Day of Caring

Habitat for Humanity of Utah County received assistance from the United Way of Utah County with restoration work at its George Taylor Jr. project on Thursday, September 11th. Local partners with United Way, including area Nestle employees, came to downtown Provo during United Way’s annual Day of Caring to help paint and install porch footings the historic home.

Habitat for Humanity staff is working at full-force to have the restoration work done by October, so the new owners, — the Blair family — can move in.

The house will provide ample space for Alex and MaryKae Blair and their five children — Ashton, 13; Silvia, 8; Lorin and Heydon, 6 and Kassie, 3. The house comfortably housed George Taylor Jr., his wife and their seven children in the late 19th century.

“I just love old houses. I think they have amazing character to them and just things about them that new houses just don’t have,” MaryKae said.

George Taylor Jr. was the son of two Mormon pioneers who crossed the plains with the John Woolley Handcart Company in 1863. He built the house with his father-in-law’s assistance in 1885.

The house is listed both on Provo’s Landmark Register and the National Register of Historic Places. It is one of Provo’s oldest structures still standing today and is also one of Utah’s few remaining cross-wing, Gothic Revival-style houses.

Since its construction, the house has deteriorated considerably. Habitat’s Construction Staff and others working on the house realized from the onset that restoring an old house is in many ways more difficult than building a house from ground up. But that’s not to say they aren’t excited for the exposure for something new.

Kyla Allan, former Habitat AmeriCorps Construction Member, is one of volunteers involved in restoring the house. “This is kind of a reaching out thing where we wanted to show what else we can do,” she said.

Habitat for Humanity staff has had to balance the project’s costs between upholding the house’s historic character and keeping it affordable for the Blair family. The original plan was to restore the original color of the bricks underneath, but the process would have cost $40,000.

Habitat for Humanity of Utah County heads up the restoration and renovation processes, while our partner, CRSA, a design and planning firm, provides architectural services. Funds come from various donors, including contributions from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, National Trust for Historic Preservation, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, Central Bank, Powerhouse Electric, and Zions Bank.