History of the Home
 The John Boylston and Sarah Van Wagoner Fairbanks home is an example of a western environmental style adapted from the New England Federal or Greek revival homes. It was built of adobe bricks and was among the first in Utah to have wooden (cedar) shingles. The exact construction date of the home is unknown. Some members of the Fairbanks family place it late in 1853; however, 1856 to 1862 are the years given by the Utah Register of Historic and Cultural Sites. The fact that the home was built with wooden shingles reveals yet another construction date of 1855, since an old history of Payson and a journal entry by Joseph Curtis states that "some good adobe houses are beginning to show the enterprise of individuals. Shingles are beginning to get ascendancy over dirt roofs."
 Before construction of the two-story adobe brick home, John and Sarah's first home in Payson was a log cabin located on the main street. That cabin is thought to have been moved from across the street where it was originally built and lived in by the James Bracken family. A photograph recently discovered in a collection of photographs by J.B. Fairbanks, shows a home in the foreground (possibly the log cabin), and across the way on the right, a two-story adobe brick home, very likely to be the home of John and Sarah Van Wagoner Fairbanks. Other sources give the location of the log cabin to be behind the two-story adobe brick structure.
 Following the construction of the log cabin, the new two-story adobe brick home located at 143 N. Main was finally completed. The new adobe brick home faced the town square, was within a stone's throw of the community well, was south of the tithing house, and was across the street from the Old Tabernacle. The landscape of the property was said to include a picket fence separating the front yard and lawn from the dirt street and ditch (see the photograph). A walkway connected the roadway with the south side of the house and the well. An orchard was on the south and some flowers grew near the house. Behind the house was a root cellar. The original log cabin was used for a washhouse and storage shed for wood and later coal.
The home was built in several stages. The first stage consisted of a two-story structure with two rooms downstairs and two upstairs, with a fireplace in each room. In the second phase of construction, a larger kitchen was added that included a stove and another fireplace. In his diary, John Boylston Fairbanks mentions the date that his eight-year-old son, Nathaniel, was run over and killed by a wagon hauling a load of adobe for an addition to the house and the boy was brought in and laid down on the kitchen table. This occurred in1859 and indicates that the kitchen, part of the second phase of construction, was completed. Later, a small pantry and porch on the north side with a small storeroom on the south end was also added. Another bedroom was built on the backside of the kitchen, but it was subsequently torn down. Finally, the south room and porch were enlarged.
 After the death of John Boylston Fairbanks in 1875, his widowed wife, Sarah, continued to live in the home until her death in 1898. Nine of their eleven children at one time or another lived in the home. Lillie Marie Fairbanks, one of their daughters, continued to live in the home until her death in 1921. Home ownership then went to Lillie's sister, Mary Fairbanks Brown. Mary was the polygamist wife of Austin Brown, who had elected to live with his first wife after plural marriage was declared a federal offense, so "Aunt May" spent much of her life alone in the Payson home. She had no descendants.
With a loving heart and welcome smile, she greeted the numerous visitors and travelers in Utah who frequented her home as they went back and forth, north and south, from Salt Lake to southern Utah towns. Only the last few years of her life were spent with her husband, Austin, in Salt Lake City where they worked actively in the Salt Lake Temple. Aunt May died April 3, 1938. She was eighty years old.
May had great faith in the Fairbanks family, so much so that she made many sacrifices to hold her property, thinking it might some day become a beautiful historical place for the Fairbanks Family to meet. One month prior to her death, May willed her home to John Boylston and Sarah's remaining heirs. Thus, George A. Fairbanks, Frank Fairbanks, John B. Fairbanks, and Alicia Fairbanks Simmons, received the home. In 1939, they bequeathed it to The Fairbanks Family in the West to preserve it as a "family heritage and a lasting remnant of real value." Lynn R. Fairbanks was elected organization president, with articles of incorporation drawn up and approved by family vote, to perpetuate this home in the spirit in which it was given.
After the death of Mary Fairbanks Brown (Aunt May), this homestead, which had seen so much busy activity, family life, and community service, stood vacant or was occupied only by a caretaker for some forty-two years. During those years the family often met at the home for reunions. People would tour the house and yard and log cabin which was on the property. One year, Lynn Fairbanks asked for donations to help fix the roof. Another year, Arlo Fairbanks and crew painted and repaired the home. The family tried to go yearly to clean and do upkeep work.
 During 1980-81 the home was dismantled and restored at This is the Place Heritage Park, formally Pioneer Trails State Park. According to officials at the park, 60,000 people visited the park in 1985 where they viewed a collection of pioneer business and homes. The John Boylston and Sarah Van Wagoner Fairbanks home is listed on the Utah Register of Historic and Cultural Sites.
There is need for a greater understanding of the men and women who underwent great trials and hardships in this great land; who settled here to provide the "abundant life" which was so important to our pre-Revolutionary and western pioneer ancestors, that we might enjoy the blessings of home, family, religious freedom, and the pursuit of happiness. It is the hope of the Fairbanks family that tourists and others who enter this sacred home will partake of the pioneer spirit of this precious landmark.
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