Brigham Young Home

Brigham Young, as the locals say, was St. George’s first snowbird. As Young aged and began suffering from arthritis, he found that St. George’s warm, dry and snowless winters eased his discomfort. The original portion of his home was begun in 1869 and completed in 1871. The front addition—what most would call the main part of the house—was completed in 1873. Made from adobe, plaster and local rock, the two-story home is indicative of homebuilding in Utah at the time, when homes had large wrap-around front porches, thick insulating walls, a vegetable storage room in the basement, and three or more bedrooms. Young’s home also had a detached office with telegraph station, and a large office-style master bedroom upstairs. The home also has an ingenious ventilation system where warm air flows out through the ceiling into the attic and out of the house. Orchards and gardens surrounded the home on three sides.

The Brigham Young Winter Home sits in a neighborhood of pioneer homes, many of them wonderfully restored. Some homes are open to the public, others offer tours, and some are not open to the public. A few, such as the Seven Wives Inn (diagonally across from the Young home), are businesses. More than two-dozen of St. George’s finest historic homes and buildings can be seen on a walking tour of the downtown area. The Brigham Young Winter Home is located only three blocks away from Best Western Coral Hills at the southeast corner of 200 North and 100 West. It is open for tours daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (until 7:00 p.m. in spring and until 8:00 p.m. in summer). For more information call (435) 673-5181.