557 Park Avenue
Cupit Family House

Tax Photo - circa 1930s

Recent Photo

Originally a three-room T-cottage sat on this site. Thomas Cupit purchased this property in 1879 from Col. John Nelson for $50. Cupit arrived in Park City in 1875 with fellow carpenter Jake Pape and the two became prominent businessmen.
By 1907, the house had been replaced with the more popular pyramid house type that you see today. Generally, Park City’s pyramid houses are square or rectangular with a symmetrical front façade. This home is a variation with half the façade recessed and the space remaining spanned by a porch. Bay windows are rare in Park City and the one on this house was unfortunately removed sometime after 1930.

Active in public affairs, Cupit later served as Justice of the Peace, treasurer for the Park City Water Company, Coroner and Deputy Sheriff. The home remained in his family and in 1910 Cupit’s daughter Annie and her husband Edward Hurlbut lived here. Edward, like his father, was a pharmacist or druggist. The family owned the Hurlbut Drugstore at 402 Main Street, now Java Cow. Ed and Annie moved to Santa Barbara, where, the Park Record newspaper reported in 1924 “he has been piling up money in the hotel business”.