The Gardo House[1] was the official residence[2] of the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during the tenures of John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff.
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The structure was originally intended for one of Brigham Young's wives, Amelia Folsom, and was eponymously called "Amelia's Palace". It was built opposite (to the south of) Brigham Young's residence, Beehive House.
Construction began in 1873 and the co-designers on the mansion were Joseph Ridges and William H. Folsom, Amelia's father. The structure, located at 70 E. South Temple,[3] was built directly east of the LDS Church's historian's office (constructed in 1855), first occupied by George A. Smith.
The mansion was dedicated on February 22, 1883.
By the time John Taylor became church president, the Edmunds-Tucker Act was putting intense pressure on him to observe this anti-bigamy law. He sought to comply with the law by moving into the Gardo House with his sister, Agnes Taylor.[4] She took over management of the mansion while he continued his duties as president.[5] In March 1885, soon after John Taylor's final public appearance, federal marshals made a massive raid on the mansion to capture him. This and subsequent raids were unsuccessful, and his "tough-minded sister ... often held raiding marshals and deputies at bay at the front door of the mansion, admitting no one unless he presented papers properly signed by a federal judge."[6][7] After her brother's 1887 death, Taylor vacated the house.[8][9]
The Victorian mansion was demolished on 1921-11-26.