Lion House (Salt Lake City)

The Lion House is a large residence built in 1856 by Brigham Young, second President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), in Salt Lake City, Utah, to accommodate his large family.

Lion House
South Temple Street entrance to the Lion House
General information
Address	63 East South Temple
Town or city	Salt Lake City
Country	United States
Coordinates
Estimated completion	1856
Design and construction
Architect	Truman O. Angell

A polygamist, Young ultimately fathered 57 children by more than two dozen wives, and also had many adopted, foster, and stepchildren. He owned residences throughout Salt Lake City and Utah Territory, but many of his wives and children were housed in the Lion House. The house contains large public rooms on the ground floor with 20 bedrooms on the upper floors, and was home to as many as 12 of Young's wives, including Eliza R. Snow and many of Young's children.

The Lion House

The house is situated at 63 East South Temple, near the corner of South Temple and State Street, just one block east of Temple Square. It is adjacent to Young's other official residence, the Beehive House, to which it is connected by a series of rooms used as offices.

Truman O. Angell, Young's brother-in-law (by his first wife Mary Ann Angell) and designer of the Salt Lake City Temple, was also involved in the design of this home, which got its name from the statue of a lion, sculpted by the craftsman William F. Ward, above the front entrance.

In the 1920s, the Lion House housed the domestic science department of LDS University. In the 1930s, it was operated by the Young Women Mutual Improvement Association of the LDS Church as a social center for study and also for renting of rooms for social events.[1]

Today the bottom floor of the Lion House is a functional, cafeteria-style restaurant called "The Lion House Pantry" which is open to the public.[2][3] It is located adjacent to the LDS church's main headquarters and heavily visited Temple Square, and therefore serves many of the employees and visitors there each day.[2]