In 1886, William and Ella Rich began to build a sturdy new two-story frame house just east of his mother’s home, to Grandma Rich’s delight. The Rich family had lived in small log houses most of their lives, and had moved fifteen times in the nine years since their marriage. But William L. was a good business man, they had been prospering and saving, and now they were building one of the nicest homes in the valley.
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Zula, William and Ella’s daughter, was then six years old. What fun she had watching the workmen and making playhouses in the piles of lumber and shingles! And what a joy the parents had in planning and seeing the new house take shape.
Clothes closets and bathrooms were still unknown to them, so they were not missed. Expert workmen came from Salt Lake City to do the finishing. Many of the new furnishings purchased in Salt Lake had seldom been seen in Bear Lake Valley.
Zula recalls how people came to see and marvel at the new spring blinds that did not have to be rolled up by hand or tied at the top. The floor length lace curtains hung on fancy wooden poles, the kitchen floor was lined with linoleum, the walls were patterned with wallpaper and a border at the top (instead of the standard whitewash), and the carpet was factory-made with a flowered pattern for the stairway and spare bedroom. As visitors admired in awe, Zula’s mother would say modestly, “Well, we expect to spend the rest of our lives here.”
It was just before Thanksgiving in November 1886, that the Rich family moved into their dream home with their four children: Willie (8), Zula (6), Jessie (3), and baby Mabel (about 10 months old).
Soon afterwards a near tragedy occurred in the new home. Little Jesse carried a candle upstairs to the spare room, set it on the floor and pushed aside the long lace curtains to look out the window. The curtain touched the candle, blazed up, and fell to the floor in flames. In panic, Jessie spit on it, but that did no good, so he ran out, shut the door and told no one.
A few days later when his mother entered the room, she saw a two-foot strip of the carpet and the new straw beneath it burned away along with the curtains, and a deep hole burned in the baseboard. The fire had gone out itself. What a fright it gave her!
The Joseph Clark family, dear friends from Georgetown, came to see the new house and celebrate the housewarming. Zula watched adoringly as her mother donned a beautiful maroon velvet dress, and the adults left for a party in the First Ward meetinghouse.
The children had been warned that they must not touch the new coal oil lamp standing on the center table. But as they were marching gaily around the center table, someone’s shoe button caught in the fringe of the table cover, and the lamp was jerked suddenly to the floor. Luckily the flames went out before the oil ran out on the rug.
Loud, frightened cries arose from the children in the sudden darkness, but just then Zula’s father walked in. He had left the dance to return to check on the children. William and Ella felt for sometime that they had been blessed and protected by the Lord, because both times the fires could have been disastrous.
The family’s joy in the new house was short-lived, for just two weeks after they moved in William received a call to move to Montpelier, where he would serve as the bishop. This was one of the most difficult Church assignments in the valley.
Small Montpelier was gaining in population and business, but it was sharply divided as a community. The Mormons had settled the east part of Montpelier, called ‘uptown.’ In the west section, called ‘downtown,’ the coming of the railroad in 1882 had brought many railroaders and non-Mormons, along with their saloons (the only ones in the valley) and other undesirable elements. There was much persecution and conflict between the two sections.
Besides the necessity of giving up the lovely new Paris home, this move presented many other problems, not the least of which was polygamy. All Mormon bishops, at the time, were expected to marry another wife, and persecution for plural marriage was at its peak.
After much thought, fasting and prayer, William said, “Ella, I think we should stay here. It’s asking too much of you.”
“William, you know we have been called,” Ella answered bravely. “I am willing if you are.”
“Then we will go,” he replied, although he grimly realized what difficulties and sacrifices it would entail. They agreed to leave soon after Christmas.
During their time in Montpelier, they rented their beloved home in Paris to family and friends, and eventually sold it to Joseph and Mary Stucki, who moved in the last of August 1917.
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The J.S. Stucki Family - 1925
Left to Right, Back to Front: Evelyn, John Max, Wendell, Darrell (a cousin), Pearl,
Mary Ann Price Stucki, Smith Price Stucki (aka Price), Mabel, Glenn Price Stucki, Joseph Smith Stucki
Daughter Madge and son Owen Price had already passed away.
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Other income came by rentals, sewing, taking in washing, and ironing, and making hats. From this income, she raised a family and kept her home.
In later years she was assisted in numerous ways by her children and near the time of her death spent most of her time in their homes. However, she was very proud and happy that the Paris House was hers and that she could live in it as long as she wanted.
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Mary P Stucki, middle age
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What follows now are Notes on the Paris House by Pearl Gee (Taken from “Pearl Gee Life Story”, as edited by GW Gee):
“Shortly after mother’s death, in 1975, the five of mother’s living children (Wendell, Evelyn, Mabel, Pearl and Max) went to Mother’s house and talked about what to do with the house and property. Mother had deeded it to the five children, so we needed to all talk together...
We talked about selling the house, and all four of the other brothers and sisters wanted to sell it. I told them I didn’t want to sell, really. I thought we ought to all go in together and fix it up so it could be a summer home for all of the families, but they insisted that they wanted to sell it and get their money, I said, “well, I would sell too.”
After I talked to Ivin privately, he agreed with me that we should keep it in the family.
[From 1975 to 1979] we had finished up the arrangements to buy the Paris house from Wendell, Evelyn, Mabel and Max. We paid them their shares in the spring of 1979 and so we became the sole owners of the Paris House.”
Over the next 20 years (1979 through 1999), Pearl and Ivin spent most of their summers in Paris, renovating the Paris House. This was a continual project. It included replacing the main water line, adding a back porch, redoing the front porch and the balcony, renovating most of the rooms, redoing the electrical wiring, replacing windows, modifying the plumbing, renovating the kitchen, redoing the roof, repainting the entire house at least twice, and building an unattached garage.
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The Paris House, January 1993
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Ivin did most of the work, but had help from family members and a few contractors. Steve Wall provided a door from the renovation of the Logan Temple that is now in the Paris house, located between the kitchen and back porch.
One of the extra benefits that Ivin made to the Paris House was to put in a row of raspberries on the east side of the driveway that leads to the garage. This has provided delicious August fruits, along with plumbs from three trees on the other side of the driveway and a gooseberry bush that still bears fruit in August.
Over the years, Pearl’s family and Stucki relatives were invited to come to the Paris House and spend vacation time with Ivin and Pearl. In 1982, Pearl and Ivin’s 50th wedding anniversary was held at the Paris House and all of their children and grandchildren were there to celebrate that special event.
In 1986, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Paris House and Martell had a plaque made for the Paris House, that reads,
1886 “The Paris House” 1986
Built in 1886 by William L. Rich, it was purchased
in 1917 by Joseph Smith Stucki and Mary Price Stucki.
It has remained in the Stucki family, who
affectionately call it “The Paris House”. It is now owned by
a daughter, Pearl, and her husband Ivin L. Gee.
In 1997, the Paris House was deeded to Pearl and Ivin’s son, Glendon. Glendon and his wife, Shirley, have managed the house since that time.
Written by Mary Ann Price Stucki
Edited by Glendon Gee and Kristen Archuleta
