Built in 1950 by Budget Houses Inc. (one of the major development companies involved in constructing the original Rose Park subdivision) in a variation of Minimal Traditional style architecture, this home features both a bay window and corner window, both of which help to provide additional light in a small space. The building permit was for a 600 sq. ft. brick residence with four rooms – presumably a living room, kitchen, and two bedrooms. The estimated cost of construction was $5,500. When the house was completed, it was purchased by Alfred “Alf” and Violet Swenson. Like many of the first generation of men in Rose Park, Alf had served in the army in World War II. Alf’s younger brother, Franklin, had purchased a house on 1200 West more than a year before and may have influenced Alf and Violet to buy a home in the same neighborhood. Franklin’s home is also part of the homes tour.
The Swensons daughter Judith was born in June of 1950. Judith attended Rose Park Elementary School for some time before transferring to local Catholic schools to finish her K-12 education. Alf was initially the sole breadwinner for the family, working as an accountant. At about the time that Judith entered her junior high school years, Violet began working for the State Department of Public Welfare and continued working there until the 1970s.
In the mid-1970s, the Swensons divorced. Violet continued to live in the house for several years, making about 29 years that the Swenson family lived in the house. Violet sold the house to Frank Nigbur not too long before her death in 1979.
(above text is from Preservation Utah‘s home tour)
889 North Pointsettia Drive in the Rose Park neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah
