ID Students Conduct Tour of Wattis Home

Interior Design (ID) students hosted a tour of the historic E.O. Wattis home on October 19th-21st.  ID students were stationed in different locations around the home and provided information to patrons about the periodic design elements.  Students were prepared to host the tour by Steve Cornell who was in charge of the redesign and renovation of the home. 

A fund raising banquet was held at the Ben Lemond Hotel on the 20th, which provided an opportunity for tour participants to mingle and support a cause they love. 

Edmund Orson (E.O.) Wattis was an early Ogden businessman, and founding member of the Utah Construction Company (One of the contractors responsible for the construction of the Hoover Dam).  He built the home in 1914 with a prairie-style architecture where his wife, five daughters and three sons could live. 

E.O. Wattis died in 1934 of a heart attack and the house was eventually sold to General Electric (GE) in 1976.  In 2004, the grand-children of E.O. Wattis came together to purchase the home, and restore the structure and its site. 

New heating, cooling, electrical, and plumbing systems were installed.   Original wood trim, hardwood flooring, and windows were refinished.  New wall coverings were installed to be period appropriate and much was done to carry the Prairie style theme throughout the house.  After the Home was renovated it was opened to the public for three days and the ID students at Weber State were invited to conduct the tours. 

“Wattis' expertise in engineering combined with a design by local architects Leslie S. Hodgson and Eber F. Piers is part of the reason why the Wattis House represents one of the finest examples of Prairie Style architecture in the state.” – Utah Heritage Foundation