The Beehive House

Good news, the tours are 100% free! No charges or donations. Unfortunately that was the only redeeming quality.
After reading BRIGHAM YOUNG: PIONEER PROPHET by John C. Turner, I wanted to tour this house (first built by Brigham Young). They have two sister missionaries give the tour. They seemed to know very little history about the house or Brigham Young’s life. However, there was no room in that house they couldn’t turn into a proselytizing moment.
My best guess, living now for four years in Utah, is that Mormons are embarrassed by their history. Now, I know many Mormons who had pioneer ancestors will take offense to this, but how many Mormons feel comfortable telling a tourist that Brigham Young had 55 wives? That he believed blacks descended from Cain? That some sins were so grave you had to be killed to atone for them? Or that Adam was also our Heavenly Father? I get that Brigham Young is steeped in controversy, but that doesn’t mean that a tour of Brigham Young’s home needs to be void of any historical value.

It’s free! You might as well go. It’s moderately interesting. The tour isn’t exactly fascinating but they are nice and you get to see an old historic home. It’s right near Temple Square and you don’t necessarily have anything else that is all that pressing.

My husband and I went to Moab for a nice birthday getaway and decided to spend the day in Salt Lake City before going back to the airport. I found this historic house and was very excited to take a tour. I was very disappointed. It is nothing more than a
quick 10 minute walk through the lower half of the house with two «sisters», one from Africa and one from China. They knew very little about the history of the home, and were more interested in pushing the Mormon agenda. I didn’t even to get to really look at any of the rooms, and they gave me a Mormon bible at the end of the «tour». I had signed a comment card and stupidly put my home address. And a week later, two young Mormon women showed at at my front door in Moorpark, California saying they wanted to talk to me. WTF?!

Looking over other reviews, I think this experience truly comes down to who gives you the tour. We had 2 young adult «sisters» who knew their facts about the house and many of the details. It was long… one door opened to another… to another… to another…
Unlike our Temple Square tour, these ‘sisters’ were much more forward with their beliefs and interested in pursuing dialogue about my faith. I was fine with the conversation, but others may feel more uncomfortable.

I have a lot of respect for the history of this house, Temple Square, and the religion behind it all. However, the missionary guides at this beautiful home do not do it any justice. We were accompanied through the home by two sweet girls who were «stationed» in Salt Lake on their missions. While very nice, they knew very little about the history of the home or its famous occupants. Simple questions like «when was this home last used as a residence?» or «is this piece of furniture original?» were met with blank stares and unsure guesses. I did learn about the symbolism of the honeybee and how the beehive became the official state emblem of Utah, so the tour was not a total bust on educational value.
This was the first «attraction» I visited on Temple Square, so I was not sure what to expect in terms of proselytizing. While the guides focus on the importance Mormon’s place on family, I didn’t find anything about the tour too «preachy» or uncomfortable. Overall, an interesting look back in time, but other points of interest on Temple Square might prove a better use of limited time.

Nice tour of the Beehive House that is conducted by two Mormon sisters. There is no charge for the tour. They tell you about the history of the home and Brigham Young.
The tour was very interesting, informative, and does not take long at all.

Der Mormonenführer Brigham Young liess dieses, Beehive House genatte Gebäude als Wohnort für seine Familie errichten. Von seinen 27 Frauen lebte aber nur jeweils eine in diesem Haus, aber eine große Anzahl der Kinder von Brigham Young. Hier führte er auch seine Amtsgeschäfte. Benannt ist das Haus nach einem am Türmchen angebrachten Bienenkorb, der sich auch im Haus aus Holz und auf der Flagge von Utah (Beehive State) wiederfindet. Der große Rest der Familie wurde im in der Näher errichteten Lions House untergebracht. Heute ist ein Museum untergebracht dessen Besichtigung sich auf jeden Fall lohnt, weil man dort viel über das damalige Leben der Mormonen erfahren kann

I had visited some years ago and had the most incredible tour of the amazing house. It told a story of the rich history of the Salt Lake Valley and the settlers. I was happy to return but so very sad to see that it has turned into nothing more that a vehicle for the missionaries who know so little about the rich heritage of the mormon pioneers let alone the real stories of the Beehive House as well as Brigham Young. This was a very dissapointing visit. I will not visit again.