On a rapidly changing stretch of 700 East in Salt Lake City, Danell and Steve Murdock are holding on to their “Up” house as developers tear down neighboring buildings to make room for new apartments and condos near Trolley Square, sltrib.com reported.
The Hancock Mansion Surrounded by Modern Construction
The Murdocks bought the historic Hancock Mansion at 444 S. 700 East in 2013, moving their graphic design business, Design of Today, out of a modern office space and into the 1890 structure. Since then, they have watched the neighborhood transform around it as older commercial buildings and churches make way for high-density housing projects. Across the street, the Phillips Congregational Church, a Protestant church built in 1907, stood just south of the neighboring X Wife’s Place tavern until it was demolished in August 2025 to make way for new condos.
Now, construction crews are working on nearly every side of the Murdocks’ property. To the north, the former Modern Display store—which operated there since 1980—was demolished to make room for a six-story apartment building. To the south, demolition crews recently tore down a six-story 1980s-era commercial building to pave the way for a mid-rise luxury student housing project tentatively called Trolley North.
As heavy equipment operates right up against their boundaries, the couple reports that digging has destabilized parts of the home’s foundation and caused their driveway to slope downward. During the workday, Danell Murdock often feels the house shake, prompting her to move her desk around her upstairs office in search of quieter corners.
Historic Preservation Meets Urban Density
The property falls within Salt Lake City’s Central City historic district, yet the ongoing building boom leaves the century-old estate caught in a tight architectural squeeze. McKay Muhlestein, interim executive director of Preservation Utah, notes that historic buildings are frequently left out of alignment as large developments sprout up around them.
Often times they’re so contrasting, where you have a big apartment building literally surrounding an old historic home, Preservation Utah. He
Muhlestein said, adding that the city should be proactive in trying to promote the developers to be complementary to the other uses on the block.
Years ago, the Murdocks asked developers to consider their home when drawing up plans, including leaving setbacks to give the mansion more breathing room and finding ways to incorporate the historic house into the surrounding development. Instead, an independent shade study shows that once construction is finished, according to current development plans, sunlight will reach their windows for only about one month out of the year.
“We’ll be in kind of a wind tunnel of walls,” Danell Murdock said.
A Century of History on 700 East
Built originally for businessman Thomas F. Mulloy in 1890, the mansion later purchased by Col. William M. Ferry Jr. in 1901 and given to his daughters, Kate Hancock and Mary Allen, according to a history of the home compiled by Rachel Quist. Mary “Hollister” Hancock, Kate’s daughter, inherited the home and lived there for most of her life until her death in 1976. The following year, Pam March leased and restored the residence to open a floral business, Every Blooming Thing.
Local lore also attaches a supernatural reputation to the landmark, making it a regular stop on Salt Lake City ghost tours around Halloween. While the Murdocks rarely see apparitions, they report hearing late-night footsteps upstairs. Steve Murdock notes that the bathrooms have occasionally locked themselves from the inside during stressful periods.
Despite the disruption of continuous construction, Danell Murdock maintains that she and Steve would still make the exact same choice to buy and preserve the mansion.
Once the surrounding apartments are finished, she notes, “it will be a neighborhood again.”
