Historic Buildings In Salt Lake City

Many of us are enamored and love visiting places with a rich history behind them. Here in Utah we pride ourselves in preserving our colorful heritage. Below are just a couple of places you will definitely want to go while visiting Utah.

The Lion House

63 East South Temple

The Lion House was built in 1856 by Brigham Young in order to accommodate his very large family. It gets its name from the statue of a lion over the front entrance, made by William Ward. The lion design is modeled after one located at a prominent home in Vermont where Brigham Young spent some of his childhood.

The House was partly designed by Truman O. Angell, who also designed the Salt Lake Temple, and was built with adobe and sandstone which came from City Creek Canyon.

A polygamist, Young ultimately fathered 57 biological children by more than two dozen wives, and had many adopted, foster, and stepchildren too. He owned residences throughout Salt Lake City and the Utah Territory, but many of his wives and children were housed in The Lion House. The house contains large public rooms on the ground floor with 20 bedrooms on the upper floors, and was home to as many as twelve of Young’s wives. Some of his wives and children continued to live in the house until the 1900’s. Today the building contains a reception center and restaurant.

Restaurant open to the public
Monday-Saturday, 11:00 am-2:00 pm, and Thursday-Saturday, 5:00-8:30 pm.

The Historic Beehive House

The Beehive House is one of the two official residences of Brigham

The Beehive House

Young. The Beehive house was constructed in 1854, two years before the Lion House. The Lion House is adjacent to the Beehive House, and both homes are one block east of the Salt Lake Temple and Temple Square on the street South Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is constructed of adobe and sandstone. The Beehive House is one of the two official residences of Brigham Young.

Young’s first polygamous wife, Lucy Ann Decker Young (1822–1890), possibly due to her seniority, became hostess of the Beehive House and lived there with her nine children. The Beehive House is connected by a suite of rooms to the Lion House. This suite included Young’s offices and his private bedroom where he died in 1877.