garage.

This home was featured on the 13th Annual Heritage Homes Tour in 2015 thanks to the generosity of the current homeowners Nicholas and Lisa Hunt.