Logan • In a city at risk of losing much of its historic architecture, an arts and humanities organization is renovating a home into a boutique hotel and art gallery that will help sustain area artists and community events.
The Little Bloomsbury Foundation, established in 2007 by Executive Director Brenda Sun, brings together Cache Valley artists of all kinds through festivals and other art-focused events. Sun, who moved into the home located in Logan’s Historic District in 2006 after living in London, said she had the idea for the boutique hotel because preserving history, as well as supporting the arts, is central to both her and her foundation’s mission. The hotel, she believes, will be a sustainable way to support the artists whom Little Bloomsbury serves.
“There are just so many amazing stories to tell,” Sun said. “The various features of historic homes — they are great storytellers.”
Storytelling is one of the many art forms Sun’s foundation backs. She said the soon-to-be Little Bloomsbury Historic Hotel & Gallery, located in front of what Sun described as the “castle on the hill,” or the Logan Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is intended to be a “hopeful, safe space in an uncertain world” where community members can gather.
One of the foundation’s community partners, Aloysia Adkins, a chapter president for the Utah Storytelling Guild, said Little Bloomsbury offers something for everyone — from performing artists and musicians to painters and magicians.
“It just incorporated everything and brought people in off the street,” Adkins said, “people that normally would not necessarily be exposed to what all the arts could mean.”
What the hotel will feature
The boutique hotel will not only provide a place for art lovers to stay the night in a historic setting, but it also will serve as a gallery where artists can display and sell their work. The building, which has already hosted numerous Little Bloomsbury events, has naturally attracted artists and visitors who have happened upon it.
“We are just in a neighborhood,” Sun said. “Anyone can swing by. Many end up staying for hours and then they would leave and then come back and bring more people. It’s amazing that people feel comfortable. They may not feel so comfortable in a typical gallery museum setting.”
The hotel will feature four bookable bedrooms, each filled with artwork created by area artists. Sun said she hopes the space will attract visitors who are not only artists themselves but also those who deeply appreciate the humanities. While the hotel will operate as a “private club,” there will be no membership fees. Instead, guests are encouraged to make suggested donations, such as contributing food to a food pantry.
“People who appreciate it [art],” Sun said, “they know it enhances our heart and soul.”
The Little Bloomsbury Foundation also plans to offer free stays at the hotel to newlyweds interested in marriage preparedness. Couples can apply for a free stay with an essay detailing why they feel ready to marry.
The hotel will also support a program for Cache Valley veterans and their caregivers. Sun said the foundation will ask the community to nominate outstanding veterans who have suffered serious military-related injuries. The selected veterans and their caregivers will be honored at the hotel and invited to stay for a few days as a gesture of gratitude.
“We need to take care of our veterans,” Sun said. “Gives me chills when I talk about them. They give so much to our country, and they often come back broken. We want them to know that we care, and we are so grateful for them and their long-term caregivers as well.”
‘A whole new set of memories’
John Carter, a classical music composer and pianist involved with Little Bloomsbury, has donated much of the hotel’s artwork. The pieces are done by his mother, Demarious Carter Artz, who was an avid oil painter who created hundreds of paintings throughout her life. Carter said he hopes her work inspires other artists who will stay at the hotel. Some of her paintings, he said, are deeply connected to Logan’s history.
“When she moved up here to Cache Valley, the first thing she did,” Carter said, “she goes ‘I want to go paint the castle on the hill.’”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Logan Valley and the castlelike Logan Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in summer 2024.
The home, which Sun said was built in 1872 and owned by William B. Preston, Logan’s second mayor who led the city for 12 years, is just one of the many historic buildings in the area — some of which are at risk of losing their character, said Brandy Strand, executive director for Preservation Utah.
When considering the future of historic buildings, Strand said, people often think of converting them into museums. But that isn’t always the best option. Whereas a project like this brings new life back into the building.
“It’s going to create a whole new set of memories for the community, and it’s going to continue to be that unique representation of the history of Logan,” she said. “To have something be renovated and rehabbed and now a whole new purpose given to, it just opens up even more opportunity for that character and those factors that make Logan what it is to be able to shine even more.”
