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Show Wasatch County Living JuLy 20,1999 = WASATCH COUNTY COURIER PAGE 15 “ A Behind-the-Doors Story Homes that have withstood the tests of time Austin-Wherritt House, Heber Winterton House, Charleston Even today, when half-million dollar houses aren’t at all uncommon, It’s a sad rule of Vickie and David Todd’s 95 year old brick house on Center Street in Heber is quite impressive. - “house in Charleston. Wherritt. According to Vickie big man who stood a —__ Winterton’s great-grandfather sold his sheep herd to build it. ~ little under five-feet tall, built the house back in 1900. According to Paul Winterton, the elder : ¥ ices ; : ; “8 =e Oo stool R57 today, however, was'a far'cry from either of those. After William. Winterton’s death, his son moved in-Paul ' Winterton’s grandfather. Although there was no indoor plumbing until 1958 (“Grandpa was too tight to : 5 as z b put in.a bathroom,” says Paul Winterton), the house has held up rather well. Clegg to build-his house. It is said that Austin only lived in the house for six months or so before selling to Wherritt. Wherritt, a transplant from Missouri, came to Heber after visiting his — brothers nee couple oftfifiesiand Cily. a =... immediately set up shop, se keyhole windows on the side of the Austin-Wherritt house in Heber, are just some of the many unique design fea- practicing medicine in the — ¢ures that also include curved windows and paper-thin mortar. small house in back of his family’s home. Wherritt made house calls, a satickt task in the winters before snow plows, paved roads and four-wheel drives. Oftentimes, Wherritt found himself without the assistance of a nurse-during the influenza epidemic of 1918, the State Board of Health had to send a nurse from Salt Lake to assist Wherritt. At the time, | the Austin- Wherritt house was quite a big Paul Winterton and his wife, Vicki, and their five. daughters now live in the Winterton house. deal.. It was the first house in. — And while the valley to beautiful on the surface, the have pump — Winterton family is quick to ant out the flaws and unique attributes of the house that have been discovered during recent remodels. : ' “When we moved in, there was no heat or electricity upstairs. And we had water. now unused, in the house’s attic. Todd has minute,” says Paul Winterton. Paul Winterton says ‘no idea how the it’s a constant challenge living in an old home, house held a — tank that large. but fully worth it. He “When the points out the featherpainted fake wood grain house was built, there was on the original doors, the pass-through window to no electricity nor running water. They lit- expedite the travel of food from the pantry to _ four-brick thick walls . that Midway mason “Clyde Bircumshaw built . : - for his great-grandfather. © The Winterton family poses on the house’s front porch, as Paul’s great-grandfather did (above) seventy yearsago. Even : today, a 500 gallon tank sits, bats in the attic. One night we sat on the porch and counted 100 fly out per the dining room and the ny MNT 5 . The house that still stands . §& % oi % oe Winterton’s digs his first winter-a dug-out on Deer Creek. : < successful sheep. rancher, eT a oS he then later a larger log cabin, both on the same property, both of which must have seemed luxurious after ° en a eee SnnnEI Se aI Ty TNT Cn SS E wr | built a one-room log cabin, William Winterton and his. wife, JJane sit on the front og of their Charleston house, circa 1920. Todd, construction: on: the house began in 1903. when John Austin, a ven) commissioned Herbert Winterton homesteaded the property back in 1860 and § | Paul is The Winterton house is one of the oldest in Charleston. Even after canted 100 years, the Austin-Wherritt house still stands a as one of the Heber Valley’ Ss most majestic. erally built the house around the water tank,” Todd said. Aside from. the addition of running water and electricity, other modifications have been made over the years, such as plumbing the fireplaces and adding forced-air He also remembers being | heat. “They did have good closet space, though,” Todd said, indicating that each ~ I> a kid, growing up next bedroom has a closet-something unheard of at the time. door, and ice skating on ~ Much of the furniture in the house is antique and original to the house, some the streets in winter. of | which Todd has refinished herself. ‘““Now there’s too ~ Like all historic homeowners, ‘Todd says people constantly : tell her how lucky much traffic,” Winterton | she and her family are to live 1 in an al house. todd, Says while the work i is hard, says. “the experience is ‘priceléss To ~ William Winterton, a . rrevy the century hand-tooled creation that once housed the county’s only physician, Dr. William Russell _his great-grandfather’s house, a 2500- square-foot rock The Todds are the present owners of the AustinWherritt House, a turn of eee ec cesarean eemrmnen ernie mentee mnnemieemer emer n nn n n eeS society that not enough people take the time to really learn about their families. Paul Winterton is the exception to the rule. Winterton lives in. |