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This text message is used to keep the image from rotating in ocr process. Be sure to crop the top .25" off after the ocr process. MAXFIELD LODGE BIG COTTONWOOD CANYON , SALT LAKE COUNTY UTAH STATE HISTORY 111 111111111111111111111111 1111 1111 11111111111111111111111111 111 3 9222 00535 3870 2 3 FEB 1999 UTAH PRESS ASSOCIATION Clipping Service [phone] SALT LAKE TRIBUNE J Ryan Galbraith/The Salt Lake Tribune Doug Gallimore of the National Auction Group Inc. signals a bid at the Monday auction of the Maxfield Lodge. 'fJOwners Auction Maxfield Lodge for $1.5 Million Little Cottonwood Canyon property includes guest houses; buyer and seller satisfied with price BY LESLEY MITCHELL THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON - David Vanier and Judith Lamb-Lion decided to sell their historic Maxfield Lodge last year but were surprised to find out high-end properties can Ian· guish on the market - sometimes for several years. The couple decided to forgo hiring a '-- real estate agent and auctioned their 4,400-square-foot lodge and two guest houses, which sit on more than five acres. "It was an off-the-wall thought, originally," said Lamb-Lion, whose property sold Monday for nearly $1.5 million. Purchaser Jeff Flamm, the victor among a half dozen bidders, said he considers the price fair. He and wife, Nancy, and six children plan to use it as a retreat. Auctions like the one held Monday have become a popular alternative for owners of luxury homes who need or want to sell their properties quickly. Lamll-Lion, who said she is happy with the selling price, said the auction provided a tluick resolution. "I wanted a change ," she said. "And I feel good about what happened." She and Vanier said they purchased the lodge nine years ago and were not See AU9.IION, Page 8-10 ) " <Auction !lrings ;Quick Sale of A..ib :Maxfi~ld··~.odge , , ~ . ~ . ,,'? ;'" ' .. ,"'- .;"", '. Continued from B-6 :under any pressure to sell it. They declined to say what they paid for : ,it at that time, nor the appraised ; 'value. Both plan to purchase an- !. 'ot~~arr~!t!~y ~e~~~ay Utah's , market for multi-million dollar residences has lost a great deal of -. steam. ; They poiDt to properties such i ;as the McCune Mansion in down,town Salt Lake City;.which is listI ed for more than $4 million. The property has been for sale, on and loff, since 1996. '-" , "The pool of buyers for proper- ,; Ii\,.i 1 I !i .-,..;.. ,..,;.. ti~ over $1 million is quite small," said John Marshall, a spokesman for National Auction Group Inc. of Gadsen, Afa , which soJp the MaxfieJd property. : , :,i amb-LioD Vanier' ei~cted " to ~tage an absolute auction, in _,which the highest bid must be accepted by the seller - no matter what it is. Another type used to sell residential properties is a reserve auction in which the seller reserves the right to accept or reject the highest bid. ....J' 4bsolute auctions, though they usually attract the greatest number of potential buyers, pose a bigger risk for sellers, Marshall '" acknowledged. '~ ,.' , and ~ q ~ , ... ~ure, th~~,~bviOU~!y ~:~:'gam=) . ~ ......""' ....."- '\ .~ tj.~~:!;\;.:::' 1 ble doing it this way," h~ ·;said. "But in the end, these properties usually go for a price thatthe.sener can live with." ','~r_l .-~ .!!.ji "' ~_ y UTAH PRESS ASSOCIATION Clipping Service [phone] STANDARD EXAMINER --- /" : 1<1 \ \ FOR SAlE: .. '!MaxfieldLodge in Cottonwood . Canyon near :: ~ Lake City is f... going up for . ~~. auction. ~~ :::-,:, ill ALAN MURRAY Standard-Examlner Historic lodge ready for the auction block o Unique Maxfield Lodge in Salt Lake City canyon should go for 'trophy' sum 'By HARRIET WAWS Standard-Examiner correspondent SALT LAKE CITY - History is for sale. This historic Maxfield Lodge in Big Cottonwood Canyon is scheduled to be auctioned Monday. . . When the words "historic" and "auction" appear in the same sentence, they usually conjure up images of distressed prope11y bl!ing auctioned on the courthouse steps. However, the National Auction Group Inc. handles only hj~h-profile "trophy" properties. The Maxfield Lodge is a posh private residence of business woman Judith Lamb-Lion and her husband. David Vanier. The · 4,400-square-foot lodge on the · banks of Big Cottonwood Creek is built of river rock, massive spans of plate-glass windows and beams of Montana cedar and oak. Several nearby guest cottages also will be auctioned. The property includes more than 5 acres surrounded by national forest. The Maxfield name, a fireplace and the expansive plate- ON DISPlAY: This piece of alabaster, glass windows are what give the called "Mozart, " by Daniel Van property its historic prominence. Reet of Pecos, N.M., at the Maxfield Lodge will also be ~ See AUCTION/11 F auctioned. ) UTAH PRESS ASSOCIATION Clipping Service the mountains. ~~~on =::mon after Salt Lake City was a Canadian lumberman, maxfie1d, moved to the area I. uilt a sawmill high up in . ottonwood Canyon. His ~vered a vein of what apj ~ to be silver, but the elder lIIDfield sold it for S80, a wagon .~-'8. team of mules. .., -e -'" . . . . I ~ A glass-walled building was uncommon at the time, and the lodge was a showpiece. It was featured in national advertisements for the glass-making company Libby Owen Ford. Unlike Weber Canyon, nearly all of Big Cottonwood Canyon is national forest land. The only development iliat has been allowed 'is on old mining claims or on pri,~ '$ -»e resulting mine produced . vately owned property that predates the U.S. Forest Service tak"'e~SI million in ore. ing over the mountainous range. ·.stOry shows Maxfield'~ son The auction company notes J1a&eF-built a cabin on the banks of i ·8ii""Cottonwood Creek, the site that the Maxfield Lodge buyer ./ ~the current Maxfield Lodge. It will have plenty of options for bec;ame a popular resting spot for the building's use. tta!