Historic

Lynwood and Afton Fish

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Lynwood Fish was one of Yalecrest’s WWI vets.  He and his wife Afton (Warburton) married in 1921.  They had a home on the 1700 block of Harvard Ave for almost 60 years!

Lynwood (who preferred to be called Len or L.L.) suffered a serious head injury on the battlefield in France. When he came home he thought he could do carpentry work on construction jobs with his father, but discovered he couldn’t stand on a stool without getting dizzy.  As a vet he was eligible for rehabilitation training, so he went to school to become an architectural draftsman.

The Fish’s bought a Doxey-Layton lot on Yalecrest Ave near 1800 East, but decided to swap it for another lot on Harvard Ave.  Len said there was an understanding that if you bought a lot from Doxey-Layton then when it came time to build, they got to be your builder.  Together Len and Afton poured through architectural magazines and housing brochures until Afton picked out the house she wanted. Then they picked out some special features and presented their finalized plans to Doxey-Layton.  In 1929, for only $8,000 they would be getting their dream home in Yalecrest!

Here is a list of some of the special features Len and Afton requested:

  • a large yellow acid-resisting enamel iron kitchen sink IMG0524122552
  • an incinerator
  • tile bathroom
  • 2×6 ceiling joists
  • extra outlets
  • steel windows
  • a special type of stucco on the exterior walls

Unfortunately, the day excavation started on the foundation of their home Len found himself looking for a new job.  The Depression had caught up with them.  The Fish’s resigned themselves to having to sell their home.  But, there were no buyers.  They hung on through some rough years and survived the good times and the bad.  People that knew them said they were wonderful neighbors.

Afton was a very talented painter.  I saw one of her paintings hanging in a neighbor’s house years ago.  It was beautiful.  Afton also loved to grow violets.  At some point the Fish’s remodeled their kitchen and the big yellow sink was replaced by a stainless steel one.  Their granddaughter told me Afton hated seeing the water spots on that new sink and would offer to pay her to come and polish it.  Oh, Afton never threw out her yellow sink either.  She re-purposed it to use with her violets.  It is still in the neighborhood.

Like many of our neighbors, Len and Afton have moved on.  But, many still remember and/or think of them fondly.  I do, every time I go by their home.

–Kelly Marinan

IMG0524122536Sources:  Cooley Family Papers in the U of U Special Collections, friends/neighbors, family.

Old photo courtesy of Salt Lake County Archives.

 

How to ruin a streetscape

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Demolition of 1547 E. Harvard Avenue is coming

Many developers, contractors and realtors see our historic Yalecrest neighborhood as a money-making device and target our homes for profit. They see Yalecrest as a charming neighborhood and a desirable homesite, but don’t consider exactly what makes it attractive—the historic streetscapes. They don’t realize demolishing a home forever ruins the continuity of scale and architecture on a block and that loss of our precious buildings weakens the recognition Yalecrest enjoys on the National Register of Historic Places and as a treasured historic site in the state of Utah.

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Many prominent Utahns numerous generations of families have made Yalecrest their home over its 100-year lifetime. Some homes are cozy and small yet full of craftsmanship and unique details. Others are larger and ornate and designed by well-known architects and builders of the time. They all tell a story of the shaping of the Yalecrest neighborhood—and of Salt Lake City—over 22 subdivisions and 27 years of development.
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This is why we at K.E.E.P. Yalecrest have formed around a mission to encourage the preservation of our neighborhood, rich in history, families and memories.  Sadly, this little bungalow was left vacant by its owner and did not receive needed care and attention.  Some feel its status as an eyesore makes it a candidate for removal.  It’s been listed for sale and a neighbor even offered to purchase it at a fair price, but the current owner/developer has decided he’ll make more money on a rebuild. Likely the only way to achieve a decent profit will be to build a structure much larger than the other one-story cottages on the street.  Will it stand out? Most definitely. Will it shadow its neighbors and encroach on their privacy?  Quite likely. Does it matter how it impacts the nearby residents, and the neighborhood as a whole? Not the current owner developer Lane Myers and his partner Mike Baird of TV FlipMen fame.

Watch this video to see the streetscape last fall:[vimeo 94091338 w=500 h=281]

 

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1547 Harvard with dozer_edited-1

Yalecrest Doors

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Have you seen these doors on your neighborhood walks? yalecrest doors 1

Where are they located?

