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Show Capitol Hill Worth the Legwork If yourlegsstill function well, one of our town’s mostattractive ownership, the house naturally acquired considerable landscaping, with big trees and a variety of shrubbery and flowers, especially visible on the East Capitol Street CITYVIEW neighborhoods fora stroll is Capitol Hill, where you can peeratintriguing housesby the dozen, look off across muchofthe city — and, if your muscles hold out, extend side, where a well-kept stone wall your walk uphill toward Ensign Peak or downslope to the Marma- is cast iron in construction. is topped by a fence one presumes If you canfind a nearbyplace to lade District. park,or have arrivedin the neigh- In actuality, the latter section, with its orchard-tree-named borhoodbybus, stroll completely JACK GOODMAN streets, is part of the larger Capi- ‘round the block and watch the tol Hill Historie District, which hasan intriguing history, as well as an intriguing mix of homesto make your walk, drive or bike ride worthwhile. If you care to go way, way back to our much-celebrated pioneer times, this eminence was first known as Arsenal Hill — for the good reason that powder was stored there in what was considered a safe distance from most early homes. Below what we now label Ensign Peak, the east district boundary is roughly East Capitol Boulevard, the west boundary would be Main Street and the south edge would be North Temple or 200 North. The medes and boundsarenottoo important, but the style and mix of the homesareintriguing. Oneprime exampleof what you can readily find in the district is the big hillside home in the adja- side. Early houseson thehill were soon razed, and a less explosive building boom from the 1890s to the 1920s resulted in many of the big houses on the Capitol Hill slopes you find today. As you might suspect, the houses built in more modern,nonVictorian styles cameto the hill after the 1916 completion of the Capitol building and the landscaping of its grounds. Studies you canfind at the Utah Historical Society library indicate that houses built in the district at times ranged from “modest to marginal” and that the “tone” of thedistrict “slumped” andit even “acquired a questionable reputation.” The hiil's character began changing once again in the 1960s, when “longtime residents determinedto preserve their neighbor- cent sketch — at 204 N. State, on hood.” Now — back to 204 N.State. the uphill corner of East Capitol Street. And I do mean uphill — The ground floor is local red stone, the secondflooris a light one wonders if the homeowners or tenants of this big house climb red brick, while the upperlevels are wood covered with shingles. their front door every time they those two dozen stone steps to Thereis a sizable circular tower at the southwest corner, with come or go from this 344-story blue-painted trim — the same stone andbrick structure. This big house, which architects term “Queen Anne” in style, dates from 1903. Thehillside house results in a way from two big booms — some 40 tonsof blasting pow- der blew up in the City Arsenal in 1876, leveling much of the hill- blue color used on details else- wherein the structure. The porch is large, supported by simple columas, and the sweeping arch of beaded thin wood, curving across a broad porchonthethird floor, adds to the home’s character. During its manyyearsof varied construction or repair work on the big white mansion at the next corner, and also studythe seldomseen “backyard” view of the old church and Tourist Council build- ings that were moved from their original sites two decades ago. As noted earlier, the hillside homeat 204 N. State has had a varied quota of occupants. The property on which it stands was first owned by Charles and Emma Smith, pioneer settlers whosold it to Charles C. and Millicent Godbe Brooks in 1888. The Brookses built a 16-room brick and stone homein 1890at a cost of $10,000. Charles Brooks was a New Yorkborn mining engineer who went into partnership with R.H Browre. Both wereclosely associ- IAM Seva yy ated with Thomas Kearns, who later became a U.S. senator and Jack Goodman Tall house on steep State Streetis typical of the big old homes that make the Capitol Hill district in Salt Lake City an intriguing neighborhoodfor a sightseeingstroll. occupant of the Kearns Mansion downhill on BrighamStreet. Brooks’skills —- or connections — were quickly recognized, and he was appointed U.S. deputy mineral surveyor for Utah, and a bit later was responsible for laying out the county sewer system. trated today beforethe house was enlarged — apparently moving out when the Brookses sold the house to the Millers. Glen Miller must have been a busy man — serving as U.S. marshal for Utah during a period when activ lygamists werestill under suspi- Before he died in 1918, he had likewise been Salt Lake County surveyor and was a memberof the County Board of Public Works. His wife was perhaps betterknown — since she was a daugh- cion andliableto arrest. The next owner was Joseph Geoghegan, a merchandise broker and purchasing agent for the powerful U&I and Amalgamated Sugar companies, who occupied the house beginning in 1904. ter of William Godbe, founder of the breakaway (from