Hug-Gubler Home

WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY     (Washington County, Utah)

HUG-GUBLER HOME

Santa Clara, Utah

LOCATION

Santa Clara Heritage Square   (just northeast of the Relief Society House)
Santa Clara, Utah


HISTORY

The Hug-Gubler Home was originally owned by the Henry Hug family in the mid to late 1860's. This was one of the first permanent homes built in Santa Clara.

When the Hug family left in the 1890's, John Gubler purchased the home and married Anna Muller. They raised their family of ten children in this home. Two of their children, Laura and Hyrum, who never married, lived in it until the 1980's.

It appears that the home was added on to, making a kitchen and bathroom. This was probably done in the 1920's or 30's.

The L.D.S. Church purchased the property, including the Hug-Gubler Home and the Relief Society Building, but permitted the family to live in the house until they died.

Once the last of the Gubler family was gone, the home fell into disrepair and stood vacant for a few years. In the early 1990's, Bruce Anderson was a bishop in the building adjacent to the home. He came home from a meeting and told his wife, Sherri, that the two buildings were to be torn down to add more parking space around the church.

At this point, a group of interested citizens (Claudia West, Clark Ence, Pam Graf, Vicki Lasswell and Sherri Anderson) formed a committee to save the buildings. It was a fight, but they won and ended up purchasing the property with the two buildings from the L.D.S. Church for $22,000. The committee had no money so it was decided to have a town celebration to help raise the funds and thus Santa Clara Swiss Days was begun.

As money became available, the restoration began slowly. First it was the Relief Society House, then the front of the property with the landscaping and monument, then finally came the money from Jay Ence, Quentin Ence, Floyd Ence and Bruce Stucki to make it possible to do the restoration of the Hug-Gubler Home. It was in such bad condition that it was feared one wall that had been undermined by water, would collapse before it could be repaired. Ence Construction sent out a crew of workers and the committee worked along side them to make decisions and help with the work.

At the dedication of the building, the committee was able to locate descendants of the Hug family in Oregon and also the John Gubler family descendants. They had a wonderful ceremony and celebration. The Hug and Gubler families donated many artifacts original to the home to help furnish the newly restored home.

Today the Hug-Gubler Home houses the Santa Clara Historical Society Archive and Museum. Many are able to enjoy seeing what one of the first pioneer homes in Santa Clara looked like. Wedding receptions, family reunions and other meetings are held on the Santa Clara Heritage Square.


BIOGRAPHY

Henry Hug   Click here.

John & Anna Gubler   Click here.


PHOTOS

Hug-Gubler Home       Hug-Gubler Home

Hug-Gubler Home

Other WCHS photos:
WCHS-00330     Photo of an old school bus in front of the Santa Relief Society House and Hug-Gubler Home
WCHS-00344     Photo of the front of the Hug-Gubler Home in Santa Clara
WCHS-00345     Photo of stairs to the basement under the Hug-Gubler Home in Santa Clara
WCHS-00346     Photo of a baby carriage and weaving loom in the Hug-Gubler Home in Santa Clara
WCHS-00347     Photo of an old bed in the Hug-Gubler Home
WCHS-00348     Photo of a closet with old implements on display in the Hug-Gubler Home in Santa Clara
WCHS-00349     Photo of an old church bench on display in the Hug-Gubler Home in Santa Clara
WCHS-00350     Photo of an old piano on display in the Hug-Gubler Home in Santa Clara
WCHS-00351     Photo of a wall cabinet on display in the Hug-Gubler Home in Santa Clara
WCHS-00352     Photo of some shelves and a cabinet in the Hug-Gubler Home in Santa Clara
WCHS-00353     Photo of an old stove in the Hug-Gubler Home in Santa Clara
WCHS-00354     Photo of inside stairs up to the attic of the Hug-Gubler Home in Santa Clara
WCHS-01819     Photo of the north and west sides of the hug-Gubler home


REFERENCES

Washington County Historical Society "Certificate of Commendation" awarded to the
Santa Clara Historical Society for the preservation and restoration of the Hug-Gubler Home, September 2007.