Do you know its architecture style?

What type of entry door do you have? 

As I take my daily dogwalk in the Yalecrest neighborhood, I marvel at the beauty, craftsmanship and diversity of the original doors on our homes.  The character of the original front entry doors are intimately associated with the houses’ architecture.

Homes in Yalecrest are represented by Early 20th century residential types, which include Bungalows (1905-1925), Period Cottages (1910-1935), and CapeCod (1925-1945).

Within those building types are a variety of styles, which are characterized by architectural detail that adds to the basic form.  Bungalows include Arts and Crafts and Prairie School.  Period Cottage styles include Colonial Revival, Neoclassic, English Tudor, Period Cottages, French Norman, Spanish Colonial Revival and Modern.  Click here for more information

Bungalows (1905-1925) both Arts and Crafts and Prairie School styles are characterized by a wood framed, one story (sometimes two) home, with a low-pitched roof containing partially exposed framing wood members in its gable ends and decorative motifs.  A Bungalow home often accentuates the texture of its material and features abstract patterns in stained and leaded glass.  The local architect Taylor Woolley, who apprenticed with Frank Lloyd Wright in the Oak Park, Illinois studio is associated with many of the finest examples of this architectural style in Utah and  we have some in Yalecrest! The front entry doors associated with this building style are often constructed wider than a traditional front exterior door and are made with solid oak with decorative art glass inserts or side panels.  See examples

Period Cottage Revivals

Colonial Revival (1890-1940) is influenced by Dutch (gambrel roof designs) and English (Georgian and Federal periods of the 18th and early 19th centuries) designs.  The Cape Cod cottage is a subtype of the Colonial Revival built during the 1930’s.   Colonial revival styled homes have hip, gable or gambrel roofs, with symmetrical front facades, porches, with shingles, wood siding or brick surfaces, bay windows, side and transom lights around the front entry, and broken, segmental pediments.  See examples

Neoclassical (1900-1925) has uninterrupted cornice and /or pedimented porticos and symmetrical front facades.  Doors associated with this architecure are often paneled and have glass transoms above and to the sides of the front entry door.  See examples

English Tudor (1915-1935) is characterized by an asymmetrical façade and timber-frame architectural detail (stucco wall panels with exposed wood framing members).  English Tudors have a picturesque irregular massing, a variety of window shapes, diamond-pane and/or bottle-glass lights, tall casement windows, clay chimney pots, and a steeply pitched gable roof.  Doors associated with this style are often a single piece of quarter-sawn oak (sometimes walnut) with or without small art glass inserts and with or without wrought iron details.  See examples

English Cottage (1920-1940) is characterized by an all brick exterior without the timber frame architectural detail of English Tudor, but is similar in all other aspects.  English Cottages are typically smaller than English Tudors but have a picuresque irregular massing, a variety of window shapes and steeply pitched gable roof.  Doors associated with this style are either rectangular or rectangular with curved heads.  They are constructed from Douglas fir, quarter-sawn oak wood from either a single piece of wood or multiple conjoined linear planks with a window insert of diamond-pane, art glass or large circular glass.  See examples

Spanish Colonial Revival (1915-1935) is based on the architectural styles of Mexico and are characterized by red tile roofs, white stucco-covered wall surfaces with low relief ornament, decorative cornices and parapets, wrought iron grills and balconies. Doors associated with the Spanish Colonial Revival style are heavily paneled in oak with wrought iron detail.  See examples

French Norman (1915-1935) style was originally popularized by architect Richard Morris Hunt in the first 3 decades of the 21st century.  This style is loosely based on the vernacular of Normandy and Brittany.  Its design elements incorporates stone, brick and stucco with half-timbering and decorative brick patterns, wall dormers, steeply pitched slate roofs, and round towers with conical-shaped roofs.  The doors associated with French Norman Revival are often heavily paneled with wooden spindle inserts over a glass window.  See examples

Modern styles (1930-1940) are characterized by rounded edges or rectilinear corners, constructed in cement or stucco with butterfly or flat roofs and large glass windows with or without fenestrations.  Doors associated with this building style are typically flat rectilinear in shape without embellishment but occasionally contain a circular piece of glass.  See examples

—Lynn Kennard Pershing