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Show THE McCUNE MANSION This fascinating turn-of-the-century home was designed by architect S. C. Dal las for Alfred W. McCune. McCune was born July I I, 1849 at Fort Wi I liam, Dum Dum, Calcutta, India. Two years later, his parents were converted to the Mormon faith and by 1857 had settled on a farm in Nephi, Utah. McCune had no interest in farming and at the age of twenty-one be- gan taking out contracts to bui Id portions of the Utah Southern Rai I road. During the next decade he became one of the largest rai I road contractors in the Rocky Mountain area. He then entered the timber and mining business in Montana and once again had remarkable success. His mining ventures in- cluded many in the United States, Canada, and South America. In 1872 McCune married Elizabeth Ann Claridge, his chi Idhood sweetheart. They returned to Utah in 1888 and settled in Salt Lake City. The home they bui It was to be Mrs. McCune's, and she planned each room and every detai I. She hired S. C. Dal las, a young and promising architect, gave him the opportunity to carry out her original plans, and financed a two year tour of the United States and Europe for him to study architectural styles and techniques before plans were drawn for the home. Mrs. McCune selected a commanding hi I I site at 200 North Main Street on which to bui Id her home. Construction was begun late in the last century, and "EI izabeth's Palace" was completed in 1901. The exterior was styled on a home in New York City that Mrs. McCune had seen and liked. This three-story home contains twenty-one rooms and five marble fireplaces. Mrs. McCune selected her materials carefully, choosing satins and tool ed ,leathers, rare woods from South Ameri can forests, Scotti sh, Afri can, |
