Mountain View Apartments

Mountain View Auto Court was one of Ogden’s first motels. This complex of seven buildings occupies all but the southeastern quarter of a city block between B and C avenues along West 24th Street. It was one of six motel developments introduced in Ogden during the Depression years, and was meant to attract auto-tourists to the struggling town. Camilo J. Bertagnolli developed the complex, which offered a grocery store, barber shop, hair salon, service station, and post office, in addition to motel units, each containing a living room, bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. The site includes four single-story buildings (three of which have detached garages), a two-story manager’s office and residence, a separate garage structure, and a single-story commercial building (circa 1926) that was converted into motel units in 1939.

The Mountain View Auto Court represents a building typology informed by the automobile and mass mobility. The spacing between the buildings was determined by vehicle circulation, and units faced a parking lot in the center of the site. The Spanish Colonial Revival complex features stuccoed exteriors, round-arched doorways, parapet walls with a curvilinear motif, and Spanish tile. Stained wood trim was utilized throughout the interiors.

By the 1940s, the motel also began offering rooms to long-term tenants. In 1987, the year it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the motel complex was renovated to serve as low-income housing, which ultimately contributed to its survival. It has remained an apartment complex ever since.