581 Park Avenue
Shepherd/Seemann House

Tax Photo - circa 1930s

Recent Photo

Susan Shepherd purchased two adjacent lots in 1879, one for $45 and the other for $50. Her husband Edward was a carpenter, so he probably built the original house. By 1887, real estate values were skyrocketing and the Shepherds sold for $1,000.

In 1925, Albert and Florence Seemann purchased this property. Albert immigrated to the U.S. from Poland and worked for Frankel’s Clothing Store at 402 Main Street. Florence was twenty-three years his junior. By that time, the original house was forty five years old and deteriorating. Albert and Florence immediately obtained a mortgage of $2,500 from the State Bank of Park City and either began an extensive remodel or more likely tore down the old house and rebuilt. The result was this modern bungalow. The couple lived here with her widowed mother Rebecca Sechel and son Albert Jr.  

In the twentieth century, the bungalow became the basic middle-class house, replacing the Victorian cottage of the late nineteenth century. Its popularity was due to numerous pattern books and builders’ magazines that sketched out many variations. Characteristics included a low-pitch roof and narrow siding.