Mountain View Apartments

Mountain View Apartments

Mountain View Apartments Photograph by Ntsimp
1931–1939, Sullivan Arthur Shreeve and George F. Johnson. 563 W. 24th St.

Mountain View Auto Court was one of Ogden’s first motels. This complex of seven buildings occupies all but the southeastern quarter of a city block between B and C avenues along West 24th Street. It was one of six motel developments introduced in Ogden during the Depression years, and was meant to attract auto-tourists to the struggling town. Camilo J. Bertagnolli developed the complex, which offered a grocery store, barber shop, hair salon, service station, and post office, in addition to motel units, each containing a living room, bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. The site includes four single-story buildings (three of which have detached garages), a two-story manager’s office and residence, a separate garage structure, and a single-story commercial building (circa 1926) that was converted into motel units in 1939.

The Mountain View Auto Court represents a building typology informed by the automobile and mass mobility. The spacing between the buildings was determined by vehicle circulation, and units faced a parking lot in the center of the site. The Spanish Colonial Revival complex features stuccoed exteriors, round-arched doorways, parapet walls with a curvilinear motif, and Spanish tile. Stained wood trim was utilized throughout the interiors.

By the 1940s, the motel also began offering rooms to long-term tenants. In 1987, the year it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the motel complex was renovated to serve as low-income housing, which ultimately contributed to its survival. It has remained an apartment complex ever since.

References

References

Johnson, George F. Architectural drawings for Mountain View Auto Court, 1937, 1939. Black and white photographs and negatives available in the National Register File “Mountain View Auto Court,” Utah State Historical Society.

“Salt Lake City Building Permit Registers, 1928–1941.” Microfilm. Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Shreeve, Sullivan Arthur. Architectural drawings for “Auto Camp for Camilo Bertagnolli,” c. 1930. Black-and-white photographs and negatives of drawings available in National Register File “Mountain View Auto Court,” Utah State Historical Society.

Southworth, Don, “Mountain View Auto Court,” Weber County, Utah. National Register of Historic Places Inventory–Nomination Form, 1987. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C.

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