Majestic manor— Historic edifice is the centerpiece of W. Bountiful reception facility

WEST BOUNTIFUL — When James Alanson Eldredge and his wife, Jane Jennings, celebrated the marriage of their daughter at their Davis County estate more than 90 years ago, they probably didn't realize they would be the first in a long line of local residents to ring wedding bells at their Victorian mansion.

Since that first nuptial celebration for Afton Eldredge and Alvin Moss, March 25, 1914, hundreds of brides and grooms have greeted guests in the mansion's front room while toasting to their future life together.

The mansion, at 564 W. 400 North, West Bountiful, stands today as the Eldredge Manor at Eldredge Square, a full-service reception center and banquet facility.

"It's so nice to have something that beautiful this close to us," said Becky Nelson of Farmington. Nelson grew up in Bountiful and remembers visiting the manor for several wedding receptions.

The manor went through a six-month renovation in 2004.

"It's just amazing what he's done," Nelson said, speaking of the manor's owner, Steve Williams.

Williams helped restore some of the home's history through the renovation, and in June 2005 the manor was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The manor was built the same year Utah was granted statehood, 1896, by Eldredge and Jennings. It was one of the first homes in the county to have modern-day luxuries like indoor plumbing, radiant heating or closets, Williams said.

The upper floor of the mansion was often used by former presidents Heber J. Grant and George Albert Smith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who stayed at the home on occasion. Williams said swinging doors were added to the house's upper-floor ballroom to create a bedroom for the church leaders.

"We do know that Heber J. Grant stayed there for a whole 18 months," Williams said.

Also, in the early 1900s, the ballroom in the upper floor of the mansion was used by the Davis County LDS stake for youth dances.

The home was once an affluent country estate.

But Williams said his family has been guilty of not providing the mansion's history over the years. He now takes local residents on public tours of the estate by appointment Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon.

Restoring original pieces back to the home helped recapture its early history, Williams said. For example, in a storage closet near the upstairs master bedroom, Williams left a piece of the home's original hand-painted flooring uncovered. Also, he said the mansion's original floor plan has been restored, through the renovation, except for one wall upstairs.

Williams started working at the manor when he was a teenager after his parents purchased it in 1973 and transformed it into a reception center. In 1985 he left the family business to pursue a national marketing career.

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