University of Utah Fort Douglas Buildings 661, 662 & 663
Rehabilitation and Restoration
Connor Road, Fort Douglas, University of Utah Campus, Salt Lake City, UT
Original construction: 1891
Historic designation: Adjacent to Fort Douglas National Historic Landmark and National Register Historic Districts
The People Behind It
Architect: Kevin Zandberg, Method Studio, Inc.
Owner: Jennifer Reed, University of Utah Auxiliary Services
Project Manager: Adam Wyatt, University of Utah - University Facilities - Construction Management
Historical Architect: Charles Shepherd (Retired), University of Utah
Contractor: Harold Sanders, Paulsen Construction
Structural Engineer: Brett Goodman, BHB Structural
Electrical Engineer: Trevor Spencer, Envision Engineering
Mason: Craig Child, Child Enterprises
Door & Door Hardware: Mike Bernardo, Custom Finish Supply Company
Windows Supplier/Installer: Peter McConkie, Pella Windows
Painting: Trista Ellis, DC Paint & Wall Covering
Finish Carpentry: Ryan Graveley, Fine Finishes
Insulation: Rob Rollins, Premier Insulation
Roofing and Siding: Avery Goodrich, Pro-West
Waterproofing: Michael Raines, Red Rhino
Demolition: Kayc Jolley, Redrock Demolition
Concrete: William Gerdts, Gerdts Concrete
At a Glance
The University of Utah Fort Douglas Buildings 661, 662 & 663 receive the Rehabilitation and Restoration award for a project that began as a practical exterior upgrade and became something far more meaningful when a windstorm peeled back the vinyl siding, revealing what had been hidden underneath. The University recognized the opportunity, redirected the project toward genuine rehabilitation, and did the work properly: recreating the historic flare at the transition between fish scale shingles and drop siding that had been destroyed in the 1980s, rebuilding missing corbels and gable trim from salvaged pieces and historic photographs, replacing inoperable aluminum windows with metal-clad wood units matching the original profiles, restoring all three porches to their documented historic configurations, and researching the original paint schemes from physical evidence in the surviving fabric. A significant seismic upgrade was threaded through the exterior wall assembly rather than into the interior, preserving the historic character of the spaces inside. The result is three 1891 Army cottages that look as they did when non-commissioned officers and their families first moved into them, structurally reinforced, carefully restored, and returning to residential use in 2026 on a campus where the pressure to build new is constant.
The Story
Buildings 661, 662, and 663 were constructed in 1891 as part of a nationwide Army initiative to attract and retain skilled non-commissioned officers by offering them something uncommon on frontier posts: real homes for their families. At historic Fort Douglas, established in 1862 to protect mail and telegraph routes and monitor the Utah Territory, the three cottages were assigned to the Quartermaster Sergeant, the Ordnance Sergeant, and the Commissary Sergeant, the men responsible for keeping the post supplied, armed, and functional.
The houses reflect a design sensibility far more characteristic of the eastern United States than the Intermountain West, likely built to a standard Army pattern distributed to posts across the country. Their restrained Victorian massing is enriched by Eastlake-influenced detailing: fish scale shingles stepping down to novelty drop siding, decorative panel divisions beneath primary windows, and pseudo-structural references in the front gable that give each facade a quietly confident architectural presence. By the early 1930s, additional Classical Revival brick duplexes had been constructed on both sides along Connor Road, embedding the three cottages within a coherent historic residential streetscape that retains its character today. Though the houses fall just outside the current boundaries of the Fort Douglas National Historic Landmark and National Register Historic Districts, an omission attributed to the 1970s focus on Stillwell Field, Officers Circle, and Soldiers Circle, they would almost certainly be recognized as contributing structures in any future boundary reconsideration.
Preservation Work
The rehabilitation began as a more modest undertaking. University of Utah Auxiliary Services had initially planned to reclad the exteriors and replace the windows, a practical upgrade that would have improved the buildings' appearance while leaving their historic character largely unaddressed. In September 2020, a windstorm peeled away sections of vinyl siding, revealing what had been hidden beneath for decades: the original historic cladding materials, damaged but still present. The University recognized the opportunity and redirected the project toward genuine rehabilitation.
When the vinyl installed in the late 1980s was removed, the extent of what had been lost became clear: the historic flare at the second-floor shingle transition had been cut away, decorative corbels had been covered or removed, and intricate wood trim had been stripped from the front facades and roof gables. Missing decorative elements were recreated from salvaged pieces and historic photographs dating to around 1900, including the distinctive flare at the transition between fish scale shingles and drop siding a subtle but defining feature of the original design. Aluminum windows installed around 1970, largely inoperable by then, were replaced with single-hung metal-clad wood windows replicating the historic profiles. All three porches were restored with new wood columns, balustrades, and arched roof brackets matching historic conditions. Exterior paint schemes were researched from surviving paint layers in original materials.
Engineering analysis revealed serious lateral strength deficiencies in all three cottages. Rather than intervening in the interior, which would have been more costly and would have compromised the historic character of the interior spaces, the team re-sheathed the exterior walls with structural sheathing and integrated seismic load-transfer paths into the concrete shelf-basement foundations. The seismic upgrade served as the structural armature for the entire exterior rehabilitation. All work was executed in compliance with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation, overseen by the University's Historical Architect throughout.
Why It Matters
Today, Buildings 661, 662, and 663 look very much as they did when Army families first moved into them in 1891. The fish-scale shingles, novelty drop siding, decorative corbels and gable trim, wood porches, period-appropriate windows, and historic paint schemes, researched from physical evidence in the surviving fabric, give the three cottages a warmth and visual coherence that re-establishes their place within the historic residential character of Connor Road.
Beneath the surface, the buildings are structurally sounder than they have been in generations, with modern seismic reinforcement, updated thermal performance, and materials selected for long-term durability. Beginning in early 2026, Buildings 661, 662, and 663 return to faculty and staff housing, exactly the purpose for which they were built. On a campus where modern development pressures are constant, the rehabilitation of these three Victorian cottages demonstrates that historic preservation and institutional sustainability are not competing values but complementary ones.