To spot the Brigham Young Winter Home and Office, just look for the sturdy two-story adobe house with its light beige brick and eye-catching moss-green trim, nestled behind a white picket fence and shaded by tall leafy trees-it's right ahead of you.
Welcome to the Brigham Young Winter Home and Office! Take a moment to imagine this corner of St. George in the 1870s: warm sunlight, a gentle desert breeze, and an air of purpose as townsfolk hurry by on errands. This house, with its cool adobe walls and wide porches, was the winter refuge of Brigham Young, a leader who could definitely use a break, thanks to some very grumpy arthritis. Why St. George? Let’s just say, after years of enduring mountain snow and stiff joints up in Salt Lake City, Brigham Young must have thought moving south was the best prescription ever written-sunshine, dry air, and local peaches included!
Brigham Young wasn’t just here for the weather, of course. After leading the Mormon pioneers west in that massive, life-or-death migration from Illinois in 1847, founding Salt Lake City, and basically being assigned the job of building entire towns out of sagebrush, Young saw St. George as a vital community for the future of the LDS Church. The area’s warmth earned it the nickname “Utah’s Dixie,” and Brigham charged settlers with making it the region’s cotton-growing capital. When Young rolled into town each winter between 1873 and 1877, rumor has it everyone worked harder-and not just to win his approval. His presence inspired completion of major projects, like the St. George Temple, which finally opened its doors in 1877, the same year Brigham Young bid farewell to this world.
Picture walking up to this house on a cold desert morning in 1874-frost still lingering on the ground-and catching a whiff of hot coals from one of the four fireplaces inside. Young’s house was cleverly built by Miles Romney and his son Miles Park Romney, and inside you’d find red sandstone fireplaces, hand-crafted furniture, and a roof full of shingles cut from the nearby wilderness. Just next door is Brigham’s office, with its thick stucco walls and sandstone chimney, where visitors might have heard the creak of the front door as neighbors dropped by.
After Young passed away, the story doesn’t end-far from it. The house became home to St. George’s very first dentist, Dr. Jedediah Gates, who, let’s hope, never accidentally practiced his drilling in the living room. The Young Family Association bought the home in the 1950s, but preserving the place proved harder than expected. Enter the state of Utah! With careful restoration in the 1960s, they put doors and stairways back where they belonged, and even painted the woodwork a delightful moss green-because, as legend goes, the paint originally meant for the nearby temple arrived in this accidental color, and no true pioneer was about to let good paint go to waste.
The LDS Church eventually took over the home’s care in the 1970s. Since then, this spot has been renovated and earthquake-proofed, even reopening after major repairs in 2003 to show off its historic charm. The missionaries here are ready to spin more tales and offer free tours, so don’t be shy.
While you stand here, notice how the lush yard, the shadows from old trees, and the handmade details all reflect both persistence and ingenuity-qualities that echo through the streets of St. George. Whether you’re a history buff or just a fan of a good paint mix-up, the Brigham Young Winter Home and Office holds stories of people who built, led, and sometimes limped, but always managed to leave behind something worth discovering.
