Today we ventured downtown to take a tour of Brigham Young's winter home. Brigham Young, as the locals say, was St. George's first snowbird. As he aged he began suffering from arthritis and found that the warm, dry and snowless winters eased his discomfort. The original portion of his home was begun in 1869 and completed in 1871. The front addition to the house was completed in 1873. One of the things that struck me from the outside appearance of the house was the bright green trim. Apparently when the paint was ordered for the temple it came as the wrong color. Instead of wasting the paint Brigham Young decided to use the paint as trim for the house.
At the beginning of the tour we learned a little about the history of St. George and how it was founded as a cotton mission. The settlement was named after George A. Smith who was apparently bald but wore a wig. He wore that wig whichever way he wanted and most of the time he looked like he just slapped it on his head sideways. He was humorously known for sometimes removing his wig to wipe his brow while preaching. After seeing Smith remove his hair, glasses, and false teeth, the natives gave him the name Non-choko-wicher meaning, "takes himself apart."
Walking into the home was like walking into a totally different world. The chairs in the entry hall were replicas of Thomas Cotton's work. Thomas Cotton was one of the early furniture makers in the area. The tour guide had the kids count the chairs during the tour to see who could get all of them. There ended up being 32 chairs. The kids came pretty close, minus one chair I think. All of the furnishings in the home were either replicas or period antiques. Most of the wood furniture was made out of pine since that was they had available at the time. Brigham Young hired craftsmen to paint the pine to look like other kinds of wood. It was really fascinating to see something that looked like mahogany only to be told that it was indeed pine.
Brigham Young owned the eight sided table in the parlor. It was made of pine and grained to look like crotch mahogany. Also in the parlor, the box piano was a replica of what they had in the house. The photo above the fireplace of Brigham Young was given to him as a Christmas gift by the people in town. He was very touched to receive it. The letter table in the parlor was also a replica and was pine that was painted to look like mahogany.
In the dining room there were a few things that were authentic. The dishes on the table in the dining room with the "BY" monogram had been ordered and but didn't arrive until after Brigham's death. The ruby colored vase on the top shelf of the dining room cabinet was an original artifact and was used in the home by Brigham and his family. The photos on both sides of the dining room cabinet were also originals that were in Brigham Young's home.
In the kitchen the kids were able to pick up and see just how heavy the iron was. Emma was grateful that we didn't have to iron our clothes with something quite that heavy. Upstairs in the bedrooms we learned what a chamber pot was. The kids were again grateful that they didn't have to have a bathroom duty like that.
All the beds upstairs belonged to Brigham Young as well as the dresser with the numbers on it that he used as his traveling wardrobe. The cane and the hat on the bed also belonged to Brigham Young.
In the dining room there were a few things that were authentic. The dishes on the table in the dining room with the "BY" monogram had been ordered and but didn't arrive until after Brigham's death. The ruby colored vase on the top shelf of the dining room cabinet was an original artifact and was used in the home by Brigham and his family. The photos on both sides of the dining room cabinet were also originals that were in Brigham Young's home.
In the kitchen the kids were able to pick up and see just how heavy the iron was. Emma was grateful that we didn't have to iron our clothes with something quite that heavy. Upstairs in the bedrooms we learned what a chamber pot was. The kids were again grateful that they didn't have to have a bathroom duty like that.
All the beds upstairs belonged to Brigham Young as well as the dresser with the numbers on it that he used as his traveling wardrobe. The cane and the hat on the bed also belonged to Brigham Young.
