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Home > Archive > Apr 10, 2008

Cottam-Abbott Home Celebrates a Century
By Dixie Weekly News
The Washington County Historical Society presented a certificate of commendation to the Abbott family, of St. George, recently for their outstanding achievement in restoring and maintaining the Arthur Cottam home at 508 E. 300 South.
The home has been in their family for 100 years and is in as good condition now as when its original builders created the home. The trees and gardens surrounding the home were part of the project, as well, with some of the trees being original to the home’s first owners, Arthur and Mae Cottom, present owner Greg Abbott’s grandparents.
Greg Abbott grew up in California but could hardly wait to come to St. George in the summers to be with his grandparents, Arthur and Mae Cottam, in their historic home. Young Greg loved the huge mulberry trees and the garden with vegetables and grapes. He had fun in the attic of the home, where he could see the tops of the adobe walls, three bricks thick. It was a boy’s paradise; he could be a pioneer in his grandparents’ home, one his grandfather had built and where his mother, Mary, had grown up.
That was the 1950s. Three decades later, in 1981, after his grandfather died at age 97, Greg purchased the home from the family estate and set about restoring and preserving the cherished family abode.
He studied documents to verify how the structure came to be. Greg knew Arthur Cottam had built it, and that his grandfather’s father, Thomas Cottam (who built several civic buildings, such as the Temple and the old Dixie College), had helped his grandfather. They made the bricks and hauled lumber from Mount Trumbull on the Arizona Strip. Arthur had undertaken the home’s construction after marrying his bride, Mae Pritchard. He finished the home in 1908, when he was 23 years old.
At that time, the home occupied one quarter of the block. There was a grist mill next to the home and a barn next to that on 500 East. Behind the buildings was a garden with vegetables, a vineyard and mulberry trees. By the time Greg purchased the home, the two lots to the south had been sold, but there was still a large yard and big trees.
Through the restoration, the interior of the home has been kept very close to the original. Although Greg is an accomplished artist and could easily design changes, he revered the high quality of the work of Arthur and Thomas Cottam. The woodwork and windows have been retained, and the main-floor rooms are much as they were originally.
The garden has been transformed from vegetables to flowers, and Greg’s father, L.K. Abbott, devotes a good part of each day to its care. The Abbotts have installed a swimming pool and two Koi ponds.
As people drive by the well-known residence, they see the huge mulberry trees, with branches reaching overhead to the middle of the street. During the Christmas holidays, the Abbotts decorate the house and trees with thousands of white lights.
Greg and his father built a new home adjacent to the Cottam home 20 years ago. It serves as a comfortable residence for Greg’s parents, L.K. and Mary. The upper floor is sometimes used as an art studio and often becomes a party room for family and neighbors.
The Washington County Historical Society is pleased to honor the Abbotts’ restoration and preservation of such a notable pioneer home.
“This kind of creative historical work by residents of Washington County brings honor and appreciation to our heritage,” a press release from the Society stated.

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