Ashton/Driggs House

This house was built c.1865 by William Ashton, a native of Alabama and convert to the Mormon church.  William and Ellen Elizabeth Croxford Ashton reportedly occupied this house from the time of their marriage, February 6, 1866, until 1880 when they deeded it to Olivia Pratt Driggs and moved to Vernal.  Olivia and Benjamin Driggs, a local merchant, loved in it until 1906.  The house was left unoccupied until 1917 when Clarence A Gammett purchased it and began restoration.  The Gammetts lived here until 1968.

The Greek Revival style home is built of hand-cut “soft rock” or tufa stone, quarried from springs at the base of nearby Mahogany Mountain.  Soft rock was the most popular building material in Pleasant Grove between the 1860s and about 1900.  This two-story central-passage house is perhaps the oldest remaining soft-rock house in town.  A post-World War I two story rear addition of soft rock replaced an original lean-to.  The front porch and carriage house were added in the 1970s.

The Ashton-Driggs House is located at 119 East 200 South (Battle Creek Drive) in Pleasant Grove, Utah and was added to the National Historic Register (#72001261) on April 14, 1972.

Benjamin W. Driggs Home
Built c.1882 of tufa stone for Olivia Pratt Driggs on the site of Fort Battle Creek.
Birthplace of King Driggs, father of the “King Family.”
Restoration by the Jack West, Jrs.  Since 1968.

The home was built c. 1882 by Benjamin Woodbury Driggs for his first wife Olivia Pratt Driggs. It Is significant because of the people that have lived there, because it is a unique stone home, and because it has been restored with loving care.

The site is within the area of the original stone fort of Battle Creek, The Driggs purchased the property In 1882. Benjamin Driggs was a pioneer, colonizer, railroad builder and owner of the Battle Creek Co-op, a successful general mercantile establishment. Olivia was the eldest daughter of the noted Mormon, Parley P. Pratt. She bore 12 children. William King Driggs, who was the 12th and the only one to be born in the rock house, is the forefather of the television personalities, The King Family.

The home is unique with its 2′ thick walls, built of rich colored and textured “soft rock” or tufa stone, quarried from the lower slopes of Mt. Timpanogas in a quarry just four miles to the north. It is one of the best examples of the stone homes in Utah and certainly one of the most important *n terms of the recent attention and care it has received.

The restoration of the home began in 1917 when Clarence A. Gammett purchased the abandoned home. Then ensued a careful restoration of the home and gardens. After the death of the Gammetts, the home was purchased by lack West, Jr. In 1968. He and his family continued the restoration with quality effort and have carefully gathered furnishings authentic to the original era of the home. The Wests, upon completion of their restoration project, held an open house and gala affair hosting more than 2,500 persons.