Francis Kopriva House
In 1900, John Svaren left his home in Bergen, Norway, to join family in South Dakota. There he learned English before homesteading to North Dakota in 1909. With his bride, Betsy, Svaren arrived in Hardin in 1917 to build a home. He applied his considerable talents as a carpenter to the construction of this one-and-one-half-story Craftsman style bungalow, probably relying on a pattern book for its design. Typical Craftsman elements are the combination of lap and shingle sidings, gabled dormers, wide eaves with exposed rafter ends, low-pitched roof, and high ceilings. To these basic specifications, Svaren tastefully added doors with fine beveled and leaded glass, hardwood floors, wide interior moldings, and an upstairs wall of built-in cupboards. Francis Kopriva bought the property in 1921, and Svaren moved on to build other houses in Hardin, helping the town grow from a “mud-streeted little village” into a vibrant community. Kopriva, co-proprietor of the Hardin Mercantile Company, owned the home until 1937. The late Don Stacey purchased the home in 1989, adding custom-made wooden storm windows and a new roof. Today the well-kept residence, with its beautiful landscaping, reflects the home’s picturesque early-twentieth-century charm and reveals the continuing care of its current owner.
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