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Chapter 6. The Beehive and Lion Houses
- Utah State University Press
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Chapter 6 The Beehive and Lion Houses W. Randall Dixon Brigham Young’s principal residence from 1854 until his death in 1877 was the Beehive House on South Temple Street in Salt Lake City. West of this was the President’s Office, and next to the office was the Lion House which housed many of his wives and children. These buildings are all that survive of his original enclosure which included other houses, barns, gardens, orchards, a schoolhouse , and other structures. Beehive House The Beehive House replaced the White House as Brigham Young’s principal residence , while the Lion House replaced the Log Row as the main home for his family. The plan to build what would become the Beehive House was first noted in February 1852 when Truman O. Angell mentioned that he was working on plans for what he called the Governor’s House.1 A lot had been purchased from Lorenzo Dow Young, the president’s brother. Lorenzo had erected a log cabin on this lot in the fall of 1847, and the President’s Office had been built there in 1852.2 Construction was delayed until the following year when Angell recorded: “Laid out the President’s house or found the corners and as the wind blew too much to proceed farther, I left the work and went to my office. Made ready the bills of timber and joists of said house and made the bill for cut stone for the same house.”3 By then it was called the President’s House, and was connected to the existing office by an enclosed passageway. By the fall of 1853 the adobe walls had been erected and the roof shingled.4 Construction resumed in the spring of 1854 and by late in that year Brigham Young and his family had moved into the home, although finishing work continued through 1855.5 Architecturally, the building is best described as a traditional Georgian style house with Greek revival features, including a boxed cornice and a roof parapet. The roof contained an observatory with a cupola topped by a beehive, giving the house its name. Another feature was a one-story Tuscan-columned porch on the south and east sides of the building. The house was designed on a central hall plan with a staircase in the hall leading to the second floor. The main floor had two parlors. The west parlor connected by a short hallway to the President’s Office and this parlor was often used as a bedroom by President Young. A larger parlor in the southeast corner of the house was used by Brigham Young for his daily family breakfast; while he lived in the house, he took his breakfast there, but he usually ate his other meals in the Lion House. The main floor also included a bathroom, sewing room, pantry, and other storage rooms.6 The second floor contained what was called the “Long Hall” on the east. The coved-ceiling room served for entertaining and in the summer as a bedroom for Brigham Young. Horace Greeley, who visited Salt Lake City in 1859, described his reception in the Long Hall. “We were very cordially welcomed at the door by the President, who led us into the second-story parlour of the largest of his houses (he has three), where I was introduced to Heber C. Kimball, Gen. Wells, Gen. Ferguson, Albert Carrington, Elias Smith, and several other leading men in the Church, with two full-grown sons of the President.”7 A rear wing of a story and a half extended to the north. The main floor contained a large kitchen and the dining room where workmen who boarded ate their meals. The half-story above was used for storage and occasionally for temporary housing. A barn was originally attached to the end of the house.8 When Brigham Young first moved into the house he was joined by his wife, Mary Ann Angell, and their children. They lived in the house until 1860 when she moved back to the White House where she felt more comfortable. Lucy Ann Decker and her family moved into the Beehive House. Lucy Ann lived there throughout the remainder of Brigham Young’s life. She managed the house and cooked the meals for the workmen who came to the house for lunch. Young women were hired to help Lucy cook for the men. Susa Young Gates observed that the members of the family were never to call...