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Show MOUNTAIN Park City TIMES Remembered This Old House: This Old Town By Raye iG. Ringh« lz e lived in the Snow’s Lane farmhouse for twenty years. I can remember when we bought it (sealing the deal with a handshake), my father thought we were crazy The only good thing about it is the slate floor in the back hall and faml y room,” he said Joe’s aunt took a dimmer view “Better to tear it down and start over.’ from the They weren't too fa truth. The house, built as a homestead dairy farm just after the turn of the century, had a roof line that looked like a jigsaw puzzle. Everyone who had lived there had added on their own little nook and cranny. As we were to do later The living room ceiling resembled a tent top with parallel lines of electric heating wires giving a swag effect to the pimply soundproofing. When we switched to a hot water heating system and replaced the acoustic sagging with material sheetrock and false beams, we discovered that the wooden struts had been charred by an uninsulated fireplace that had once warmed an upstairs bedroom But we saw possibilities in the old house just as others were envisioning possibilities in a Park City that still had vacant lots and run-down buildings on Main Street, and open fields with broad vistas where Meadows, Park Ridgeview, Thaynes Canyon and other developments now crowd the valley. The question was how to bring our home up to code and make it compatible to our lifestyle, and still retain a certain amount of historic integrity and Park City funk. We settled on a formu- la. There would be a large helping of structural changes to improve closet space, circulation patterns, replace the flagstone hearth with an antique fireplace and discard the wrought oak iron stair banister for one of hand-turned wood. Aidt ALS Si-U SUND But there would also be preservation of less than perfect aspects that we considered Part of the Charm (P.O.T.C.). The skewed door lintel would not be straightened. The plain, old-fash ; ioned hardwat 9 = wy ) vo ? 1} > Raye C. Ringholz would be retained. The simple bookcases, built more with tender loving care than professional oraftsmanshi p would be duplicated on the opposite side of the fireplace. And nothing would be done to shore up the slanting floors that made it impossible to line up the sofa back, table top, picture frame and ceiling in the living room PIOASG: Little had to be done to our acre of Thanks t property the Armstrong family, who had stewarded the land for half a century, we looked out upon a mountain of aspen and wildflowers where hawks soared overhead. In the distant “V” of Thaynes Canyon, a stand of pine trees was ever green among the changing seasons of flaming topaz and russet, and chalky winter snows. A stream gurgled alongside our bedroom window, and horses frolicked in an open pasture behind the house. Mel Armstrong’s geese waddled over for a visit to our pond each spring, and we could hear the sounds of roosters crowing and cattle mooing in his fields across the lane. It was fun to live in this bucolic setting and be part of a reincarnating town. As the little mining camp grew, newcomers old time Parkites and merged into an enthusiastic cadre to refurbish the city just as Joe and I had restored our farmhouse. Gap-toothed Main Street filled with new buildings, neighborhoods sprouted on_ hillsides and vacant fields, and a few “big city” touches like MMER Kimball Art Polychronis’ Mt. Air supermarket, and motion picture theaters appeared At the same time, we worked to preserve the aspects that reflected P.O.T. C. We revived the Historical Society, and organized work parties to clean out Union zoning files. I think it is fair to say that it was the installation of our first traffic light that opened our eyes Now, as the greater Park City area stretches from the heights of Deer Valley to Parley’s Summit, Parkites the Pacific Depot and the dungeon jail. When the mines losed and tradi the tional Mine D: Parade y was threat- ened for the first time ever we stepped in to organize it complete with mucking and _ drilling oe Park City was a quaint, contests. We formed a dance club that included oldtimers and newcomers alike, and met at the Elks Club But in our enjoyment at living in this mountain paradise, we lost sight of an important fact. Our small town was becoming a city. We were so involved with our own work, our own tennis and golf games, our own ski days, our volunteer chores at the Kimball, the festival, Egyptian, KPCW, the art Writers at Work, Autumn Aloft, winter carnivals, snow sculpture contests, and the like, that we failed to recognize the vast changes taking place and, even worse, those approved future projects that lay unnoticed in the planning and little town acutely aware of the town’s rapid trans formation. Happily, the community is actively working for master planning ind definitions of future goals. But, along with the serious matters of hous ing, transportation, zoning and archi tectural guidelines that are also being addressed by other booming resort towns in the west, it is to be hoped that those elements that make Park City unique — that are P.O.T.C. — will be retained. The old miners’ houses of the Historic District. The few remaining pastures and hillsides. And the spirit of individuality, camaraderie and fun that has made us say over the years, “Nowhere else but in Park City.” @ ECIAL UMIMER EARIN-BIRD S* *30-7.90 PM. © 919-9 Center, Aaa Fy Wig ae fs cus ae Coe! IE Wel oI =I) BEGINS CALL JUNE 26 225-4100 RESERVATIONS OYSTER DINNER 5:30-10:00 RECOMMENDED BAR P.M. 649-3140 & RESTAURANT ° OYSTER BAR 5:30-11:00 (CLOSED WEDNESDAYS) 350 MAIN ¢ PARK CITY, UTAH P.M. |
