Lion House, Historic house in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Lion House is a Gothic Revival mansion at 63 East South Temple, one block east of Temple Square. Its steep gabled front has symmetrically arranged windows with dark green louvered shutters, and a wooden lion carved by William Ward III sits on a projecting stone ledge left of center. The house has 20 gables for 20 small bedrooms, with large public rooms on the ground floor and bedrooms above.
The building was constructed in 1856 to house a prominent religious leader and his large household from multiple marriages. Its design reflects the specific needs of such a substantial domestic arrangement in the mid-1800s.
The house takes its name from the lion carved by William Ward III above the entrance, a reference to Brigham Young's nickname, "Lion of the Lord." In 1870 the Young Ladies' Department of the Ladies' Cooperative Retrenchment Association, now Young Women, was founded here. The Lion House Pantry's rolls, created by head baker Bill Ellis in 1977, are sold nationally as baking mixes through Lehi Roller Mills.
The house stands at 63 East South Temple, one block east of Temple Square and next to the Beehive House, with which it is connected by former office rooms. The building closed to the public in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and stays closed for renovation and restoration, with reopening expected in spring 2027. The former Lion House Pantry restaurant is to become museum space, so plan on viewing the exterior only for now.
The house has 20 gables for 20 small bedrooms, not 26. Brigham Young died there in 1877. The lion above the entrance was carved by William Ward III; Young's nickname "Lion of the Lord" gave the house its name.
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