Building Also Known As: Blue Ribbon Exhibition Home
Address: 2337 S 2200 E
City: Salt Lake City
County: Salt Lake
State: UT
Building Type: Residential
Style: Spanish Colonial Revival
Work Scope: Original Design
Client: Architectural Building Company
A&E Related Architect: Ashton & Evans
A&E Work Approx Date: 1930
Architects Confirmed? Salt Lake City building permit (1930)
Original Cost: $17,000
Builder: Architectural Building Company
Site Survival? Y (2022)
Site Condition? Excellent (2022)
Description
Building speculative (spec) houses isn’t new. In 1930, Ashton & Evans contracted with Architectural Building Company to design a spec house in the new Country Club Acres development at the foot of Parley’s Canyon. It was – and still is – a prestigious neighborhood with current home prices over $1 million.
Advertising for this home was over-the-top: articles in the top tier newspapers as well as a well-publicized open house featuring the modern elements of the home, and the vendors that provided them. Some of the photos on the left are from advertising materials, showing the best of 1930s technology (Architectural Building Company).
But sometimes luck isn’t with us. The house came on the market in July 1930, soon after the stock market crash. It was still on the market in September! While the home originally was listed for $18,000, Zillow now (2022) estimates a price of over $1.5 million. That is nearly 10% yearly increase every year for 90 years.
Research Notes
This site was listed as only as “Country Club Acres” on my original list of A&E work. That was not enough information to start research. Fortunately, the original PR brochure was included in my grandfather’s scrapbook (Evans). While the brochure (Architectural Building Company) was definitely over-the-top, it did give an address and confirmed that A&E were the original architects.
Sources
- Architectural Building Compay. (n.d.). Salt Lake City's first blue ribbon exhibition home [Brochure]. Copy in possession of Corrinne Fiedler.
- Evans, R. [Personal Scrapbook]. Photos in possession of Corrinne Fiedler.
- Salt Lake City Building Permit. (1930, Mar 27). #1378).
- Special Collections, Ashton & Evans collection [Unprocessed Blueprints]. J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
- Visit today in the new Country Club district. (1930, Sep 14). The Salt Lake Tribune. - https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6h25wmg/30560672
- You are cordiallly invited to visit Salt Lake City's first blue ribbon exhibition home [Advertisement]. (30, Jul 20). The Salt Lake Tribune.