The Hancock Mansion

rachels_slc_history on instagram posted:
The Hancock Mansion at 444 S 700 E in SLC is said to be haunted by the ghost of Ms Hollister Hancock.

The house was built in 1890 for businessman Thomas F. Mulloy but it is called the Hancock Mansion as it was the Hancock family that primarily lived there.

The mansion was purchased in 1901 by Col. William M. Ferry Jr who owned several silver mines in the Park City area; he gifted the house to his daughters, Kate Hancock and Mary Allen.

Kate Hancock lived in the house with her husband George, daughter Mary “Hollister” and son John. Two of Kate’s other children had died in the two years prior, the loss of which was devastating to the family. The gift of a new home was likely an attempt to cope and adjust to their new reality.

In the early 1900s, the Hancock family often hosted parties at their home, which was decorated with roses and ferns. Hollister was a socialite who attended prestigious finishing schools in the East; and, in 1903 she attended a reception at the White House hosted by the First Lady, Edith Roosevelt.

Hollister Hancock inherited the house after her mother’s death in 1940. Hollister lived in the house for 75 years, until her death in 1976. She was an active club woman and devoted to her service with the Women’s Board of Westminster College.

In 1977, the house was leased and restored by Pam March, who established her floral business, Every Blooming Thing. Pam reported that items were rearranged overnight, doors were locked from the inside, and once an individual fell through the ceiling from the attic during repairs and landed in the bathroom below (he was not injured) and a card fell with him that read “Merry Christmas from Hollister Hancock.”

Pam reported seeing the ghost of Hollister during Christmas season who told her that “Hollister Hancock is pleased with what you have done with the house and her spirit is with you.” Perhaps a reference to flowers once again filling the old mansion (?). Pam called “Holl” her guardian angel.

The Hancock Mansion is the last of the historic buildings on the block and the adjacent buildings (Fendall’s Ice Cream/Big Daddy Pizza, the old Modern Display and McArthur buildings) were demolished in 2023.

The current owners Steve and Danell Murdock who operate Design of Today out of the mansion. They are passionate about preservation and continue to love the home. They are also concerned about the development happening around them and have spoken at SLC City Council meetings. Feel free to send a note to the SLC City Council, Planning Commission and/or Historic Landmark Commission about your desire to preserve the last remaining historic property on the block and not allow it to be tightly boxed in with overbearing new construction. It is within a local historic district so there is some preservation oversight.

The home is located at 444 South 700 East in Salt Lake City, Utah