How did we select our name? We’d like to think that we are extraordinarily clever, but we can’t take the credit for this one. Built as one of the three original schools in Park City, Utah, the school was named for George Washington. Yes, the Revolutionary known for crossing the Delaware. Though close to going up in flames in Park City’s Great Fire of 1898, the hammered limestone facade of the school house survived. So did the name. After the stock market crash of 1929, enrollment declined and the school house was sold in 1936 to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. It was used for dances and social events until the 50s (hmm… we like where they were going with this).
In 1984 the building was purchased and renovated into a bed and breakfast, The Washington School Inn, which served its visitors and community well until a new idea for the iconic landmark took hold. On completion of a total interior renovation (think gutted to the studs), this fabulously preserved 1889 limestone gem reopened in December 2011. In 1889, the editor of the local paper, The Park Record, wrote that the school building was “one of the finest in the territory.” He was delighted that, “elegant furniture is being installed.” Washington School House, he said, “will lack for nothing.”
We are happy to report that well over a century later, this property is one of the finest in the territory. And elegant furniture is installed. Oh, and of course, it lacks for nothing.