Upper Country Lodge
Renovation Videos
Welcome!
Hi there. My name is Anton Ames. The Upper Country Lodge is an ongoing project designed to renovate my childhood home. The property is in Altonah, Utah and the home was originally built in 1975. Since then, it's had many owners. In 2017, my wife and I purchased it as a long-term real estate investment. Our vision is to convert it into a Mountain Lodge experience for family reunions and more. Though construction and renovations are still in process, portions of the Lodge are are available for short-term rental. Contact us for more information.
The Original Home
Taken around 1975, this is the earliest known photo of the home. It was a Capp Home (i.e. a "kit home" where pre-cut materials were delivered and a basic house shell erected). This allowed owners to save money by completing the interior finishing themselves. My Dad is also in the photo.
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Dreaming Big
The New Part
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In the late 70s early 80s - in accordance with Mom's sketch - my parents started adding the "new part" of the home (seen in this photo). By this time, you can also see a chimney was added to the home. It is made of rock gathered from the hillside.
It didn't take long before my Mom starting dreaming big. Here's a sketch of the house as she imagined it. She sketched it on the back of an envelop in 1976 (ish) and it became the defacto blueprint. She kept the envelop in her scriptures for years.
Mid 1980s
This is what the home looked like in 1987 when we moved away. The "new part" had been added, but not finished. Solar panels were also added to heat the home's water.
1990s
2017
This picture was likely taken in the 1990s, perhaps when we were visiting Altonah. The owners painted it blue and white. Sometime during this period there was a fire in the home. It's possible some of the plywood on the second floor and above the deck was a result of the fire.
This is what the house looked like when we purchased it in 2017, 30 years after we lost it in 1987. Notice a new room was added on the second floor, the result of an earlier fire.