New owners Robert and Barbara Guy, who purchased the northern Utah abode at 308 W. Center in April 2007, have restored the structure to its original beauty and filled it with art.
The former Californians, after three trips to see family members in Cache Valley, snapped up the 5,000-square-foot house before a "for sale" sign was ever posted.
"Each visit that we made here, we drove by this house," said Barbara Guy. "We really fell in love with [it]."
Decades of deferred maintenance and a half-dozen layers of wallpaper didn't dissuade the Guys, who found architect Charles Schaub's design elements irresistible.
"We got married in Florence [Italy]. This is kind of the Italian, Prairie style, with a little bit of Frank Lloyd Wright [influence], that we really like," Robert Guy said. "I just saw the possibilities and envisioned it. We both did."
The Guys brought contractors from California to do the renovation and spent $200,000 on repairs, including mitigating water damage and stripping the wood on all of the windows, which were painted shut for 40 years.
Today, as nearly 100 years ago, light pours in ample windows through original stained-glass windows and onto marble and oak floors. The home is still heated with its 1913 centerpiece fireplace and radiant heaters.
Attention to every detail is evident - from the wrought-iron gates, massive arbor and ornate gardens outdoors to the mother-of-pearl push-button light switches indoors.
"Marriner spared no expense on workmanship and on the quality of the products," Barbara said. "This is a treasure."
The Guys decorated the home with their extensive collection of Impressionist art, sculpture, pottery and paintings, including many by the artist-in-residence, Robert Guy.
They recently opened their doors to make new friends through the Cache Valley Historic Homes Tour, with approximately 200 visitors being treated to a walk-through.
Perhaps, Robert Guy said, members of the Eccles family would be interested in dropping by sometime.
"If they ever want to come down here and look at this place . . . it'd be kind of fun."
abrunson@sltrib.com
