Browsing Posts From: Local History

Four years ago we began work on the Ambrose P. Hibbs home located at 2223 Adams Ave. in Ogden.  What began as a basic lipstick job turned into a major renovation and restoration of the building. But the work wasn’t complete.  The exterior of the building and some important interior details were left untouched. Last year we began work on the exterior to improve a basement apartment space and we also began work on fixing up the sad and depressing back porch.  We had enough video material to create some […]

Check out the sad and tragic story of this once proud Ogden home as it transitioned from Victorian landmark to voluminous landfill material.

In a bizarre deja vu for Elite Craft Homes, another development of theirs has gone up in flames.  We might take a trip in the wayback machine to last year’s incredible inferno that destroyed a freshly framed 4-story structure at 28th and Grant Ave. This time, the fire was located at the corner of 34th and Washington with a freshly framed three story structure.  The site was scheduled to be fenced off but vandals likely took advantage of the situation before that could be done.   There are suspicions that […]

Ogden residents mourned this morning after hearing of the loss of community landmark and historic business Topper Bakery. Around 10:30 last night our family smelled smoke and went outside to discover the source. While we didn’t see anything unusual, what we didn’t realize was that a few blocks away the cherished Topper Bakery building was burning. Their donuts, orange rolls, and dinner rolls will be missed while they regroup and/or rebuild. Hats off to Topper Bakery! (Fire photo courtesy KSL)

Several development projects continue to wind their way through the approval processes in Ogden City but the list of potential projects is impressive.  Here are some recent highlights: Little Audrey’s/Old Dee School No More After sitting vacant and unused for the better part of a decade, developer Steven Peterson (no relation) is proposing to turn the old Ogden landmark into an apartment building.  The proposal includes solar panel carports and ripping up a significant portion of the parking lot to provide for green space.   How the building will be […]

We recently completed the turn around of our most recent project house.  Here is a walk through of the interior with some before video to contrast the difference.    

Ogden has been undergoing significant changes over the past 20 years starting with the election of Mayor Matthew Godfrey in 1999. It seems that since that time the city has been in a constant state of reinvention and rejuvenation. Most of this visible energy has been focused in the downtown core (honorable mentions going to Business Depot Ogden and the Ogden Stockyard Exchange areas of course.) Which brings me to the latest example that epitomizes Ogden’s continuing transformation. Let’s look no further than 2210 Jefferson Ave.   Originally constructed in […]

Renovating homes is hard work.  While everyone appreciates a perfect kitchen or bathroom, not many realize what it takes to get a dumpy home looking good again.  So, I thought I would look back at this year’s epic renovation performed in the Spring of 2018 by loyal and hard working clients. Kudos to all the hard working real estate investors out there who care about their craft and do the job right.    

We have been working towards finishing the basement in our historic 1908 craftsman home.  The process has been and continues to be tedious.  We recently obtained our city permit after getting a structural engineer to sign off on the project.  We are excited to finally move forward.  So, with out further ado let me introduce our project with MY OLD HOUSE  – Episode 1.  Look forward to other episodes in the future as we move along with the work.  

Ogden has seen an uncanny number of house fires lately.  None of them are related but it does speak somewhat to the need to attend to regular maintenance and common sense safety in regards to flammable situations.  A home was recently lost to fire at 2250 Jackson Ave. just a couple months ago. Yet, the most sensational house fire just occurred in early March at 2831 Monroe Blvd.  The home exploded and blew the roof off the top after a gas leak ignited in the home.  A resident was upstairs […]

Ogden City has been spending a lot of effort to rejuvenate its city center.  There are many buildings that have sat fallow for some time or have run past their ‘best used by’ date.  Fortunately, progress is being made.  Here are a couple examples. DEE SCHOOL     Dee school is an icon in Ogden.  Build in the 1970’s when avant-garde school architecture was in vogue, this school boasted a circular floorplan with no interior walls!  Whoa!  My two oldest children had the opportunity to attend the school when they […]

On March 10, 2006, the Shupe Williams Candy Factory caught fire and burned to the ground.  We live just a few blocks from the site and when we heard what was happening, I grabbed our camcorder and caught the sad demise of this Ogden landmark: Even after all this time, the site is still vacant today.  Hopefully the future will bring new life to this part of Ogden City.  

  Ogden continues to be a city in metamorphosis.  Here are a few photos that illustrate the ever increasing investment in Ogden’s Downtown neighborhoods: This victorian home located on the 26th block of Madison Ave. was converted into an unseemly triplex many decades ago. Fortunately, a new owner renovated the property and restored it back to single family use.  Quite a remarkable difference!   I listed and sold this property last year to an investor who wanted to restore this 1880s Victorian building.  The building was abandoned and configured into […]

Recently, the Union Station Foundation reached out and invited me on a tour of the Union Station building.  The building is the cap to Historic 25th Street and since I have been there many times, I didn’t think there was too much to see that I hadn’t seen already.  Well, on this trip they had a special surprise.   As a quick review, the current Union Station building was rebuilt quickly after the Victorian version burned in 1923.  Reconstruction began in April 1924 and the building was opened in November […]

For the past several years, I have managed a small and cute rental cottage located at 553 16th Street in Ogden, Utah.  Recently, the owner asked me to organize a major renovation to the building to prepare it for sale.  The transformation was remarkable.  For about $11,000, we were able to take the house from being a tired edifice to a sparkling home. For those of you interested in some of the improvements here are some specifics.  We used the Eddie Bauer color selection at lows.  The exterior was painted […]