The Nelson/Beesley house is significant as the largest and best example of the Swiss Bungalow style in the Salt Lake City Avenues neighborhood and among the best in the State of Utah. Characteristics of this style romantically recall alpine chalets, and the Beesley home alludes to Swiss prototypes in its rectangular plan, broad gable roof, height and general symmetry, and decorative detailing. The residence served as the home of the Alvin A. Beesley family for twenty-two years. Beesley was a prominent figure in Salt Lake City business, cultural, civic and religious activities for nearly half a century. His association with the Beesley Music Company, represents the efforts of the Beesley family to promote Mormon musical values in the community.

The nomination of this residence is based upon an extensive survey of the Salt Lake City Avenues neighborhood. The Nelson/Beesley house, located in the upper Avenues, was not included in the Avenues Historic District, but was judged a significant site within the survey area based upon its architecture and historical associations.

Joseph Nelson, president and manager of Joseph Nelson Supply Company, plumbing suppliers, had this residence built in 1918 by Thomas Child and Son, Mason contractors. As listed in the Salt Lake City building permits, the two-story fourteen room house cost an estimated $15,000.

The Swiss Bungalow style was a romantic adaptation of the Alpine chalet, and represented one of a number of variations on the early twentieth century bungalow style. The Beesley house retains the integrity of the style in its plan, roof design, and general massing.

Joseph Nelson, the original owner, had lived at 568 I Street, also in the Avenues neighborhood, prior to his move to 533 11th Avenue- In 1926 Alvin and Ruby Pratt Beesley were listed in directories as residing at 533 11th Avenue, and purchased the home in 1927 from Nelson. Their tenure in the residence dated from 1926 to 1948, the year of Ruby Beesley’s death (Alvin had died in 1940).

Alvin A. Beesley, born in Salt Lake City in 1873, was the son of Ebenezer and Sarah Hancock Beesley. Ebenezer founded the Beesley Music Company in 1904, and both the man and the firm are considered pioneers in the Salt Lake City music field. The elder Beesley directed the Mormon Tabernacle choir from 1870 to 1885, and composed a large number of Mormon hymns. Alvin studied music under his father, as well as H.S. Kraure and C.F. Staynes; and in about 1906 became president and manager of the company. The Beesley name remains synonymous with the promotion of music and musical values, qualities important to the Mormon community. The business still functions under ownership of the Beesley family.

The activities and interests of Alvin Beesley proved influential in Salt Lake City’s business, civic, and religious activity. In addition to his involvement with the music business, Beesley assumed the directorship and a seat on the executive board of the Hotel Utah (National Register), which opened for business in 1911. He also became an organizer, three-time president, and director for various years, of the Salt Lake local American Federation of Musicians, thus, involved in both business and labor. Alvin Beesley served as a delegate to national musician’s conventions, and befriended Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor.

From 1933 to 1935 he served as a Salt Lake County Commissioner, heading the finance department. A member and activist of several civic groups, including the Chamber of Commerce, Rotarians, and Boy Scouts,. Beesley served in numerous religious positions for the Mormon church, particularly as chorister of the Salt Lake Stake from 1904 to 1930.

Alvin and Ruby Pratt Beesley resided in the house until their deaths. Mrs. Beesley was the daughter of Mormon pioneer Orson Pratt, and married Alvin in She died in 1948, following Alvin’s death in 1940.

Located at 533 East Eleventh Avenue in The Avenues of Salt Lake City, Utah

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• Historic Homes and Buildings in the SLC Avenues
• NRHP #80003931

Joseph Nelson House

Built in 1918 by Joseph Nelson, an early day plumbing contractor. The Joseph Nelson house is architecturally significant as one of the best examples in Utah of the Swiss Bungalow style. Situated in the Avenues neighborhood, this house recalls an Alpine Chalet with decorative detailing. For many years it was owned by members of the Alvin A. Beesley family who were associated with the Beesley Music Company. In 1957 the house became the residence of W.E. Hess, M.D. and family.

123 N Street

This house was built in 1890 at a cost of $2,500 and is typical of Victorian houses built in the Avenues in the late 19th century.  The first resident was Charles H. Brink, manager of Joslin and Park Jewelers, one of the earliest such businesses in Salt Lake City.  Subsequent owners include stockman Howard H. Lawson, 1906-21, and cabinetmaker Peter Moss, 1927-early 1940s.

Located at 123 North N Street in The Avenues in Salt Lake City, Utah

• Historic Homes in Salt Lake

130 F Street

Constructed in 1902, this house is a good example of the Colonial Revival style, popular during the early twentieth century.  The gambrel roof provides a “Dutch Colonial” appearance.

