Meth house to masterpiece: Historic Ogden home connects generations

(Courtesy of Ogden City Community Development)


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OGDEN — Ogden City is filled with beautiful, historic homes, but unfortunately, some of their tenants haven't treated them as such.

Over the last decade, the city has worked to revitalize neighborhoods by renovating about 120 foreclosed homes, according to Ward Ogden, community development manager for Ogden City.

Ogden said the city has purchased these homes at a discounted price from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and sold them to owner-occupant home buyers.

In some cases, these homes were the worst on the block; now, they are the best.

"Visibly, there's a great change in many of the homes from their old, bad condition to the new renovated condition," Ogden said.

Most of these homes were occupied by owners before being vacated and foreclosed, and their disrepair has dragged the neighborhood down, Ogden said.

Depending on their condition, city workers will either tear down and rebuild or renovate these homes, while adding exterior improvements such as driveway repairs and landscaping.

KSL-TV reported on the demolition of one such home a few weeks ago, but it was a neighboring home that caught the attention of a woman whose grandparents raised their family there, according to Lloyd Parry, the city's project coordinator in community development.

In a video created by Ogden city administrators, Keena Krey Price said this house was significant to her grandparents as immigrants from Switzerland and Germany because it symbolized their realization of the American dream.

Price said she has heard a lot of stories about the house and was disappointed when she saw its condition last October.

The 105-year-old, two bedroom house was previously occupied by people who smoked meth, but the city has refinished the walls, painted everything, refinished the hardwood floors, put a new roof on and much more, Parry said.

Price was taken on a tour of the newly renovated home, and she said her grandmother would be so happy to know her house was taken care of.

"...I'm just so grateful that we can still have this as a memory," Price said in the video.

A before and after look of a home damaged by a fire and later restored at 2555 Fowler Avenue. (Photo: Courtesy of Ogden City Community Development)
A before and after look of a home damaged by a fire and later restored at 2555 Fowler Avenue. (Photo: Courtesy of Ogden City Community Development)

Price was delighted by the repair, Parry said, adding that the house architecturally looks the same as it did in the early 20th century, apart from a few changes added over the years.

Many of the homes the city restores are located east of the Downtown Ogden area. Ogden said it is similar to the Sugarhouse area because a lot of the houses were built in the same era.

Another benefit of the home restorations is the community response.

Ogden said sometimes after community members see the good work in the neighborhood, they will do work on their own homes.

"The homeowners for the most part are very pleased with the homes that we do," Ogden said, adding that the city does a lot more work than some investors who are simply working to sell the homes quickly.

"...people that buy our homes are getting a home that will require a lot less maintenance for a long period of time," Ogden said.

The city offers homebuyer warranties so all the work they do is guaranteed, Ogden said.

In addition to the restoration of homes, the city offers a down payment assistance program, which gives $5,000 to people purchasing homes in the neighborhood.

The city is also constructing new homes, including arts and crafts-styled homes, which Ogden said are designed to complement the existing historic architecture and sell at a competitive price, higher than the rest of the market would typically pay there.

"The intent there is to indicate to the neighborhood, and to the public in general, that this neighborhood really is worth living in, and it's a good neighborhood," Ogden said. "And it has really good, really nice historic-style architecture, and that it's not something that is just going to pot."

Along with the historic architecture in the city are the Victorian-style houses, which were previously separated into smaller apartments. Ogden said over the years, the city has worked to convert them back into family homes, and now they are mostly owner-occupied.

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Megan Marsden Christensen

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