By the time Young became church president, tensions between the Mormons in Nauvoo and non-Mormons in nearby settlements was at a peak. In early 1846, Young left with most of the Latter-day Saints and headed west to establish a new settlement, away from persecution. When he arrived at the base of the Salt Lake Valley, he decided to create a permanent settlement, Salt Lake City. Young assigned groups of Latter-day Saints to settle nearby territories and communities, convert the natives, and provide infrastructure.
Brigham Young in 1870, three years before he started to use his winter home.
St. George was a commissioned settlement in Utah's Dixie. Intended to be a cotton-growing colony, the region was noted for its warm temperatures, even in winter. As Young aged, he found that warm weather helped his arthritis. St. George settlers built a home and office for Young in 1871, and he frequently spent his winters there after a front extension was added in 1873. Young's presence motivated the locals to complete the St. George Temple, which Young himself dedicated in 1877. Young died on August 29, 1877, and willed the land to Judd Gates, the local dentist. It was later abandoned until Georgius Cannon Young, a descendant of Brigham, purchased the lot and restored it. He deeded it to Utah State Parks and Recreation in 1959 and the house was again restored.
The house and office was designed by Miles Romney. An 1873 addition was designed by his son, Miles Park Romney. The house stands at two stories and is constructed with beige adobe brick. The red sandstone basement has two rooms, and the roof gable has wood shingles. Inside, the house has four fireplaces, three made of red sandstone and one from adobe. The church relocated all of Young's existing former furniture, some of which was built by Young himself, and added other period pieces to replace those lost. The office is east of the living quarters, featuring stucco walls and a sandstone chimney. Wood for the house was cut from the Mount Trumbull Wilderness and the Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness.
The Brigham Young Winter Home and Office was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. It is located at the southeast corner of 100 West and 200 North and is open to the public as a museum.
