Your gaze lands on the beehive-topped home Brigham Young built in 1854, second President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The house takes its name from the beehive sculpture atop the roof; early Mormons used honeybees as a symbol of industry and cooperation, a reminder etched into the building itself. Designed by Truman O. Angell, Young’s brother-in-law and the architect of the Salt Lake Temple, the home was built of adobe and sandstone and was completed two years before the neighboring Lion House, which Angell also designed.
For a time it served as Young’s executive mansion during the era of Utah Territory, and later it became a women’s boarding house. The Beehive House was commonly operated as a historic house museum, though it has been closed for renovation since 2023 with an expected reopening in 2027. Young, who was a polygamist, had the house planned to accommodate his large family, and its rooms and design bear that history.
The beehive atop this roof still symbolizes industry and cooperation, one block from the Salt Lake Temple and Temple Square you'll reach next.