Mary S. Rutt, wife of mining entrepreneur Levi M. Rutt, had the houes constructed.  Although she transferred title to her daughter and son-in-law, the Rutts lived here until 1926, when the house was sold to D.V. and Mary Ann Hyde.  The Hydes, in turn, sold it to Jacob and Caroline Peterson. During the late 1930s, the Petersons remodeled the house into a duplex.  Three have been several subsequent owners, but it is once again a single family residence.

This historic home is located in the Avenues Historic District in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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174 F Street

This two-story house was built in 1909 by Charles A. Lanbourne, a postal service employee, and his wife, Emma.  It is one of several homes built in the Avenues by members of the Lambourne family.  Their sons, Charles, Jr. and Doyles E., inherited the property c.1935.  The foursquare house type was popular in Utah between 1900 and 1920 and, as in this house, often incorporated stylistic features such as the broad-eaved hip roof with center dormer and wide one-story front porch.

This historic home is located in the Avenues Historic District in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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Luft-Fitzpatrick House

187 F Street

Built as rental property in 1903 by Fred Luft, president of Western Machinery Company, this Victorian style home is distinguished by its circular turreted porch.  After 1909 the house was owned and occupied by the Mary Fitzpatrick family.  The Fitzpatricks were Irish immigrants drawn west by the lure of silver.

This historic home is located in the Avenues Historic District in Salt Lake City, Utah.

234 E Street

Constructed circa 1895, this exceptional one-story, stucco house is a good example of the Victorian Eclectic style, popular during the late nineteenth century.  The gable roof provides a Victorian appearance which contributes to the unique architecture of the Avenues.  It was built by Daniel and Agnes Huddleston Stuart, who had come to Utah in 1850 from England.  Daniel worked as a blacksmith and farmer.  The Stuarts used the home as a rental property and as a residence for family members.  In 1905, the home passed out of Daniel’s estate to his daughter Zina Lamborne Watkins, who owned the property for many years.

234 North E Street in the avenues in Salt Lake City, Utah

224 E Street

Hannah Swenson, a midwife, built this house in 1890 for $2,000.  She lived here with her husband, Andrew, a tailor, for two years, after which this and the house in the rear were used as rental property.  The property was inherited by their son, Andrew, and his wife, Isabella, in 1900.  They sold the property to Agnes Squires Jones in 1910.  She and her husband, Robert, a blacksmith, occupied the home until 1928 when it was purchased by Alice Homstead, a teacher at Irving Junior High School.  Alice lived here with her mother and sister until her death in 1965.

224 North E Street in the avenues in Salt Lake City, Utah

178 E Street

This two-story mansion was built by William and Martha Lanbourne c.1870.  William, a paper hanger and designer, lived here until his death in 1887.  Martha sold the house in 1889 to Joseph Daynes, the first Salt Lake Tabernacle organist.  One of the numerous owners between 1900 and 1946 divided the house into three apartments.  Even R. Terry, a certified public accountant, and his wife, Joan C., purchased the house in 1947 and continue to live here and maintain one of the apartments for rental purposes.

The house is architecturally significant as an excellent example of the Queen Anne style.  The elaborate front gable has a metal finial, a large sunburst panel with dentil molding, diamond-shaped  decorative panels, wood shingle siding, a triple attic window with multiple lights, and a corner tower with ornamental brick panels and a rounded arched window.  The picturesque Queen Anne style became the favored late-nineteenth-century style in America and its popularity in Utah coincided with the building boom of the late 1880s and 1890s.

178 North E Street in the avenues in Salt Lake City, Utah

401 3rd Ave

This one-story Victorian Eclectic style cottage was built circa 1891.  Victorian elements include the hip roof, tall narrow windows with corbelled brick arches, and a projecting front bay window with colored leaded glass panes in the upper sash.  The original owner/builder was Harry Luff, a carpenter who also worked on the Mormon temple and tabernacle and on many other residences in Salt Lake City.  He was born in England in 1843 and immigrated to Utah in 1860.

The home was originally rented.  At the time it was constructed, Luff was living at 407 3rd Avenue, but he lived in this house from 1907 to 1911.  In 1913, Luff sold the property to Alma Harris, a confectioner.  Harris’ store was here for the first few months he owned the house.  He then rented it from 1923 to about 1930, when John Orton, a schoolteacher and accountant, bought it.

This historic home is located at 401 Third Avenue in the Avenues Historic District in Salt Lake City, Utah.