Green Gate Village Historic Inn: a prominent piece of St. George's past.

• Author: Madison, Rachel
• Position: Around Utah: SOUTHERN AREA

St. George -- Nearly a dozen buildings make up the historic square in St. George known as the GREEN GATE VILLAGE HISTORIC INN, and not surprisingly, each has its own unique story. The oldest home still standing in St. George, dubbed the Orson Pratt house for its original Mormon pioneer owner, sits on the square, as does a carriage house built by Thomas Judd, the same man who built Judd's Store, which also sits on the property.

Ed and Lindy Sandstrom, owners of the inn, consider their proprietorship a labor of love. The couple has owned the inn for more than a dozen years and has worked tirelessly to provide a romantic retreat for honeymooners or a quiet place for business travelers to rest.

"This isn't our heritage or our history here at all, but I just admire the people who built these homes," Lindy says of the eight different homes that now sit on the property.

The Orson Pratt home, the oldest home on the square and in St. George, was built in 1862 and was the home of St. George's first general store, which was operated out of the home.

The next home to be built on the property was the Bentley house, which was erected next door in 1876. That was the status quo for a number of years until Judd built his store and a granary and carriage house behind it in 1911. A few years later in 1917, Judd's son, Joseph, built a home on the other side of the Orson Pratt home, which is the newest home on the property.

"You can imagine what transpired in the buildings over the years," Ed says, adding that the buildings' fates ranged from falling into...