~lers going up and down the ! . "The lodge could serve ' as a ~yon. . retail space, executive ' retreat, ' :[J ! il It'was a good spot to feed, wa- corporate hospitality center or a ter' and ·rest the horses, and trav- . fabulous personal residence," would picnic in his front , said William Bone, president of ~. They would litter his yard the National Auction Group. &Villi their trash, but they also The auction begins at 1 p.m. lto.\1ld leave behind entire unear.~eals and loaves of uncut Monday and is open to the public. However, ' potential buyers 1(1 . ,.". must pre-register with 'certified ~' : 1be property remained in the funds. Registration begins at 11 family until the 19SOS. a.m. The lodge is three miles up J•." ~ One of the cottages and its riv- Big Cottonwood Canyon from saIt Lake City. ~ ;stone fIreplace date from the ;'800s. The cottage was remodMore information about the' ~ed completely in the 19908, ex- auction is available by calling the jept for the fIreplace. National Auction Group at ,,'I' ....... ! : Ib 1960, the current Maxfield 1-800-473-2292. ~e was built on the historic . ~te :as a 240-seat creekside restaurant with panoramic views of \ ! .'M' elers I . ;.. . ... Maxfield's Lodge nets $1.4 million in auction '\ D6~~~ ~-d3--q9 Sellers of the historic site also auction off their Holladay home /10, By Max B. Knudson • \ Dcserel News business editor \ "Going once. . . going twice. . . Sold! for $1.478 million to bidder number 707 ." With that declaration and the bang of auctioneer Eddie Haynes' gavel, Salt Lakers Jeff and Nancy Flamm became the new owners Tuesday of the Big Cottonwood Canyon compound known as "Maxfield 's Lodge." The original Maxfield's Lodge was built before the turn of the century on a 5.4acre parcel in the Storm Mountain area of the canyon and for decades operated as a restaurant. In the early 1960s, it was torn down. and a sprawling, Frank Lloyd Wright-style house was built in its place, but the name stuck. It remains "Maxfield's Lodge" to this day. In 1989, David Vanier, an employee of the Utah State Tax Commission, and his wife, Judith Lamb-Lion, bought the property and have used it as a second home since that time. They also auctioned off their primary home' in Holladay Tuesday, only hours after the sale of the canyon property. High bid was $677 ,250. Vanier said he had tried to sell Maxfield's the traditional way but with no success. That's when he and the other owners of the compound -there is a small cottage and cabin on the property owned by others, as well as a half-acre building lot- decided to turn the sale over to The National Auction Group Inc., based in Gadsden, Ala. Asked during the bidding what he expected to get for the lodge, Vanier shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Who knows? It's impossible to get comparables for a unique property like this, so appraisals don't mean much." The auction was "absolute," meaning the property would be sold to the highest bidder with no minimum price and with no regard as to whether the owners thought they had gotten ripped off. "1 think it was a fair price," said a smiling Jeff Flamm following his and his Maxfield's Lodge in Big Cottonwood Canyon was rebuilt in the 1960s. The original was built before the turn of the century. wife's successful bid for the properties. He said he wanted Maxfield's Lodge to use as a "gathering place" for his family, which includes six children, Flamm said he previously owned an employee benefits firm called Health Benefits America, which he sold, and currently owns a speed-reading firm called Infinite Mind. Asked if he intends to return the lodge to a commercial enterprise, he said he may run his office at the site but "right now, it's for personal use." The Flamms didn't participate in the . early bidding in which the lodge, cottage, cabin and building lot were auctioned separately. During that phase, the bidding for the lodge and 3.72 acres of land began at $500,000 and topped out at $625,000. High bid for the cottage was $190,000; for the cabin, $180,000; and for the half-acre lot, $41,000, for a total of $1 ,036 million, Following a brief recess, the bidding began all over again, at $1.1 million, for all of the properties combined. If there had been no bids in that phase, the parcels would have been sold to the earlier, separate bidders. That didn't happen, but there seemed to be only two bidders for the total package among the 15 registered bidders and 50 or so people gathered in the lodge's living room, and the Flamms quickly emerged the winners with their bid of $1.478 million. Auctioneer Haynes is straight out of the old school of rapid-fire delivery, and he's supported by a staff of seven aides who roam the crowd with referee " 'histles urging the bidders'on with shouts, gestures and the occasional whistle blast. all intended to whip bidders into a competitive frenzy and push the price higher. According to auction spokesman John Marshall, many people across the country are choosing auctions over traditional sales techniques to sell high-end properties. He said National Group sold Sen. Lloyd Bentsen's 10,000 acre south Texas ranch for more than $6 million in 1997 and sells more than 50 $1 million-pIlls estates every year. Marshall said people decide to auction their properties mainly because it's speedy and they have a guaranteed date - the date of the auction - at which they know the property will be sold whatever the price. )