Mormon- ism) Godbeite movement In fact, William Godbeand his wife lived in the big houseillus- Prominent in Republican Party circles, he served as adjutant general under Gov. John C. Cutler. He died in 1916, but his wife, Elizabeth Vidovich Geoghegan, lived on in the house until 1930, when she apparentlyhad it remodeled into a sizable rental complex. This raises the question of why the construction date of the present big houseis given as 1903 in most records. At any event, the complex is listed as being sold to Wilford Brimley in 1935, after which the owner's name is given as Julian V. Siegal. Was Brimley an ancestor of a prominent film and TV actor? This columnist hasn't been able to find out when the 214-story, 16-room homebuilt in 1888 by Charles Brooks becamea full story higher. It’s always interesting to leave someresearch undone. No matter — get up Capitol Hill for a look. Jack Goodmanhas been associated with The Salt Lake Tribune as a staff or free-lance writer for 50 years. ParkCity’s ‘Nunsense’Is Stuffed With Habit-Forming Fun BY NANCY MELICH THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE PARK CITY — With two pro- ductions of “‘Nunsense” running simultaneously in the area, comparisonsare inevitable. For the audience member in search of the uncensored version @ True Confessions Park City Performances’ production of “‘Nunsense”’ continues Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. through of Dan Goggins’ “habit-forming” Oct. 4, upstairs in The musical, it can be found in Park Elks Lodge, B.P.O.E. 734, at 550 Main St., Park City. Tickets are $12 and $10. Call 649-9371. City’s Elks Lodge — among the stuffed heads wearingthe antlers. For those whoprefer their nuns sugar-coated, look no futher than stealing most of her ‘‘Nunsense” routines from Rafael Colon Cas- While someof Castanera’sflash and pizazz are absent for this goround, there is enough individuality brought to these Little Sisters of Hobokento delight open-minded Catholics and assorted way- tanera. Before moving to New ward friends. It’s a silly show, written by Gog- Byrd and another PCP nun, Jay- gin after the success of his Nunsense greeting-card line. What Byrd and company bringto it in this incarnation is a wonderfully York, the former Utahn directed ceen Craven-Nicholson, in ac- claimed versionsin the early '90s at the Salt Lake Acting Company. (Craven-Nicholson) did not punish the miserly crowd. She put on her pink toe shoes and shared a few pointers on the proper wayto greet each morning. Plié of confessional booth. The stage in the Elks Lodge so- cial hall allows audience and ac- course. And in caseballet is not tors to be on the same homey plane. your forte, the agile sisters, in the evening's most enjoyableroutine, passon somesage advice: “Tackle Sit on the front row andSister Mary Amnesiawill good-naturedly goad you into a question-andanswergame. Sit on the aisle and enjoy the breeze from the flowing habit of Mother Superior as she That Temptation With a Time Step.” Robyn Kramer hasadopted the facial gyrations of Pee-Wee Her- races toward the platform. man andthefalsetto voice of Dis- These nuns do not keep their distance from the ‘‘congrega- the Hale Centre Theatre, where an abridged and dialogue-enhanced versionis racingfrantically about in South Salt Lake. Park City Performances director Toni Byrd readily admits to expressive quintet of faces, as close to yoursas a priest’s ear ina ney's Snow White — oris it Jeanette McDonald — tobringSister Mary Amnesia to life. Kramer's eyes are in a perpetual state of pop-out wonder while her rubbery mouth wrapsitself around big words, such as “country sing- tion,”’ welcoming ad-lib comments and especially monetary gifts from those seated in the folding chairs. Afterall, this is a benefit to raise moneyandget the dearly departed out of the freezer and into the ground. The requestsfell on deaf ears Thursday night — the offering baskets were returned to the sisters with only a few coins and a partially used matchbook. Nonetheless, Sister Mary Leo er. Wrae McCarthy has the physical heft to be an imposing Mother Superior — and not a bad imitator of Sophie Tucker. Sister Robert Anne, as delivered by Molly Cameron, does not have the vocal power to compete with her convent Molly Cameron,left, Robyn Kramer, Wrae McCarthy, Toni Byrd and Jayceen Craven-Nicholson in “Nunsense.” colleagues, but that's all right — Sister Mary Hubert(Byrd) covers for her, especially during ‘Holier Than Thou.” The “RUSH” segment, when Sister Mary Regina sniffs the funny stuff, is labored and tedious, adding nothing to the intended humorof the evening. The musical numbers, creating muchof the success of the evening. are guided bythe piano stylings and musical direction of Brent Fotheringham a late replacement who joined the production after the show had opened eater ite Pesce 400 Years of Opera with a GloriousNew Season. on ew Aiea ob A bloody good musical! OE ei Pte Tiammermoor ee Th Pa MeRey ati OCI enameans) Oct. 18 26,1997 - Vhe Coronation of Poppea SMS InN eT a March7-15, 1998" | Bee varce tc) i La Wetec MAU UNE T arLy May 26 24, 1998 AG yeSta - Octaber 4, 1997 AT Pe TAR een 0) MPL N For ticket information call ea 5 ; NE , i RORCe ee ORCecaSe SLia] ELLe TaRy (2787) |
