A walkable Salt Lake neighborhood, built between the wars and worth protecting from the ground up.

Yalecrest was laid out in the 1920s as a streetcar suburb of distinctive period-revival cottages. A century on, its tree-lined blocks remain one of the most intact historic districts in the American West — and one of the most threatened.

Why preservation matters → See our work

From the editors

This year alone, three contributing homes were lost to demolition. Each tells part of a shared story — and each took most of a century to build.

02 — Our mission

We educate neighbors, advocate for sensible policy, and document the homes that make Yalecrest, Yalecrest.

Read the full mission →

— Pillar 01

Educate

Walking tours, house histories, street-lamp restoration, and a public archive of every contributing home in the district.

— Pillar 02

Encourage

We work with homeowners on respectful additions and remodels, and connect them with preservation-minded architects and contractors.

— Pillar 03

Preserve

We advocate for Local Historic District designation — the only protection under Utah law that can slow the rate of teardowns.

1,479

Contributing homes

1919

First platted

2007

Added to the National Register

Lost to teardown, 2010–present

03 — The teardown issue

One teardown at a time, a century of craftsmanship goes to the landfill.

Yalecrest's homes were built with materials and methods that simply aren't produced anymore — plaster walls, hand-laid brick, old-growth lumber, leaded glass. When a home is demolished, those resources are lost, its embodied carbon is wasted, and the street loses a neighbor.

We believe Yalecrest deserves what most historic districts in American cities already have: a local ordinance that reviews demolitions and ensures new construction fits the character of its block.

Read the case → The teardown issue