Candland House an embodiment of architectural, community history
MT. PLEASANT— Monte Bona, director of the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area (MPNHA) practices what he preaches.
For nearly 30 years, he has advocated for preservation of historic buildings in Central Utah. During that time, he and his wife, Jackie, have lived in and preserved the William David “W.D.” and Annie Peel Candland home at 123 N. 100 West, located about a block due west of the Mt. Pleasant City Hall where the MPNHA has its office.
Built in 1904 and listed on the national historic register, the Candland home is undoubtedly one of the most authentic turn-of-the-century properties in Mt. Pleasant if not Sanpete County.
There have been no structural changes to the house since 1904. Even the exterior paint color is the same as when the Candlands lived there. And remarkably, four of five original outbuildings on the 1.6-acre property are still intact, including a two-seat outhouse.
The house stands out because of its architecture and decorative details, but also because of owner W.D. Candland’s role in local, state and national history. He held local and state offices, organized a flour mill, started a bank, helped start an electric utility and brought Rambouillet sheep to Sanpete County.
Perhaps his most significant role in politics was testifying before a U.S. Senate committee that was trying to decide whether Reed Smoot, an apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, should be seated as a senator.
The Candland home is designed in what is called the Victorian Eclectic style of architecture. Most people have heard of Victorian houses. The Victorian period ran roughly from 1850 to 1900 and was characterized by homes with decorated gables, rooftop finials and extravagant interior furnishings.
Victorian Eclectic architecture came a little later, mostly from the 1870s to early 1900s, and mixed Victorian architecture with other styles, including Queen Anne and Gothic.
Like many Victorian and Victorian Eclectic homes, the Candland home has a central building with wings or bays projecting out from it. And like many upscale homes of its era, one of the distinguishing features of the Candland house is its porches.
A large porch starts on the south end, wraps around the house and continues for about half the width of the front side of the house. At the point where the porch turns, there is a round “gazebo.” There are smaller porches on the other two sides of the house.
There are two doors next to each other on the front porch. Both doors “have decoratively carved designs…with windows of finely etched glass,” according to the application for historic registry listing.
The door on the left leads to the parlor and was the main entrance for visitors. The one on the right “would have been used less often, since part of its…purpose was, in case of a family funeral, to allow mourners to enter…into the dining room for viewing the deceased and exit out of another door on the north side of the dining room.”
There are four main rooms on the first floor: the kitchen, dining room, living room and parlor.
Step into the kitchen and you feel like you’re stepping into another century. But Bona explains that the stove is just a replica of an early 20th Century stove. It actually has all the cooking features of a modern stove.
In the parlor is an imported fireplace, trimmed in oak and ornamental tile, with a mirror above the mantle.
A central staircase rises from the dining room to the second floor where, along the west bay of the house, are four bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms. The full bathroom has an original clawfoot tub.
The main outbuilding, referred to as the wash house, has three parts: A central area, an attached coal shed, and a garage for a car.
The Candlands used the central area as an auxiliary kitchen during the summer to avoid overheating the house. The auxiliary kitchen is still intact with “the original coal-fired range and oven in working condition,” according to the national-register application.
The application notes that “the outdoor privy…was most likely used only by hired sheep men since the house had indoor plumbing.”
W.D. Candland and Annie Peel, both children of Mormon pioneers, were married in 1884 when he was 26 and she 25.
By the time W.D. was in his early 30s, he was emerging as a leader. From 1891-95, he served on the Mt. Pleasant City Council. In 1896, he represented Sanpete County in the Utah House of Representatives in the first Utah Legislature.
In 1917, he was elected mayor of Mt. Pleasant. A year later he became state chairman of the Republican Party. In 1922, at age 64, he was elected to the Utah State Senate and served 16 years.
It was in 1905, just a year after completing his house, that Candland was called to Washington to testify in behalf of Reed Smoot. Some senators objected to Smoot being a senator because he was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and because of the church’s involvement with polygamy.
By the time of the hearing, it had been 15 years since the church had discontinued polygamous marriages, Neither Smoot nor Candland were polygamists.
The Washington Post quoted Candland as testifying, “If President Smith (President Joseph F. Smith, president of the church from 1901-18) should seek to re-establish polygamy, he would find himself in a hopeless minority, and there would be a big row.” Smoot was seated and ended up serving for 30 years.
Among all his accomplishments in business and agriculture, his most significant may have been being one of two men (the other was John H. Seely) to bring Rambouillet sheep from the Central United States to Sanpete County. The breed excelled in size, endurance and quality of wool.
W.D. and his sons developed a large farm and ranch. They bred and sold Rambouillet sheep across the nation and overseas. Their sheep won prizes from the National Woolgrower’s Association.
“W.D. Candland’s national and regional acclaim as a Rambouillet sheep wool grower is significant for strongly affecting the local economy and bringing national attention to the state and economy,” says the application to list the house on the national historic register.
Annie Candland died in 1926 at age 66. After her death, one of the couple’s sons, Guy, along with his wife and four children, moved into the house with Guy’s father. W.D. Candland died in 1940 at age 81.
Guy Candland sold the house in 1943, three years after his father’s death. Between 1943 and 1994, just two owners occupied the property. Monte and Jackie Bona purchased the house in 1994 from Blaine and Neva Larsen and have lived there for the past 27 years.
“When we bought the house in 1994, we were just going to be here in the summer,” Monte Bona says. “In 1995, I got elected to the council (Mt. Pleasant City Council), and we switched and made this our permanent home and Salt Lake our second home.
“It’s been an honor to learn about the life of W.D. Candland and the significance of his work in politics and business. I hope to live up to his example.”
