In January 1947, Right Rev. Abbot M. Frederic Dunne, the abbot of a Trappist (Cistercian) monastery in Kentucky visited Utah to purchase a 1,640 site about five miles southeast of Huntsville. That tract was considered “the prettiest and most lucrative farm section in Huntsville” (Newly). From the beginning the monastery was envisioned as a home for priests, lay brothers, and students working together in dairying and general agriculture (Kentucky monks). Six hundred cultivated acres were expected to make the monastery completely self-sustaining (Johnson).

Ashton & Evans began work in Jun 1947, sketching layouts for three one-story war surplus barracks to be moved to the site for monks’ residences until a more permanent structure could be built. In July, Dom Frederic and 34 monks arrived from Kentucky to populate the barracks (Mooney). Soon after the monks arrived, work was begun on a more permanent, but still temporary, concrete and steel Quonset-type structure.

This structure was formed of four Quonset-shaped huts built in a quadrangle, with the spatial design exactly the same as other monasteries, so that community members could transfer among monasteries easily. A gate house was erected at the entrance for the reception of visitors, with a walled in garden behind it leading to the main quadrangle building. The east wing contained a meeting hall; the south wing, the dining hall; and the west wing, the guest quarters and offices. The chapel is always on the side facing east and west (Johnson).

In addition to raising beef and bees the quadrangle blueprints clearly show space for a bakery, tailor shop, dairy, cheese curing, and food storage. Ashton & Evans designed an equipment building and a blacksmith shop as well as the quadrangle and gate house (Special collections).

The Trappists had a vision: as soon as the monastery population became large enough and funds were available, a new grand stone edifice would be built “probably of red sandstone to be quarried on the property” (Johnson, O’Brien). However, the number of men interested in monastic life slowed down in the 1960s and the plans for the new stone building were postponed and then cancelled.

In 2016 the few remaining monks, mostly in their 80s and 90s, retired and sold the property to Bill White. White ensured the farm property was preserved through a conservation easement (O’Brien). The Quonset-style monastery was expensive to maintain and required $12 million to bring up to code, so White was unable to sell or even donate the structure. Finally in 2019 the monastery was demolished, though several of the Ashton & Evans-designed outbuildings were still standing in 2023 (O’Brien).